The following are available by contacting Michael Dunn at (317) 232-8736
Confined feeding is the raising of animals for food, fur or recreation in lots, pens, ponds, sheds or buildings, where they are confined, fed and maintained for at least 45 days during any year, and where there is no ground cover or vegetation present over at least half of the animals' confinement area. Livestock markets and sale barns are generally excluded.
Indiana law defines a confined feeding operation as any animal feeding operation engaged in the confined feeding of at least 300 cattle, or 600 swine or sheep, or 30,000 fowl, such as chickens, turkeys or other poultry. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) regulates these confined feeding operations, as well as smaller operations which have violated water pollution rules or laws, under IC 13-18-10 , the Confined Feeding Control Law. IDEM's Office of Land Quality administers the regulatory program which includes permitting, compliance monitoring and enforcement activities. IDEM regulation 327 IAC 16 regulating confined feeding was adopted by the Water Pollution Control Board on November 14, 2001 and became effective on March 10, 2002.
Due to size or historical compliance issues some confined feeding operations are defined as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The general permit CAFO regulation, 327 IAC 15-15, was adopted on Jan. 14, 2004 and went into effect on March 24, 2004. The CAFO regulation is based upon a USEPA Clean Water Act regulation that went into effect in December, 2003. For purposes of discussion, it is important to remember that all CAFOs are confined feeding operations. The CAFO regulation however, contains more stringent operational requirements and slightly different application requirements. Details regarding CAFOs will follow the description of requirements for confined feeding operations.
The animals raised in confined feeding operations produce manure and wastewater which is collected and stored in pits, tanks, lagoons and other storage devices. The manure is then applied to area fields as fertilizer. When stored and applied properly, this beneficial reuse provides a natural source of nutrients for crop production. It also lessens the need for fuel and other resources that are used in the production of commercial fertilizer.
Confined feeding operations, however, can also pose environmental concerns, including the following:
The IDEM CFO/CAFO approval/permit program is based on the Confined Feeding Control Law administered through regulations adopted under the Water Pollution Control Board. The focus of the regulations is to protect water quality. The program is intended to provide an oversight process to assure that waste storage structures are designed, constructed and maintained to be structurally sound and that manure is handled and land applied in an environmentally acceptable manner.
Confined Feeding Operation Fact: No one may start construction of a confined feeding operation or expansion without the prior approval of IDEM.
IDEM is responsible for reviewing approval applications for confined feeding operations. An application is needed for new confined feeding operations, expansions of existing confined feeding operations, and for existing animal feeding operations that must seek approval due to water quality violations.
A confined feeding operation owner/operator needs to submit at least two (2) copies of the following to obtain a confined feeding operation approval from IDEM:
Upon receipt of a confined feeding operation application, IDEM reviews its contents in accordance with the CFO Guidance Manual, a document which explains approval requirements for construction and operation of a confined feeding operation. The Guidance Manual was revised in March 2002 by a workgroup of representatives from agricultural, environmental, educational, and regulatory interests.
IDEM determines whether or not the confined feeding operation meets the following conditions:
IDEM issues or denies a confined feeding operation approval for the proposed confined feeding operation after completing the above review process. Public participation steps during this process include the following:
IDEM notifies the applicant, the adjacent property owners/occupants and local officials originally notified, as well as others identified by the applicant or who requests to be notified, when a decision on the application for the approval is made. A petition for review of the decision may be submitted to the Indiana Office of Environmental Adjudication within 18 days of the mailing date of the decision
IDEM administers the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program required by the USEPA Clean Water Act (CWA). Part of that nationally administered program addresses activities that cause or can cause discharges of contaminants to waters of the state. In December 2003, EPA released a final regulation for CAFOs. These farms are defined as point sources by the CWA and are required to obtain permit coverage. IDEM has developed a general permit CAFO regulation (327 IAC 15-15) which went into effect on Feb 26, 2004. The CAFO NPDES permit process and operational requirements are slightly different than for CFOs.
The following list depicts the animal species and their threshold numbers for needing an NPDES permit. Farms with fewer animals can be designated a CAFO and required to get a permit if they have, or it is determined they will pose a significant threat to have, a discharge of pollutants from the production areas or waste storage facilities.
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation Fact: No one may start construction of a CAFO or expansion without the prior approval of IDEM.
IDEM is responsible for reviewing permit applications seeking approval of CAFOs. An application is needed for new CAFOs, any expansions of existing CAFOs, and for existing CFOs that change operations such that they become a CAFO.
Two types of NPDES permits are available for CAFOs:
This applies to any CAFO seeking a general or individual permit. An application for construction approval must provide at least two (2) copies of the following to IDEM:
The CFO application (the only permit application that covers construction) review process requires a fee of $100 and the NPDES general permit application is $50. Consequently the general permit application fees for a CAFO seeking construction approval is $150. An NPDES individual permit application fee is $250. An NPDES individual permit with construction approval review is $300.
Upon receipt of an NPDES general permit application; IDEM reviews its contents in accordance with CAFO regulation 327 IAC 15-15. If the application includes proposed construction the submittal must meet the CFO application requirements including the design requirements of the CFO rule (327 IAC 16), and the design and construction section of the CFO guidance manual explains approval requirements for construction and operation of a confined feeding operation. The guidance manual was revised in March 2002, by a workgroup of representatives from agricultural, environmental, educational and regulatory interests.
By reviewing the items mentioned in the above section IDEM determines if the CAFO satisfies the following conditions:
Existing farms who seek general permit coverage and are not proposing construction are considered covered under the general permit rule upon receipt of the application when the above review process determines the application is complete. Coverage under the general permit rule for farms seeking construction approval is reserved until the review process determines the design and construction proposal meets the applicable requirements of both the CAFO and CFO regulation. IDEM issues or denies a general CAFO NPDES permit after completing the above review process. Public participation steps during this process include the following:
the owners of land adjacent to the proposed CAFO (or occupants on adjacent land when the landowner does not live on the adjacent land), and the county commissioners of the county where the CAFO is or would be located;
IDEM issues or denies an individual CAFO NPDES permit seeking construction approval after completing the above described completeness review process. Public participation steps during this process include the following:
There are approximately 625 CAFOs in the state. This represents 20 percent of the IDEM regulated farms.
IDEM estimates they produce 80 percent of the animals at regulated farms.
IDEM must perform the process that state law and regulations have provided. IDEMs approval does not relieve the farm from complying with any local zoning requirements.
The USEPA CAFO rule issued on Dec 16, 2003 and was appealed by environmental and industry groups. The original appeal decision to vacate part of the rule and revise other parts was upheld and in late June, 2006, EPA proposed changes to the CAFO rule. IDEM will be reviewing the draft EPA rule changes to consider the potential need to revise their own rules which were tailored after the original EPA rule.
. The site contains are variety of informational topics and includes an "Ask the Expert" feature.
A Great Lakes Information Network Partner
