Nutrient Management Board Advances Rule-Making
(Continued (ram Pago Ai) users, the first priority for legisla- j, y a specific amount, by 2000. The reason for this is because developing consensus on what
industry on the board, was named j n creating the act was to deal For agriculture, the law current- those farming operations which should be included in regulations
°uairman. with agriculture, largely because iy targets those agricultural opera- must have these plans have one concerning the structural design
The ward, commission, mem- 0 f jy visibility and pressure from dons with animal densities at, or year to get it done. If there aren’t for storage and handling of man
tel. of the stole Department ot environmental and residential above, 2,000 pounds of animal enough qualified people, the prog- ure, though nothing conclusive
Agnculturc (PDA), and Penn state development interests. liveweight per acre, on an “annual- ram could cause some undue bur- was decided.
University Extension service rep- Those representing agricultural ized basis." dens to farmers. It was discussed however, about
resentauves nave accompiisneo interests also worked to ensure the Those operations must have The common understanding discrepencies between standards
several key tasks over the summer, passage of a nutrient management nutrient management plans in among those on the board, is that currently employed by the USDA
First the commission had act> additional reasons, place within one year after the those who work for government at Soil Conservation Service and
approved interim entena fotnutn- Agricultural interests sought to effective date of the regulations, the conservation district level, those endorsed in Pa. Department
ent management certification reg- create a reasonable state law that The act gives the State Conser- such as those working under the of Environmental Resources
illations. Since the PDA is respon- would supercede the authority of vation Commission two years to Chesapeake Bay Program to deve- regulation,
sible under the law for administer- local municipalities, especially in develop regulations to carry out lop nutrient management plans. One area specifically for further
ing a certification program for urbanized areas, where local law- the act The effective date of those will become the officials who consideration concerns a federal
nutrient planning technicians, the makers had begun to create their regulations does not necessarily woik with fanners in reviewing standard first used by the Environ
interim entena wereneeded solely own manure and nutrient manage- have to coincide with the approval nutrient management plans: and at mental Protection Agency. That
to develop proposed regulations. ment ordinances. date. the same time, those in the private standard was to require that water
Those regulations have been With a number of farming oper- The target dates set last year sector, such as crop advisors, could not move through a mem
proposed and approved by the ations split between two or more were have interim certification would be trained to draw up nutri- brane any faster than .00001 cen
board and the commission and are political boundaries, there was the for nutrient management special- ent management plans. timeters per second. That standard
to undergo the regular review pro- potential for a wide diversity of ists approved by November 1993; In the meantime. Penn State was later adopted by DER and has
cess for regulations, which ordinances affecting the interim criteria for the develop- University Extension people have been used as a general goal by the
includes public hearings and same filing operation. ment of nutrient management been working to create an educa- SCS.
review by the Independent Rcgu- A state was a j so seen as pi ann i n g by January 1994; to have tional program to train nutrient The SCS has been using prac
latory Review Coinmission. necessary because of changes nutrient management regulations management specialists, who tices with a variety of materials to
In other action to date, the board w j t bi n state’s agriculture proposed by July 1994, and final- would then be tested through an achieve that level of leak-proofing
has approved a progress report to industry from traditional livestock ized by July 1995; and to have exam that is also yet-to-be written. in the construction of manure facil
the commission, regulations con- stocking densities to high density nutrient management certification Before those projects can be com- ities it has helped design and
ceming the delegation of admmi- operations. regulations proposed by July 1994 pleted, the other regulations must finance. However, whether the
strative authority to the state s con- The primary target for control an d finalized by January 1995. be finalized. materials used in the construction
servabon distnets, and 13 sub- by the law is a high density lives- ‘ it is not known exactly of a devicc actually achieve that
chapters under Chapter 83. tock operation which creates more To,date. the board and the com- “ fful Sm7ShTfinal level of impermeability is not
Nutrient Mangcmcnt Regula- manure than the immediate farm- mission have effectively met these f known. Research and testing, lim
tions, which is a part of Sub- land and farming operation can dead mes in order to meet the legal b °l d «Wational efforts ited as it is, has indicated that the
chapter D, Nutrient Management, control, absorb and otherwise deadlines set within the Nutrient SCS construction methods are
under Title 25. Environmental Management Act ab ° ut nutrient management arc satis f actor y
Resources State Conservation Another motivation behind The interim certification for underway. On the other hand. DGR rceula-
Commission." creating the law was to help nutrient management specialists Jbe Wednesday meeting was tjons ire tbat the sta „dard be
Background achieve Gov, Robert Casey’s goal was basically a move to identify different than most in that two meL
The Nutrient Management Act of a 40-percent reduction in the possible qualifying candidates for committees of the Nutrient Man- apparently needs to be
was created by the state legislature flow of nutrients into the Chesa- whom educational efforts would agement Advisory Board met dur- according to commitee
as a means of ensuring the respon- peake Bay by 2000. Casey signed be directed so as to create a cadre ing the morning and gathered for a mcmberS| j s f or DER and SCS
sible use and control of nutrients an agreement with other governors of certified people to create and full board meeting in the t 0 agree t Q a standard that is
within the commonwealth. in the Chesapeake Bay compact to possibly review nutrient manage- afternoon. achievable, or to a series of con-
Of all nutrient sources and reduce the nutrient flow to the bay, ment plans. ° ne committee worked on methods that satisfactori
ly achieve that goal.
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The full board met and reviewed the com
mittees* reports from the morning sessions,
but saved indepth discussion until the next
meeting when the committees can have morn
ing revisions made and updated copies pro
vided to all members.
In the meantime, the board approved a
motion to have the executive committee meet
and review the subcommittee structure of the
board for possible restructuring or additions.
The board meeting dates for the rest of the
year were also announced: Oct. 12. in Room
10S, of the Market Street Square Office
Building (MSSOB otherwise known as the
“DER Building”); Nov. 16, in Room 309 of
the PDA building on Cameron Street; Dec.
13. in Rm. 105, MSSOB.
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