II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1323

To regulate concentrated animal feeding operations for the protection of

the environment and public health, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 28, 1997

Mr. HARKIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To regulate concentrated animal feeding operations for the

protection of the environment and public health, and

for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Animal Agriculture

5 Reform Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) animal agriculture is a critical part of the

9 agricultural economy of the United States and is an

10 important source of food and consumer products;
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1 (2) the continuation of a strong animal agri2 culture industry should be supported;

3 (3) animal waste has been identified as a sig4 nificant source of water pollution in many areas of

5 the United States and inadequate management of

6 animal waste continues to pose a significant threat

7 to the environment and public health;

8 (4) the adoption of animal waste management

9 plans by concentrated animal feeding operations will

10 help to ensure that the continued success and

11 growth of the animal agriculture industry is compat12 ible with protection of the environment and public

13 health; and

14 (5) oversight of animal waste management

15 planning by the Secretary will enhance environ16 mental protection under the Federal Water Pollution

17 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.).

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

19 In this Act:

20 (1) ANIMAL OWNER.—The term ‘‘animal

21 owner’’ means the person that has the primary own22 ership, controlling, or beneficial interest in the ani23 mals in a concentrated animal feeding operation, in24 cluding an employee or agent of the person.
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1 (2) ANIMAL WASTE.—The term ‘‘animal waste’’

2 means the excreta or other associated waste of an

3 animal, including litter, bedding, a dead animal, a

4 composted animal carcass, or other residual organic

5 matter from a concentrated animal feeding oper6 ation.

7 (3) ANIMAL WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The

8 term ‘‘animal waste management plan’’ means a

9 written statement submitted by the operator of a

10 concentrated animal feeding operation to the Sec11 retary detailing the manner in which the operation

12 will comply with this Act.

13 (4) ANIMAL WEIGHT CAPACITY.—The term

14 ‘‘animal weight capacity’’ means the product ob15 tained by multiplying—

16 (A) the maximum number of animals in a

17 concentrated animal feeding operation at any 1

18 time during a year; and

19 (B) the average weight of such an animal

20 during a production cycle (as defined by the

21 Secretary).

22 (5) APPLICATION.—The term ‘‘application’’

23 means laying, spreading on, irrigating, injecting, or

24 otherwise placing animal waste on land by any

25 means.
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1 (6) APPROVED PLAN.—The term ‘‘approved

2 plan’’ means an animal waste management plan for

3 which a written notice of approval has been issued

4 by the Secretary, and is effective, under this Act.

5 (7) CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPER6 ATION.—

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘con8 centrated animal feeding operation’’ means any

9 livestock or poultry feeding operation that—

10 (i)(I) confines animals to areas that

11 are totally roofed;

12 (II) if the operation does not confine

13 animals to areas that are totally roofed,

14 confines animals to areas where the animal

15 density, measured as the ratio of the num16 ber of animals to the acreage of the areas

17 in which the animals are confined, exceeds

18 a level established by the Secretary on the

19 basis of the potential for surface and

20 ground water pollution from animal waste;

21 or

22 (III) collects animal excreta for dis23 posal, storage, or application with a me24 chanical or flushing system or by other

25 means;
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1 (ii) holds animals for 45 days or more

2 during any 1-year period; and

3 (iii) has an animal weight capacity of

4 more than 200,000 pounds for animals

5 other than cattle or more than 400,000

6 pounds for cattle.

7 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘concentrated

8 animal feeding operation’’ includes—

9 (i) all structures and land used for the

10 collection, storage, treatment, or applica11 tion of animal waste from an operation de12 scribed in subparagraph (A); and

13 (ii) each of 2 or more operations de14 scribed in subparagraph (A) in which the

15 animals are under common ownership or

16 control, if the combined animal weight ca17 pacity of the operations exceeds the

18 amounts described in subparagraph

19 (A)(iii).

20 (8) CONTAINMENT STRUCTURE.—The term

21 ‘‘containment structure’’ means a lagoon, pit, tank,

22 or other structure used to receive and store animal

23 waste, regardless of the length of time the waste re24 mains in such a structure.
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1 (9) CONTAINMENT SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘con2 tainment system’’ means all structures or devices

3 used exclusively or partly for the collection, storage,

4 composting, transportation, or application of animal

5 waste from a concentrated animal feeding operation.

6 (10) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’

7 means the Department of Agriculture.

8 (11) DRY WASTE OPERATION.—The term ‘‘dry

9 waste operation’’ means a concentrated animal feed10 ing operation in which animal waste is collected and

11 stored exclusively in a dry form.

12 (12) EARTHEN LAGOON.—The term ‘‘earthen

13 lagoon’’ means an earthen cavity or structure, cov14 ered or uncovered, that receives and stores for any

15 period of time animal waste from animals in a con16 centrated animal feeding operation.

17 (13) FORMED STORAGE STRUCTURE.—The

18 term ‘‘formed storage structure’’ means a structure,

19 covered or uncovered, that has walls and a floor con20 structed of concrete, concrete block, wood, steel, or

21 similar material, including plastic, rubber, fiberglass,

22 or other synthetic material.

23 (14) OPERATOR.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘operator’’

2 means a person that owns or controls a con3 centrated animal feeding operation.

4 (B) AGENTS.—If the operator of a con5 centrated animal feeding operation is not the

6 same person as the animal owner, the operator

7 shall be considered to be an agent of the animal

8 owner, notwithstanding any contract or other

9 agreement entered into between the owner and

10 the operator.

11 (15) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’

12 means the Secretary of Agriculture.

13 (16) WET WASTE OPERATION.—The term ‘‘wet

14 waste operation’’ means a concentrated animal feed15 ing operation in which animal waste is collected and

16 stored in a liquid or semiliquid form.

17 SEC. 4. PLAN APPROVAL.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish and

19 carry out an animal waste management program under

20 which the Secretary shall approve an animal waste man21 agement plan submitted by an animal owner if the plan

22 meets the requirements of this Act.

23 (b) INSPECTION; NOTICE.—Prior to approving an

24 animal waste management plan, the Secretary, acting

25 through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation
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1 Service, shall conduct an on-site inspection of the con2 centrated animal feeding operation to determine whether

3 the proposed animal waste management plan adequately

4 takes into account the specific circumstances of the oper5 ation.

6 (c) COMPLIANCE.—Approval of an animal waste

7 management plan shall be conditioned on the concentrated

8 animal feeding operation remaining in compliance with the

9 plan and this Act.

10 (d) OPERATION OF EXISTING CONCENTRATED ANI11 MAL FEEDING OPERATIONS.—Beginning on the date that

12 is 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, a

13 concentrated animal feeding operation in existence on the

14 date of enactment of this Act shall not operate unless the

15 animal owner of the operation has obtained approval of

16 an animal waste management plan for the operation from

17 the Secretary.

18 (e) CONSTRUCTION OR EXPANSION OF CON19 CENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS.—The con20 struction or expansion of a concentrated animal feeding

21 operation, or the expansion of a livestock or poultry feed22 ing operation that would make the operation a con23 centrated animal feeding operation, is prohibited unless

24 the animal owner of the operation has obtained approval

25 of an animal waste management plan from the Secretary.
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1 (f) DURATION.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Approval of an animal waste

3 management plan may be effective for any period

4 not to exceed 5 years.

5 (2) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION.—Approval of

6 an animal waste management plan for the construc7 tion or expansion of a concentrated animal feeding

8 operation shall expire if the construction or expan9 sion is not completed within 1 year after the date on

10 which the approval is provided.

11 (3) RENEWAL.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—An application for re13 newal of approval of an animal waste manage14 ment plan shall be submitted to the Secretary

15 at least 180 days before the date on which the

16 approval expires.

17 (B) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Renewal of

18 approval of an animal waste management plan

19 shall be subject to the terms and conditions

20 that apply to the approval of an animal waste

21 management plan for a concentrated animal

22 feeding operation at the time of renewal.

23 SEC. 5. ANIMAL WASTE MANAGEMENT PLANS.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with the Adminis25 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Sec-
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1 retary shall establish the required elements of an animal

2 waste management plan and establish technical standards

3 for each element.

4 (b) PURPOSE.—The required elements of an animal

5 waste management plan shall be designed to prevent dis6 charge of animal waste into surface or ground water.

7 (c) MINIMUM REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—In addition to

8 any other requirements imposed under this Act, the re9 quired elements of an animal waste management plan for

10 a concentrated animal feeding operation shall include—

11 (1) the names, addresses, and telephone num12 bers of the animal owner and operator;

13 (2) the location and number of acres of the con14 centrated animal feeding operation;

15 (3) the location of the properties adjoining the

16 concentrated animal feeding operation and the

17 names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the

18 owners of the properties;

19 (4) if any animal waste will be applied on land

20 other than land owned by the animal owner or oper21 ator, a copy of each written agreement executed be22 tween the animal owner and the owner of the land

23 where the waste will be applied that relates to the

24 waste;
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1 (5) a map indicating the general layout of the

2 concentrated animal feeding operation, including—

3 (A) the location of each building or other

4 structure;

5 (B) the location of all portions of the con6 tainment system;

7 (C) the location and flow of any surface

8 water; and

9 (D) the direction and degree of all grades

10 within the property lines of the concentrated

11 animal feeding operation;

12 (6) a certification by the animal owner that the

13 animal owner will be responsible for and will ensure

14 compliance with the animal waste management plan

15 and the requirements of this Act;

16 (7) information necessary to determine the land

17 area required for the application of animal waste

18 from the concentrated animal feeding operation in

19 accordance with the requirements of this Act and

20 any crop or cover schedule specified in the plan;

21 (8) a schedule for periodic testing of soil nutri22 ent levels;

23 (9) a schedule for periodic testing of animal

24 waste nutrient levels;
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1 (10) an estimate of the annual animal produc2 tion and the annual quantity of each type of animal

3 waste produced by the concentrated animal feeding

4 operation;

5 (11) a description of the nutrient management

6 methods, procedures, and practices to be used by the

7 concentrated animal feeding operation to ensure that

8 nutrients from all sources, including animal waste

9 and commercial fertilizer, are applied in accordance

10 with this Act;

11 (12) a description of the methods, structures,

12 or practices to be used by the concentrated animal

13 feeding operation to prevent or minimize—

14 (A) soil loss;

15 (B) surface water pollution;

16 (C) ground water pollution; and

17 (D) odors caused by animal waste during

18 collection, storage, and application;

19 (13) technical specifications for the design and

20 construction of containment systems to be used by

21 the concentrated animal feeding operation;

22 (14) a description of methods, procedures, and

23 practices to be used by the concentrated animal

24 feeding operation for—
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1 (A) operation, monitoring, maintenance,

2 and inspection of animal waste storage facili3 ties; and

4 (B) handling, transportation, application,

5 and treatment of animal waste, including stor6 age volume, schedules for emptying storage fa7 cilities, and application schedules, rates, and lo8 cations;

9 (15) a description of contingency measures to

10 be used by the concentrated animal feeding oper11 ation to minimize environmental pollution resulting

12 from any unexpected waste leak or discharge;

13 (16) a description of practices and procedures

14 to be used by the concentrated animal feeding oper15 ation for the keeping of records detailing compliance

16 with the animal waste management plan and this

17 Act; and

18 (17) any additional requirements necessary to

19 comply with applicable Federal, State, and local laws

20 (including regulations).

21 SEC. 6. ANIMAL WASTE CONTROL.

22 (a) MAXIMUM LEVELS FOR NITROGEN AND PHOS23 PHORUS.—The application of animal waste to land by any

24 person is prohibited if (taking into account all sources of

25 nutrients, including commercial fertilizer) the application
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1 of animal waste would result in the application of nitrogen

2 or phosphorus in a quantity that—

3 (1) exceeds the quantity necessary to meet crop

4 nutrient requirements; and

5 (2) significantly increases the risk of increased

6 soil toxicity or the pollution of surface or ground

7 water.

8 (b) MAXIMUM LEVELS FOR OTHER SUBSTANCES.—

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—In consultation with the

10 Administrator of the Environmental Protection

11 Agency, the Secretary shall establish maximum per12 mitted levels for other nutrients, minerals, metals, or

13 other substances found in animal waste whose pres14 ence in land above the levels would pose a significant

15 threat of environmental pollution or soil toxicity.

16 (2) EXCESS LEVELS.—The application of ani17 mal waste to land by any person is prohibited if fol18 lowing the application of the animal waste the level

19 of a substance referred to in paragraph (1) would

20 exceed the maximum level established for the sub21 stance by the Secretary.

22 (c) APPLICATION OF WASTE TO LAND.—

23 (1) AERIAL SPRAYING.—The Secretary shall es24 tablish minimum distances from environmentally

25 sensitive locations (including distances from surface
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1 water, water supply wells, wetlands not used for

2 water treatment purposes, floodplains, and the

3 drainage areas of drainage wells, drainage ditches,

4 tile drainage lines, and subsurface drainage inlets)

5 within which animal waste shall not be applied by

6 aerial spraying.

7 (2) OTHER RESTRICTIONS.—The Secretary may

8 establish other restrictions on aerial spraying (in9 cluding a prohibition on aerial spraying) that mini10 mize the potential of water pollution from animal

11 waste.

12 (3) OTHER APPLICATIONS.—Animal waste shall

13 not be applied on ice, snow, frozen soil, or water

14 saturated soil.

15 (d) CONTAINMENT OR TREATMENT OF ALL

16 WASTE.—

17 (1) CONTAINMENT.—Any containment system

18 shall retain all animal waste produced by the oper19 ation between applications, including runoff that

20 runs through or into any area or structure in which

21 animal waste is present.

22 (2) TREATMENT OF EXCESS WASTE.—If a wet

23 waste operation produces more animal waste than

24 can be applied to land in accordance with this Act

25 or used for another purpose determined by the Sec-
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1 retary to pose no significant risk of water pollution,

2 the operation shall treat the excess animal waste in

3 accordance with Federal, State, and local laws (in4 cluding regulations) governing the treatment of

5 human waste.

6 (3) STORAGE OF EXCESS WASTE.—If a dry

7 waste operation produces more animal waste than

8 can be applied to land in accordance with this Act

9 or used for another purpose determined by the Sec10 retary to pose no significant risk of water pollution,

11 animal waste of the operation shall be stored only in

12 a covered, formed storage structure constructed in

13 accordance with technical standards established by

14 the Secretary that ensure that the structure has the

15 structural integrity to withstand expected internal

16 and external load pressures and will not discharge

17 animal waste.

18 (e) CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF CERTAIN STRUC19 TURES.—An owner or operator of a concentrated animal

20 feeding operation shall not construct or, effective begin21 ning on the date that is 3 years after the date of enact22 ment of this Act, use for the storage of animal waste—

23 (1) a containment system, if any portion of the

24 system is located below the highest ground water

25 level that occurs during the year; or
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1 (2) an earthen lagoon that is—

2 (A) located in an area with characteristics

3 (including topology, hydrology, and soil com4 position) that do not allow (according to tech5 nical standards established by the Secretary)

6 the construction of an earthen lagoon without a

7 significant risk of water pollution from animal

8 waste;

9 (B) located within minimum distances es10 tablished by the Secretary from environmentally

11 sensitive locations, including distances from

12 surface water, water supply wells, wetlands not

13 used for water treatment purposes, floodplains,

14 and the drainage areas of drainage wells, drain15 age ditches, tile drainage lines, and subsurface

16 drainage inlets; or

17 (C) not lined in accordance with technical

18 standards established by the Secretary that use

19 the best available technology.

20 (f) CONTAINMENT SYSTEM FOR WET WASTE OPER21 ATIONS.—The containment system for a wet waste oper22 ation shall include—

23 (1) emergency shutoff devices that are designed

24 and placed in a manner that ensures the fastest
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1 practicable containment of animal waste in the event

2 of an unexpected leakage or other discharge; and

3 (2) failsafe structures that will contain, in the

4 event that a containment structure breaches or over5 flows, a minimum quantity of animal waste equal to

6 the maximum quantity loaded into the containment

7 structure in any 48-hour period.

8 (g) DISCONTINUATION OF USE OF ANIMAL WASTE

9 STORAGE STRUCTURES.—An operator that ceases use of

10 an animal waste storage structure shall, not later than

11 180 days after the date on which use of the structure

12 ceases, remove and dispose of all animal waste from the

13 structure in accordance with this Act.

14 (h) APPLICATION OF ANIMAL WASTE ON OTHER

15 LAND.—Before applying animal waste from a con16 centrated animal feeding operation on land other than

17 land owned by the animal owner or operator, the animal

18 owner and the owner of the land where the waste will be

19 applied shall execute a written agreement that includes

20 such terms and conditions as are necessary to ensure that

21 the waste is applied in accordance with this Act.

22 SEC. 7. RECORDKEEPING.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—An animal owner shall maintain

24 a current animal waste management plan and records that
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1 are sufficient to demonstrate compliance with the plan and

2 this Act.

3 (b) DURATION.—The animal owner shall retain the

4 records for not less than 3 years.

5 SEC. 8. ENFORCEMENT; PENALTIES.

6 (a) CLOSURE OF CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING

7 OPERATIONS.—The Secretary shall take such actions as

8 are necessary to compel the closure of a concentrated ani9 mal feeding operation if—

10 (1) an animal waste management plan for the

11 operation is not submitted for approval, and ap12 proved, in accordance with this Act; or

13 (2) the approval of the plan for the operation

14 has been revoked by the Secretary.

15 (b) MODIFICATION, SUSPENSION, OR REVOCATION

16 OF PLANS.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may modify,

18 suspend, or revoke, in whole or in part, the approval

19 of an approved plan for cause.

20 (2) CAUSE.—Cause for modification, suspen21 sion, or revocation of the approval may include—

22 (A) failure to comply with the approved

23 plan;

24 (B) a change in any condition of the con25 centrated animal feeding operation that re-
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1 quires a change in the containment system to

2 maintain compliance with this Act; and

3 (C) failure to submit to the Secretary, on

4 request, any records and information required

5 to be maintained under this Act.

6 (c) MANDATORY REVIEW OF MANAGEMENT PRAC7 TICES.—If a concentrated animal feeding operation is de8 termined in an administrative action or proceeding of any

9 Federal or State agency to have caused significant water

10 pollution, the Secretary shall review the animal waste

11 management practices of the concentrated animal feeding

12 operation to determine if—

13 (1) the pollution resulted from failure to comply

14 with an approved plan; and

15 (2) modifications to the approved plan are re16 quired to prevent further pollution.

17 (d) LIABILITY FOR APPLICATIONS.—For the pur18 poses of this section, the application of animal waste in

19 a liquid form by any person in a manner that results in

20 significant water pollution (as determined in an adminis21 trative action or proceeding of any Federal or State agen22 cy) shall be considered to be a failure by the animal owner

23 of the concentrated animal feeding operation that pro24 duced the waste to comply with the animal waste manage25 ment plan of the operation.
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1 (e) TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY

2 FROM OWNERS TO OPERATORS.—No provision of a con3 tract or other agreement between an animal owner and

4 an operator shall transfer responsibility or liability under

5 this Act from the animal owner to the operator.

6 SEC. 9. NONPREEMPTION.

7 Nothing in this Act limits the authority of a State

8 or local government to enforce stricter regulation of any

9 aspect of a livestock or poultry feeding operation.

10 SEC. 10. VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE INCENTIVES UNDER EN11 VIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PRO12 GRAM.

13 (a) HIGH PRIORITY FOR ASSISTANCE AND PAY14 MENTS.—Section 1240C of the Food Security Act of 1985

15 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–3) is amended—

16 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the

17 end;

18 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at

19 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

20 (3) by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(4) are provided for the development and im22 plementation of animal waste management plans

23 that meet standards established under the Animal

24 Agriculture Reform Act by livestock producers for
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1 whom animal waste management plans are not re2 quired under that Act.’’.

3 (b) APPROVED PLAN.—Section 1240E(a) of the Food

4 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–5(a)) is amend5 ed—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘To be’’ and inserting the fol7 lowing:

8 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—To be’’; and

9 (2) by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(2) ANIMAL WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN.—An

11 animal waste management plan that meets the re12 quirements of the Animal Agriculture Reform Act,

13 but that is prepared by a livestock operator that is

14 too small to be considered a concentrated feeding op15 eration (as defined in section 3 of that Act), shall

16 be considered to be an approved plan of operations

17 under the environmental quality incentives pro18 gram.’’.

19 (c) FUNDING.—Section 1241(b) of the Food Security

20 Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841(b)) is amended—

21 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para22 graph (3); and

23 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the follow24 ing:
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1 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In

2 addition to any amounts that are made available

3 under paragraph (1), there are authorized to be ap4 propriated to carry out the environmental quality in5 centives program $600,000,000 for each of fiscal

6 years 1999 through 2002.’’.

7 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

9 as are necessary to carry out this Act.

Æ