Deadlines In Place For
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) The Pennsylvania De
partment of Environmental Pro
tection (DEP) recently revised
the Chapter 92 National Pollu
tant Discharge Elimination Sys
tem (NPDES) permitting, moni
toring and compliance
regulations to include new per
mit deadlines for Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operations
(CAFOs). The updated regula
tions were published in the Penn
sylvania Bulletin Nov. 18, 2000.
To date, DEP has issued 16
CAFO permits and 32 applica
tions are in the review process.
CAFOs are large animal agri
culture operations with more
than 1,000 animal equivalent
units (AEUs) and Concentrated
Animal Operations (CAOs) with
more than 300 AEUs (currently,
poultry operations that produce
dry manure are exempt from
CAFO permit requirements).
CAOs are operations that fall
under the Pennsylvania Nutrient
Management Act for having
more than two AEUs per acre of
suitable cropland. An AEU is
equal to 1,000 pounds of live ani
mal weight.
All CAFO operations in Penn
sylvania are required to obtain
NPDES permits, and must apply
and operate under either a Gen
eral or Individual NPDES per
mit.
The following operations must
obtain an Individual NPDES
permit:
• Existing operations in spe
cial protection watersheds (wa
tersheds that contain high or ex
ceptional quality waters
designated by DEP) with more
than 1,000 AEUs; and
• CAOs in special protection
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watersheds with more than 300
AEUs; and
• New or expanding opera
tions with more than 1,000
AEUs; and
• Operations with direct dis
charges to surface waters.
The following operations, not
located in special protection wa
tersheds, qualify for a General
NPDES permit:
• Existing operations with
more than 1,000 AEUs;
• Existing CAOs with more
than 300 AEUs;
• New or expanding CAOs
with 301 to 1,000 AEUs.
In addition, operations with
new or expanded manure storage
facilities and more than 1,000
AEUs must obtain a Pennsylva
nia Clean Streams Law Water
Quality Management Part II per
mit before operating.
Permit deadlines for CAFO
operations are as follows:
• CAFOs operating on or be
fore Nov. 18, 2000, with more
than 1,000 AEUs, must apply for
NPDES coverage by May 18;
• All other CAFOs operating
on or before Nov. 18, 2(K)0 must
apply for NPDES coverage by
Feb. 28,2002;
• CAFOs beginning operation
after Nov. 18, 2000 must apply
for an NPDES permit before be
ginning operation.
Animal feeding operations not
included in the categories listed
above may request permit cover
age under the CAFO regulations.
All farming operations that han
dle or apply manure must com
ply with the practices described
in the Manure Management for
Environmental Protection manu
al found on DEP’s Website (di
rectlink “Nutrient Manage-
DISTRIBUTORS INC.
311 Willow St., Terre Hill, PA 17581
ment”), or obtain approval or a
permit from DEP.
In addition, new manure stor
age facilities need to be designed
and inspected by a Pennsylvania
registered engineer who must
provide certification that the fa
cilities are designed and con
structed in accordance with the
Pennsylvania Technical Guide
standards.
DEP has been working to sat
isfy federal requirements for
CAFOs under the Federal Clean
Water Act and the National Pol-
2000 Crop Disaster
Program Sign-up Continues
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) Farmers and producers
may continue to sign-up for pro
gram benefits under the 2000
Crop Disaster Program.
The previous deadline was
May 4. No specific closing date
has been determined at this
point, said Alarie Fleming, chief
of the production adjustment
section in the Pennsylvania Farm
Service Agency (FSA) State Of
fice in Harrisburg.
Sign-up will continue to re
main open until after further
program regulations are devel
oped and published particularly
with respect to quality loss cover
age. Following that, sign-up clo
sure date may be announced,
Fleming added.
Although no sign-up deadline
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CAFO Permits
lutant Discharge Elimination
System. The Pennsylvania
CAFO program is the result of
extensive discussion by a work
group made up of agricultural
interests, environmental interests
and government agencies, such
as county conservation districts,
the Department of Agriculture,
the State Conservation Commis
sion, the USDA Natural Re
sources Conservation Service
and the U.S. Environmental Pro
tection Agency. The Pennsylva
nia CAFO program is built upon
has been announced, Fleming
stated that producers who expe
rienced eligible crop losses are
encouraged to provide acreage,
production, and other required
information to their local FSA
office as timely as possible to fi
nalize applications.
Appropriations Act 2001, in
cluded funding for the 2000 Crop
Disaster Program (CDP). CDP
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highlight Grower & Marketer
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incaster
-arming,
the preexisting Pennsylvania Nu
trient Management Act program.
Applications and information
for CAFO Individual and Gener
al NPDES permits are available
from Water Quality Programs in
each of DEP’s Regional Offices
or through the DEP Website (di
rectlink “CAFOs”).
For more information, contact
Mohammad Farooq at (717)
783-7577 or e-mail Farooq.mo
hammad@dep.state.pa.us.
assistance is available to farmers
who suffered crop losses in the
year 2000 due to natural disas
ters. Fanners are eligible for
compensation for 2000 crop
losses directly attributed to ad
verse weather and related condi
tions.
Farmers may obtain further
information at their local FSA
office located in 50 agricultural
counties across Pennsylvania.
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