Meat and Poultry Products Effluent Guidelines

EPA initially promulgated the Meat and Poultry Products (MPP) Effluent Guidelines and Standards in 1974, and amended the regulation in 2004. The regulation (40 CFR Part 432) covers wastewater directly dischargeddirectly dischargedA point source that discharges pollutants to waters of the United States, such as streams, lakes, or oceans. by slaughterhouses, further processors, independent renderers and poultry processors. The requirements are incorporated into NPDES permits.

On this page:

• MPP Questionnaires 
• Current Rulemaking
• Existing Regulations - Facilities Covered
• Rulemaking History
• Additional Information

MPP Questionnaires

EPA's MPP Questionnaires are now available. All MPP facilities are required to respond and should have received a notification letter from EPA. All facilities that receive a letter from EPA are required to respond, regardless of size. Please visit the MPP Questionnaires webpage to get started. 

If you did not receive a notification letter from EPA, please contact the EPA MPP Questionnaires Helpline or call 703-633-1696 or toll-free at 877-353-7560.

Current Rulemaking

As announced in Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15 (September 2021), EPA has completed a detailed study of the MPP category and is preparing a rulemaking to revise the 2004 regulation. The 2004 regulation only applies to about 300 of the estimated 7,000 MPP facilities nationwide. Recent data indicate that MPP facilities discharge the highest phosphorus levels and second highest nitrogen levels of all industrial categories, and that MPP facilities are causing problems for POTWs that receive MPP wastewater via indirect discharges. Some MPP facilities are already removing nutrients in their wastewater, achieving effluent concentrations well below the limitations in the 2004 regulation.

Questionnaire Details

EPA has obtained approval for a new Information Collection Request (ICR) from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for two industry questionnaires to support the current rulemaking. The public comment period for the draft questionnaires ended on April 15, 2022.

• Federal Register Notice announcing proposed ICR (March 16, 2022)
• ICR Supporting Statement (pdf) (753.66 KB, February 2022)

For assistance in accessing information about the ICR, please contact Steve Whitlock (whitlock.steve@epa.gov) or 202-566-1541.

All supporting materials for the rulemaking and ICR can be found at EPA's docket at regulations.gov.  The Docket Number is EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0736.

Existing Regulations - Facilities Covered

Direct Dischargers—Existing and New Sources

• All meat first processors (slaughterhouses)
• Meat further processors that generate more than 6,000 pounds per day of finished products (examples: bacon or sausage)
• Independent renderers of meat and poultry products that use more than 10 million pounds per year of raw material
• Poultry first processors (slaughterhouses) that slaughter more than 100 million pounds per year
• Poultry further processors that generate more than 7 million pounds per year of finished products (examples: ready-to-cook chicken cutlets or ground turkey)

Direct Dischargers—New Sources

• All poultry first processors
• All poultry further processors

Rulemaking History

2004 Rule

• Final Rule - Federal Register notice (September 8, 2004)
  • Technical Development Document for the Final Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Meat and Poultry Products Point Source Category (pdf) (2.93 MB, 2004, 821-R-04-011)
    Describes industry processes, pollutants generated, available control and treatment technologies, the technical basis for the final rule, and costs of the rule (821-R-04-011; 2004)
  • Economic and Environmental Benefits Analysis of the Final Meat and Poultry Products Rule (pdf) (1.25 MB, February 2004, 821-R-04-010)
• Proposed Rule - Federal Register notice (February 25, 2002)

Additional Information