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by Joe Cornely

Ohio’s rules governing construction and operation of large livestock farms were finalized only 10 months ago. But already, those rules are undergoing some changes.

Revisions to the existing law, which was passed as S.B. 141, were unavoidable, according to Larry Gearhardt, director of local affairs for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF). He explained that at the same time Ohio was finalizing its regulations, the U.S. EPA also was rewriting its rules covering Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). Gearhardt said the state did "a pretty good job of predicting what EPA would expect." But still, a few alterations in state law are needed. Those changes are included in H.B. 152, sponsored by Rep. Steve Reinhard, R-Bucyrus.

"The biggest thing 141 did was transfer authority over livestock farms to the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) from the Ohio EPA," Gearhardt said. "With 152, we’re giving ODA the tools that will allow them to apply to U.S. EPA to be the delegated authority for issuing NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permits."

H.B. 152 changes the terminology used to describe the size of farms. To mesh Ohio language with the federal government’s, the "animal units" measurement will be replaced with a simple count of the number of animals.

Another change eliminates the exemptions the old rules granted to certain types of animals. Immature animals, such as feeder pigs, dairy heifers and veal calves now will be counted for purposes of determining how many animals a farm has. The new regulations also will count animals on a species-by-species basis. Previously, all species were added together to determine if a farm’s size reached the regulatory threshold.

Gearhardt said most of the regulation updates apply to large CAFOs which are farms with more than 1,000 animals. However, of note is a clarification of when "medium-sized" CAFOs will be subject to permitting requirements. These operations, of between 300 and 1,000 animals, will be subject to CAFO regulations if they have a discharge from any man-made conveyance and/or if storm water runs through the production area. The smallest CAFOs, those under 300 animals, also will be regulated if the Ohio Department of Agriculture determines that the operation is a "significant contributor of pollution."

Some environmental organizations have used the introduction of H.B. 152 as an opportunity to push for lawmakers to bring more farms under ODA’s oversight. They have promoted the idea of lowering the animal number threshold at which construction and operation permits are required. Reinhard’s bill doesn’t do that, Gearhardt said. "But the most important thing people should know is that regardless of size, Ohio’s livestock farms are well regulated. It may be ODA, or it may be ODNR (Ohio Department of Natural Resources), but in all cases, the state has the authority it needs to help assure a clean environment."

For analysis of the new EPA regulations, go to www.ofbf.org, click on Featured Links, livestock rules.