The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously decided that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot require all concentrated animal feeding operations to have Clean Water Act permits. CWA permits can be required for operations that are discharging manure into a waterway.
The CAFO rule, or concentrated animal feeding operation rule, began in 2008 and required all CAFOs to apply for a CWA permit and included a zero-discharge standard. The rule was not limited to livestock operations; it also applied to cropland that used manure as fertilizer. The penalty of $37,500 per day was imposed for illegal discharges in addition to failure to apply for a permit.
The court found that the implementation of the failure to apply provision exceeded the EPA's statutory authority and created undue economic pressure on CAFOs. This decision came to the relief of several agricultural groups who had sued EPA regarding this rule.
Posted: 3/17/11
