The LCFS<\/a> is designed to provide a range of low-carbon and renewable fuel alternatives to help cut California\u2019s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other air pollutants. But LCFS amendments are instead, the lawsuit alleges, leading to actions that harm water, air and quality of life in some California farm communities by incentivizing the development of anaerobic digesters to break down manure generated at large-scale dairy farms and other concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). These digesters turn the animal waste into \u201cbiogas\u201d, a mixture of mostly methane and carbon dioxide. Biogas can be refined into a renewable natural gas (RNG) and used in some vehicles, and as a natural gas substitute.\u00a0<\/p>\n The groups allege by incentivizing more digester use, LCFS is adding to the pollution burden in communities near CAFOs and digesters, which capture methane but can increase other air pollutants such as ammonia and particulate matter (PM2.5). Ammonia can irritate people\u2019s eyes and respiratory systems, while PM2.5 exposure is linked to asthma, heart and lung problems and preterm births.\u00a0<\/p>\n The program\u2019s more stringent fuel requirements also contribute to higher gas and diesel prices, a cost, the groups argue, largely shouldered by poorer residents that cannot switch to electric cars.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of \u2026 enhancing California\u2019s climate efforts, the LCFS has become a massive wealth machine for factory farm biogas credit generators, a mechanism for oil companies to avoid direct emissions reductions, and an affordability burden on low-income Californians,\u201d reads the brief, filed by Defensores del Valle Central para el Aire y Agua L\u00edmpio (\u201cDefensores\u201d), Animal Legal Defense Fund, the Center for Food Safety and Food & Water Watch.\u00a0<\/p>\n During public comments prior to adopting the 2024 amendments \u201ca wide variety of voices called on CARB to fix this problem of perverse incentives for factory farm biogas,\u201d said Food & Water Watch staff attorney Tyler Lobdell.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they didn\u2019t do that. They adopted changes to the program that really doubled down on these problems. So, our arguments are that they are causing a disproportionate impact on low-income communities through that decision,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n California\u2019s LCFS is the largest and most influential state-level clean fuel program\u00a0and has been a major driver of anaerobic digesters for dairy and livestock waste. There are an estimated<\/a> 394 manure-based digesters operating in the US, with more than 70 under construction, representing a 55% increase over the past decade. California leads the nation in manure digesters \u2014 it has an estimated 123 dairy farm waste digesters<\/a> alone \u2014 but LCFS also provides money via clean fuel credits to an estimated 196 digesters in 16 other states<\/a>. <\/p>\n A spokesperson for CARB said the agency cannot comment on active litigation. But the spokesperson said the program has driven down<\/a> the state\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions from livestock and advanced zero-emission vehicles<\/a>.<\/p>\n Researchers estimate<\/a> manure digesters decrease methane emissions by 80% over farms that use open air lagoons and storage pits. The California Department of Food and Agriculture found<\/a> that dairy digester projects that the agency has helped fund reduce total methane emissions from manure management in California by nearly 30% \u2014 which is more than 8% of the state\u2019s total agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, critics argue that LCFS and other incentives for manure digesters are spurring CAFOs to get even bigger. In July researchers reported<\/a> that expansion at California dairy farms that tap into state and federal incentives to build digesters wipes out an estimated 9% of the farms\u2019 purported greenhouse gas reductions. Leaks can wipe out some of these emissions reductions too. In a March study<\/a>, researchers reported some leaks at 98 manure digesters in California were emitting methane at 10 times higher rates than open manure lagoons.\u00a0<\/p>\n And there is increasing evidence<\/a> that digesters can also concentrate and worsen certain air pollutants, including ammonia and particulate matter. The new lawsuit cites this additional air pollution and residents who live near dairies that say the odors worsened after herd sizes increased and digesters were installed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn the Central Valley, we live near 90% of cows in California and some of the largest dairy operations in the entire world. The impacts are getting worse as dairies are getting more cows and dairy digesters are installed,\u201d David Rodriguez, founding member of Defensores, said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe impacts are getting worse as dairies are getting more cows and dairy digesters are installed.\u201d \u2013 David Rodriguez, founding member of Defensores<\/p>\n The opening brief outlines the groups\u2019 argument that the CARB adopted new amendments for LCFS that encouraged manure digester expansion in the state and beyond without taking into account the air pollution and emissions impacts, especially on low-income and Latino communities in the Central Valley.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re hearing from people in the community is that the odor impacts from dairies and digesters is becoming inescapable,\u201d said Phoebe Seaton, co-director and attorney at law for the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, which is representing Defensores in the lawsuit. \u201cAnd it\u2019s only getting worse.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The opening brief claims state regulators broke the law \u201cby cursorily dismissing critical impacts from herd expansion, failing to properly analyze the impacts from producing factory farm biogas, and refusing to fully consider a project alternative that would have eliminated avoided methane crediting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Seaton said residents feel as though their concerns are not being heard. \u201cThey\u2019re just speaking to everybody they can speak with about the issue, and nobody\u2019s listening in terms of local decision makers and state decision makers,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The CARB will file their response brief by December and oral arguments will likely begin in February 2027.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The lawsuit is not the first to allege environmental injustice from manure digesters.\u00a0 In 2021, the Southern Environmental Law Center, or SELC, filed a complaint with the EPA<\/a> under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on behalf of North Carolina community groups, arguing that the NC Department of Environmental Quality\u2019s permitting of manure digesters \u201cwill put more harmful ammonia into the air nearby residents breathe, increasing fine particulate pollution associated with premature death and serious health problems.\u201d The EPA has the case listed as in \u201cinformal resolution agreement negotiation<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/chart-1.jpeg\")
Credit: EPA<\/p>\n
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