Under the new agreement, Browner and Glickman said their agencies will revise that March proposal, talking with farmers to devise a workable plan while attempting to reach environmental goals of cleaning up more waterways. A new joint draft is expected in July, with a final set of regulations proposed for November. Farm groups have reacted cautiously thus far to the EPA's proposal, but most concede that the trend toward ever-larger livestock operations makes tougher regulations all but inevitable. Some environmental groups, however, say government should halt all new large livestock farms until the new rules are in place. Some states are already considering such moratoriums on their own.
Irradiation is used to kill bacteria on produce and meats.
Many crops are manipulated genetically to enhance certain traits, such as resistance to pests. And about 2.1 million pounds of dried sludge from sewage treatment plants is used to fertilize crops and other lands each year. The standards grew out of a 1990 law requested by the organics industry to replace a patchwork of state and private certification programs on what can and can't be labeled as organic. But major food companies have taken notice and started their own organic product lines. Monsanto asked Glickman to delay any decision on the genetic engineering question for three years, but the secretary refused.