CAFO Legislative update
The recent federal court ruling made it unnecessary for a confined animal feeding operation to obtain a federal NPDES wastewater discharge from lagoons that have no discharge. The United State Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 5 does not currently agree with the federal court ruling. As a result, some in agriculture community are proposing that the regulation of state-permitted confined feeding operations be shifted from IDEM to a state entity familiar with and experienced with agriculture operations, leaving IDEM to regulate those feeding operations that did have a discharge and to monitor quality of the stream. Others in the agriculture community favor keeping all feeding operation permits under IDEM and to create a solid understanding of agriculture and biosecurity among the technically-skilled IDEM staff.
The federal government is working under a consent decree with livestock producers to use academic institutions to develop a sound technical basis for improved air quality measures at feedlots.
