A number of environmental activist groups filed suit to require the Environmental Protection Agency to impose stricter controls on emissions from CAFOs, invoking the Clean Water Act.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit rejected the lawsuit and let stand the current standards for permitting.  The EPA is however currently gathering information that may be used to amend current regulations.

The National Pork Producers Council welcomed the decision of the appeals court noting that if the demands by Food and Water Watch and other organizations were imposed on the EPA, considerable disruption and an escalation in production costs would ensue.