Agriculture

EPA's Clean Water Act Regulates CAFO's Manure Management

July 2003

Over the past several decades, the livestock and poultry industry has become more concentrated by developing into fewer and larger operations. These operations, known as Confined Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs raises concerns over the use and disposal of more than 350 million tons of animal manure each year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers CAFOs a point source of water pollution, subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act. When used as a fertilizer, manure can produce valuable nutrients for crop and pasture growth. However, these same nutrients can pollute the water resources through runoff or leaching when over applied to the land.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and EPA have promulgated a rule (see EPA press release). CAFOs are required to obtain a permit, show that they are not discharging waste into surface waters, and also develop and implement a nutrient management plan. A good nutrient management plan would also limit oversupplying manure nutrients to crops.

CAFO operators are concerned that by meeting the rule's requirements the costs for managing manure would greatly increase. Due to costs to develop the plan, recordkeeping requirements, nutrient testing of manure and soil, and possibly transporting and applying manure to more land. In some instances the lack of available farmland for manure spreading also will greatly impact these operations.

For more information on CAFOs:

USDA's Research Brief
U.S. EPA's Final Rule

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