Texas Administrative Code › Title 30 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Part 1 - TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 321 - CONTROL OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES BY RULE › Subchapter B - CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS › Section 321.32 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
All definitions in Texas Water Code (TWC), Chapter 26 and
					 Chapter 3 and Chapter 305 of this title (relating to Definitions and
					 Consolidated Permits) shall apply to this subchapter and are incorporated by
					 reference. The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall
					 have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
					 otherwise.
(1) Agronomic rates--The
				  land application of animal manure, sludge, or wastewater at rates of
				  application in accordance with a plan for nutrient management which will
				  enhance soil productivity and provide the crop or forage growth with needed
				  nutrients for optimum health and growth based upon a realistic yield
				  goal.
(2) Animal feeding operation
				  (AFO)--A lot or facility (other than an aquatic animal production facility)
				  where animals have been, are, or will be stabled or confined and fed or
				  maintained for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period, and the
				  animal confinement areas do not sustain crops, vegetation, forage growth, or
				  post-harvest residues in the normal growing season over any portion of the lot
				  or facility. Two or more AFOs under common ownership are a single AFO if they
				  adjoin each other, or if they use a common area or system for the beneficial
				  use of manure, sludge, or wastewater. A land management unit is not part of an
				  AFO.
(3) Annual(ly)--Once per
				  calendar year with required events not more than 18 months apart, unless
				  approved in writing by the executive director on a case-by-case
				  basis.
(4) Aquifer--A saturated
				  permeable geologic unit that can transmit, store, and yield to a well, the
				  quality and quantities of groundwater sufficient to provide for a beneficial
				  use. An aquifer can be composed of unconsolidated sands and gravels, permeable
				  sedimentary rocks such as sandstones and limestones, and/or heavily fractured
				  volcanic and crystalline rocks. Groundwater within an aquifer can be confined,
				  unconfined, or perched.
(5) Area
				  land use map--A map that identifies property lines, permanent odor sources, and
				  distances and direction to any occupied residence or business structure, school
				  (including associated recreational areas), permanent structure containing a
				  place of worship, or public park within a one-mile radius of the permanent odor
				  sources at the animal feeding operation. The map shall include the north arrow,
				  scale of map, buffer distances, and date that the map was generated and the
				  date that the distances were verified.
(6) Beneficial use--Application of manure,
				  sludge, or wastewater to land in a manner that does not exceed the agronomic
				  need or rate for a harvested or cover crop. Application of manure, sludge, or
				  wastewater on the land at a rate below or equal to the optimal agronomic rate
				  is considered a beneficial use.
(7)
				  Best management practices (BMPs)--The schedule of activities, prohibitions of
				  practices, maintenance procedures, and other management and conservation
				  practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of water in the state. BMPs also
				  include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control
				  site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge, land application, or drainage from raw
				  material storage.
(8) Bypass--The
				  intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of a treatment
				  facility.
(9) Catastrophic
				  conditions--Conditions that cause structural or mechanical damage to the animal
				  feeding operation from natural events including high winds, tornadoes,
				  hurricanes, earthquakes, or other natural disasters, other than rainfall
				  events.
(10) Certified nutrient
				  management specialist--An organization in Texas or an individual who is
				  currently certified as a nutrient management specialist through a United States
				  Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Texas
				  Certified Crop Advisor's Board or Texas AgriLife Extension Service recognized
				  certification program.
(11) Chronic
				  or catastrophic rainfall event--A series of rainfall events that do not provide
				  opportunity for dewatering a retention control structure and that are
				  equivalent to or greater than the design rainfall event or any single rainfall
				  event that is equivalent to or greater than the design rainfall
				  event.
(12) Certified water quality
				  management plan--A site-specific plan for agricultural or silvicultural lands
				  that includes appropriate land treatment practices, production practices,
				  management measures, technologies, or combinations thereof that when
				  implemented, will achieve a level of pollution prevention or abatement
				  determined by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, in
				  consultation with the local Soil and Water Conservation District, to be
				  consistent with state water quality standards.
(13) Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan
				  (CNMP)--A resource management plan containing a grouping of conservation
				  practices and management activities that, when implemented in a conservation
				  system, will help ensure that both agricultural production goals are achieved,
				  and natural resource concerns dealing with nutrient and organic by-products and
				  their adverse impacts on water quality are minimized.
(14) Concentrated animal feeding operation
				  (CAFO)--Any animal feeding operation (AFO) defined as follows:
(A) Large CAFO--Any AFO that stables or
				  confines and feeds or maintains for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month
				  period equal to or more than the numbers of animals specified in any of the
				  following categories:
(i) 1,000 cattle other
				  than mature dairy cattle or veal calves. Cattle includes, but is not limited
				  to, heifers, steers, bulls, and cow/calf pairs;
(ii) 1,000 veal calves;
(iii) 700 mature dairy cattle (whether
				  milkers or dry cows);
(iv) 2,500
				  swine, each weighing 55 pounds or more; 10,000 swine, each weighing less than
				  55 pounds;
(v) 500
				  horses;
(vi) 10,000 sheep or
				  lambs;
(vii) 55,000
				  turkeys;
(viii) 125,000 chickens
				  (other than laying hens, if the operation does not use a liquid manure handling
				  system);
(ix) 30,000 laying hens or
				  broilers (if the operation uses a liquid manure handling system), or 82,000
				  laying hens (if the operation does not use a liquid manure handling system);
				  or
(x) 5,000 ducks (if the
				  operation uses a liquid manure handling system), or 30,000 ducks (if the
				  operation does not use a liquid manure handling system).