Ag Policy Blog

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation last week announced an agreement to develop a new concentrated animal feeding operation rule to address runoff from livestock and poultry operations, three years after EPA and CBF reached a settlement agreement on a lawsuit filed by the foundation on the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

As part of the agreement, http://tinyurl.com/…, EPA said it will assess each bay watershed jurisdiction's animal feeding operation and CAFO programs by June 27, 2015, "to determine whether they are consistent with Clean Water Act NPDES requirements and are implemented effectively to achieve the jurisdiction's animal-agriculture watershed implementation plan commitments to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment."

EPA said it will complete at least three assessments by the end of 2014.

"If EPA determines that a jurisdiction's AFO and CAFO programs are not consistent with NPDES requirements and are not being implemented effectively to achieve the WIP commitments, EPA will identify any inconsistencies in writing to such jurisdiction," the agreement states.

"Following consultation with the jurisdictions, EPA will make these assessments publicly available by no later than 60 days after the assessment is complete."

In addition, EPA said will undertake AFO reviews in four Bay sub-watersheds with "significant manure generation."

That will include one sub-watershed per year beginning in 2013 and ending in 2016. At least three of the sub-watersheds will be in different jurisdictions.

"EPA will assess no less than four AFOs in each sub-watershed," the agreement states.

"EPA will review AFOs to determine whether they are in compliance with applicable legal requirements for reducing nitrogen, phosphorous, and sediment."

EPA will evaluate whether any assessed AFOs in the sub-watershed should be designated as CAFOs. EPA said it will make each assessment publicly available no later than 60 days after an assessment is complete.

By the end of 2016, EPA agreed to review at least four CAFO permits and their nutrient management plans.

By June 30, 2018 EPA will determine whether revisions to its CAFO regulations in the Clean Water Act are necessary to achieve the objectives of reducing runoff into the Chesapeake Bay.

The U.S. Poultry and Egg Association released a statement following the release of the agreement:

"The National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and U.S. Poultry and Egg Association support EPA's collection of more data to verify the efficacy of the current regulatory program rather than developing further regulations that are not needed. This will help to assure that no false assumptions are made about the potential contribution of livestock and production to pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

"The poultry industry recognizes that there are indeed challenges within this and other watersheds to reduce the level of nutrients in surface waters. All of animal agriculture has been working together to minimize its impact on these watersheds. By EPA's own admission, the agricultural industry has made tremendous progress in reducing potential runoff and improving the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay and other watersheds throughout the country.

"A recent study by the University of Delaware not only found that the amount of nutrient runoff in the Chesapeake Bay supposedly caused by chicken litter is much less than EPA's outdated and overstated estimates, but that the concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorous in the litter are far lower, too. The study concluded that new management practices, better growing environments, feed technology and genetics have improved efficiencies over the last 30 years.

"Everyone should have a vested interest in preserving watersheds across the country. The poultry industry is doing its part, and we're making progress. Individuals and their families who raise and process chickens on the land in these watersheds all swim in the same rivers, eat seafood out of the same bodies of water and enjoy the same waterways as do others. They want to preserve that as much as anyone."

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