EL PASO, Texas -- Rumors have been going around that the Environmental Protection Agency wants to tax livestock to regulate the greenhouse gases they emit.

Here's an interesting question; How would you like to be taxed for passing gas? Rumors have been going around that the Environmental Protection Agency wants to tax livestock to regulate the greenhouse gases they emit. The idea has dairy farmers scratching their heads.

The cows at Gonzalez Dairy Farm, Inc. sleep, graze and milk without being aware of all the stink they’re causing. Their owner, Joe Gonzalez, has been crossing his fingers for months, that a so-called “gas tax” doesn’t become a reality.

“When I first heard it, I thought it was ridiculous thing to try and tax cows for doing what they do naturally. Which is eat, feed, produce milk, and have by-pass products,” said Gonzalez as he chuckled at the thought. According the American Farm Bureau Federation, the tax would require farms or ranches with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs to pay an annual fee of about $175 for each dairy cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle and $20 for each hog. The issue first came up after a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling found that animal gases contribute to air pollution.

EPA spokesman Jonathon Shradar told KFOX the agency has no plans on regulating livestock. He said the lengthy, highly technical report, focused on other sources of air pollution, does not include a proposal to tax livestock.

Gonzalez said he wrote in a comment on the EPA website, but never got a reply an still worries about what would happen if the federal government stepped in.

“It would take away 80 percent of my net profit per cow. So, instead of making $216 per cow, it would bring me down to $40 a cow, and of course that would hurt everything else in my income stream,” said Gonzalez. The price of milk would have to go up to make up the loss.

The EPA is currently studying the air-quality at six remote sites in Dona Ana County. The four year project is in its second year and measures the types of gases released at dairy farms.