LANSING – Concentrated animal
feeding operations were already limited in when and where they could spread
manure, but a new permit released Monday would apply those limits to operations
receiving that manure as well.
CAFOs are required under federal
rule to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit that
regulates the waste allowed to leave the operation in ground or surface water.
Most of those operations in Michigan are covered by a general permit that does
not allow any waste to run from the facility into neighboring waters.
As part of the effort to prevent
runoff, CAFOs are prohibited from spreading manure on their fields if the
ground is frozen or snow-covered.
But witnesses at the hearings on the
permit renewal said many of the facilities still are spreading the waste in the
winter where it can run into streams and drains as the snow melts.
In answer to those concerns, the new permit holds any farm that receives the waste through a
manifest to the same spreading standards. CAFOs would not be permitted to
transfer the waste between January and March if the receiver does not agree to
the restrictions.
“The change responds to several
incidents during the past few winters where waste from CAFO operations was
transferred to other operations, which spread the material on their lands for
fertilizer and subsequently impacted drains, creeks and rivers during the
spring thaw,” the department said in a release. “The change is
expected to further minimize incidents of farm runoff to surface waters during
spring melts, and will safeguard Michigan’s valuable water resources while
providing a reasonable regulatory framework for farmers.”
Officials at the Michigan Farm
Bureau and environmental groups that had been involved in discussions could not
be reached late Monday after the permit was released.
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