Washington initiating process to update CAFO permit

The Washington Department of Ecology has started work on updating the state’s Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) general permit, and is calling for public input in the formative stages of this process.
Ecology is the state’s control agency, as authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for activities falling under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. Its authority encompasses permitting and regulation of wastewater discharge in various forms, including that from facilities confining animals such as cattle, horses and chicken in large numbers. Generally speaking, a CAFO exists when animals are confined for at least 45 days in a 12-month period to an area that contains no vegetation.
Washington’s CAFO permit, which addresses both federal and state regulations, expired in 2011. Facilities that were covered by the permit at the time of expiration? there were 10 ? are allowed to operate under the permit’s terms during the update process.
In an effort to both involve and inform interested parties, Ecology has scheduled two public meetings ? at Zillah on April 21 and at Bellingham on April 23. In what it is calling listening sessions, Ecology will outline its agenda as well as field comments and questions.
More information is available on Ecology’s website at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/permits/cafo/index.html.