I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 684
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to control water pollution
from concentrated animal feeding operations, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 10, 1999
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mrs.
TAUSCHER, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. STARK, Ms. RIVERS, and Mr. MEEHAN)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to control
water pollution from concentrated animal feeding oper-
ations, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Farm Sustainability
and Animal Feedlot Enforcement Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Discharges and runoff from concentrated
animal feeding operations are a major source of
water pollution in many watersheds.
(2) An outbreak of cryptosporidium in Wiscon-
sin, which killed more than 100 people, and out-
breaks of Pfiesteria piscicida in the coastal waters of
North Carolina and Maryland, which killed millions
of fish and sickened dozens of people, have been
linked to contaminants associated with animal feed-
ing operations.
(3) Current controls on water pollution from
concentrated animal feeding operations are inad-
equate to control surface discharges and do not ade-
quately protect ground water.
(4) Additional controls on all forms of water
pollution resulting from concentrated animal feeding
operations are needed to protect the public health,
water quality, and fisheries of the United States.
(5) Alternatives to animal waste containment
lagoons exist, and the use of these alternatives would
better protect the public health and the waters of
the United States from pollution.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are to protect the public
health, water quality, and fisheries of the United States
by establishing appropriate controls on water pollution
from concentrated animal feeding operations.
SEC. 4. PERMITS.
Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control
Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
‘‘(q) CONCENTRATED
ANIMAL
FEEDING
OPER-
ATIONS.—
‘‘(1) CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPER-
ATION DEFINED.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this subsection, the
term ‘concentrated animal feeding operation’
means any livestock or poultry feeding oper-
ation (including a dairy) that—
‘‘(i)(I) collects animal waste for dis-
posal, storage, treatment, or application
with a mechanical or flushing system or by
other means;
‘‘(II) confines animals for 45 consecu-
tive days or more during any 1-year pe-
riod; and
‘‘(III) has a regulatory threshold ca-
pacity; or
‘‘(ii) contributes to the degradation of
a watershed as a result of a discharge of
pollutants.
The term includes all structures and land used
for the collection, storage, treatment, stock-
piling, or application of animal waste from such
an operation.
‘‘(B) REGULATORY
THRESHOLD
CAPAC-
ITY.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), an
operation has a regulatory threshold capacity if
the sum of the capacity fractions for each class
of animal is at least 1.0.
‘‘(C) CAPACITY FRACTION.—For purposes
of subparagraph (B), the term ‘capacity frac-
tion’ means, with respect to each class of ani-
mal, the fraction—
‘‘(i) the numerator of which is the ca-
pacity of the operation for such class of
animal, and
‘‘(ii) the denominator of which is the
specified capacity for such class of animal.
‘‘(D) CLASSES OF ANIMAL; SPECIFIED CA-
PACITIES.—The classes of animals and the
specified capacity for each such class shall be
determined in accordance with the following
table:
‘‘Classes of animals:
Specified capacity:
Slaughter steers and heifers ..........
500
Mature dairy cattle ........................
350
Swine weighing over 55 pounds
each.
1,000
Sheep .............................................
5,000
Turkeys ..........................................
27,500
Laying hens and broilers ...............
50,000
Horses ............................................
300.
‘‘(E) SPECIAL RULE FOR COMMON OWNER-
SHIP.—All operations that are within the same
watershed shall be treated as one operation for
purposes of this paragraph if the animals con-
fined at such operations are under common
ownership or control or if such operations are
under common ownership or control.
‘‘(2) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection,
the following definitions apply:
‘‘(A) ANIMAL OWNER.—The term ‘animal
owner’ means the person that has the primary
ownership interest in an animal or a person
who has a controlling, contractual, or beneficial
interest in an animal confined at a concentrated
animal feeding operation, including an employee
or agent of the person.
‘‘(B) ANIMAL WASTE.—The term ‘animal
waste’ means the excreta or other waste of ani-
mals confined at a concentrated animal feeding
operation, including litter, bedding, a dead ani-
mal, a composted animal carcass, or other re-
sidual organic matter from a concentrated feed-
ing operation.
‘‘(C) 
CONTAINMANT
STRUCTURE.—The
term ‘containmant structure’ means a lagoon,
pit, tank, or other structure used to receive and
store animal waste, regardless of the length of
time the waste remains in the structure.
‘‘(D) DISCHARGE.—The term ‘discharge’
or ‘discharge of pollutants’ includes the release,
directly or indirectly to the waters of the United
States, of animal waste or nutrients, minerals,
metals, or other substances derived from animal
waste or any combination thereof.
‘‘(3) GENERAL
RULE.—Except in compliance
with the terms of a permit issued under this section,
it is unlawful to discharge pollutants from a con-
centrated animal feeding operation.
‘‘(4) PERMITS.—
‘‘(A) 
EXISTING
PERMITS.—Any 
con-
centrated animal feeding operation operating on
the date of the enactment of this Act under a
permit issued under this section may continue
to operate under the terms of the permit until
the permit expires.