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Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Priority:
Clean Water Act: Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
National Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Priorities
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Strategy Summary || Online Resources
The Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) national priority strategy aims to protect public health and the environment by minimizing the discharge to surface water of pollutants from CAFOs and assisting states in enhancing capacity of their CAFO programs. The major environmental problem associated with CAFOs is the large volume of animal waste generated in concentrated areas. For example, roughly 700 dairy cows can generate more waste than a city of 10,000 people. Pollutants associated with animal waste primarily include nutrients-mainly nitrogen and phosphorus-but animal waste may also include organic matter, solids, pathogens, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, salts and various trace elements (including metals). If manure and wastewater are not properly managed, pollutants can be released into the environment through discharges from manure storage areas or land application. EPA will assist states in enhancing the capacity of their CAFO programs by developing regional CAFO compliance and enforcement implementation plans and conducting training, compliance assistance and outreach activities. The 2003 regulation required all CAFOs with a potential to discharge to be covered by NPDES permits. Because of the 2005 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Waterkeeper v. EPA (399 F.3d 486), EPA requires only CAFOs that discharge or propose to discharge to apply for a NPDES permit. EPA is also revising its CAFO regulations regarding the development of nutrient management plans to address changes mandated by the Waterkeeper decision.
Strategy Summary
For each of the national priority areas, EPA has developed a strategy designed to achieve specific goals. The Clean Water Act: Combined Feeding Operations Strategy Summary of 2008 -2010 (PDF) (3pp, 18K, About PDF) contains a description of the environmental problem or noncompliance problem; why the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance is addressing the problem; how the problem will be addressed; and, highlights the progress made by the Clean Water Act: Combined Feeding Operations Strategy Summary of 2005 - 2007 (PDF) (4 pp, 36K, About PDF).
Online Resources
EPA has identified over 400 links to online compliance and enforcement resources that may be helpful in implementing these performance-based strategies. These links can be accessed through the Compliance Assurance Resources Compendium for Fiscal Year 2008 - 2010 National Enforcement and Compliance Priorities (PDF) (60pp, 775K, About PDF), current as of February 2008, is also available.