Code of Vermont Rules › Agency 20 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND MARKETS › Sub-Agency 010 - ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION › Chapter 010 - LARGE FARM OPERATIONS (LFO) › Section 20 010 010 - LARGE FARM OPERATIONS (LFO)

Current through June, 2024
SUBCHAPTER
			 1 Authority
These Large Farm Operations (LFO) Rules are adopted
				under the express authority of 6 VSA Chapter 215 Subchapter 3 Section
				4852. The Secretary is given authority under 6 VSA Chapter 215
				(a)(10) to adopt rules pursuant to 3 VSA Chapter 25, for the
				implementation of the provisions of 6 VSA Chapter 215, Subchapter
				4.
SUBCHAPTER 2
			 Declaration of Purpose
These Rules establish procedures and standards for
				the preparation and review of large farm operations permit
				applications, the issuance of permits for the operation the expansion
				of large farms, the construction of new buildings, or the expansion
				of existing buildings for large farm operations in Vermont. These
				Rules also establish procedures and standards for permit amendments,
				permit compliance, and permit enforcement.
The original LFO Rule framed how a farmer should
				apply for a LFO Permit. In this 2007 Rule revision, the Agency has
				added to the framework of these rules direction on maintaining the
				facility once permitted.
The LFO program is designed to achieve the
				legislative and administrative purposes of 6 VSA Chapter 215. The
				Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets intends that these
				Rules will also prescribe criteria that will cause a Vermont LFO to
				be managed in a manner which achieves at least a functionally
				equivalent technical standard as required by federal Concentrated
				Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) regulations.
These Rules apply to all large farm operations in
				Vermont. Large farm operations are required to comply with these
				Rules, the farm's Large Farm Operations permit, and any additional
				conditions or requirements as specified by the Secretary in
				accordance with state law.
These Rules shall also apply to all large farm
				operations that meet the definition of a Large Farm, but are not yet
				permitted.
SUBCHAPTER
			 3 Definitions
For the Purposes of These Rules: 25 year. 24 hour
				rain event: means the maximum 24 hour precipitation event with a
				probable recurrence interval of once every 25 years, as defined by
				the National Weather Service in Technical Paper Number 40, "Rainfall
				Frequency Atlas of the United States", May 1961 and subsequent
				amendments, or equivalent regional or state rainfall probability
				information developed there from.
AAFM: means the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food,
				and Markets.
AAPs: means Vermont's Accepted Agricultural Practice
				Regulations adopted pursuant to Title 6, Chapter 215.
AFO: means an animal feeding operation.
Adjacent Barns: means two or more barns owned by the
				same person that are on a single parcel of land.
Agency: means the Vermont Agency of Agriculture,
				Food, and Markets; also means AAFM.
Animal Feeding Operation: means a lot or a facility
				which has animals that 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 crops, vegetation, forage growth, or post-harvest
				residues are not sustained in the normal growing season over any
				portion of the lot or facility where animals are confined.
Animal Type: means livestock or domestic fowl
				type.
Applicant: means a person applying for, or required
				to apply for, a LFO permit under Vermont law.
Barn: means a structure used for livestock or
				domestic fowl housing.
Certified Nutrient Management Planner: means an
				individual certified through the completion of the USDA/NRCS nutrient
				management certification process that creates, reviews, and modifies
				NMPs.
Common Border: means land parcels upon which barns
				owned by the same person are located when the land parcels abut each
				other (those divided by a road are considered abutting). "Roads"
				include town roads, state roads, and US roadways. Barns separated by
				a parcel of land owned by a third person do not share a common
				border.
Common Waste Disposal System: means a shared waste
				management system for the storage, treatment, or the land application
				of waste from farms owned by the same person.
Common Waste Storage System: means shared manure
				storage lagoons, pits, or other structures, owned or leased by a
				single farming entity (individual or owners within a corporation),
				which is/are located adjacent to or on the LFO barn site.
Conservation Practice: means a specific treatment
				used to address a specific natural resource need and can be
				structural, vegetative, or land management.
Construction: means any activity which requires a LFO
				permit or permit amendment prior to building a new barn, or expanding
				an existing barn, or expanding an existing permitted barn which has
				the capacity to increase the number of livestock or domestic fowl
				housed, and regulated by 6 VSA Chapter 215 Subchapter 3, Regulation
				of Large Farm Operations at a farm.
Cropland: means land devoted to row crop, or pasture
				production.
Dirty Water: means precipitation or other water which
				has moved in, over or through a barnyard, manure, or other nutrient
				or pathogen laden matter, so that they have become co-mingled.
Discharge: for the purpose of these LFO Rules, means
				the placing, depositing, or emission of waste directly into surface
				water.
Domestic Fowl: means laying-hens, broilers, ducks,
				turkeys, and any other number and type of fowl that the Secretary may
				deem to fit this category.
Expansion: means a type of LFO activity which
				requires a LFO permit or amendment in order to increase the number of
				animals or domestic fowl of an existing farm operation. An expansion
				may occur with or without construction:
(a) when the number of animals or
			 domestic fowl are below the threshold defined in the LFO law and an
			 expansion is proposed which would cause the farm operation to have
			 the potential to meet or exceed the LFO threshold; or
(b) when the existing number of
			 animals or domestic fowl is at or above the threshold defined in the
			 LFO law and an expansion is proposed, which could cause the farm to
			 meet or exceed the permitted number of animals or domestic fowl.
Facility: see LFO Facility.
Farm: means the LFO facility, cropland, and
				non-cropland included in one or more parcels of land.
Groundwater: For the purpose of these Rules, means
				water below the land in a zone of saturation, but does not include
				surface water.
Groundwater Quality Standards: means the primary and
				secondary groundwater quality standards listed in Appendix One of the
				Groundwater Protection Rule and Strategy adopted by the Secretary of
				Natural Resources in accordance with 10 V.S.A. Chapter 48.
LFO: means Large Farm Operation(s).
LFO Facility: means the production area, the barns,
				the land devoted to waste storage and other agricultural structures,
				including those created as waste management systems constructed to
				prevent direct discharges to waters of the state or to prevent
				groundwater from exceeding state groundwater quality standards,
				designed, adapted, or used to operate a farm in which the barn or
				barns are designed to house more than:
700 mature dairy animals, whether milked or dry; or
700 bulls; or
1000 cattle, cow/calf pairs, young stock, or heifers;
				or
1000 veal calves; or
2500 swine weighing over 55 pounds; or
10,000 swine weighing less than 55 pounds; or
500 horses; or
10,000 sheep or lambs; or
55,000 turkeys; or
30,000 laying hens with a liquid manure handling
				system; or
82,000 laying hens without a liquid manure handling
				system;
125,000 chickens other than laying hens without a
				liquid manure handling system; or
5000 ducks with a liquid manure handling system;
				or
30,000 ducks without a liquid manure handling system;
				or any other animal type and number that the Secretary may deem to
				fit this category if:
1.
			 Such livestock or domestic fowl are confined: for more than 45 days;
			 and in an area where vegetation is not sustained during the growing
			 season; and
2. Such
			 livestock or domestic fowl are in a barn or adjacent barns owned by
			 the same person; or
3.
			 The barns, collectively designed to house the threshold number of
			 livestock or domestic fowl, owned by the same person, share a common
			 border or
4. The barns,
			 owned by the same person, which have the potential to collectively
			 house the threshold number of livestock or domestic fowl, share a
			 common waste disposal system; or,
5. If any barns, owned by any
			 person, where the threshold number of livestock or domestic fowl are
			 collectively housed, share a common waste disposal system or fields.
Land Application Area: means land under the control
				of an AFO operator, whether it is owned, rented, or leased, excluding
				the production area, to which wastes from the production area are or
				may be applied.
Livestock: means cattle, mature cows, cow/calf pairs,
				young stock, heifers, bulls, swine, sheep, or horses, or any other
				number and type of livestock that the Secretary may deem to fit this
				category.
NRCS: means United States Department of Agriculture
				(USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service.
New Large Farm Barn: means new barn construction on a
				site or parcel where no animal housing structures exist. Also called
				NLFB.
Non-cropland: means woodland or other areas where
				crop or pasture production does not occur.
Nutrient Management: means managing the amount, form,
				placement, and timing of application of plant nutrients for the
				purpose of obtaining optimum forage and crop yields, minimizing entry
				of nutrients into waters of the state and groundwater, and optimizing
				economic use of nutrients generated on and off the farm.
Nutrient Management Plan: means the system by which
				animal waste generation, storage, and use is handled for the purpose
				of obtaining optimum forage and crop yields including the management
				aspects of fertilizer nutrients, conservation practices, animal
				mortalities, clean water, waste and soil testing, and record keeping.
				Also called NMP.
Operating : means a type of activity which requires a
				permit for large farm activities regulated by 6 VSA Chapter 215
				Subchapter 3.
Pasture: means a confined area of perennial
				vegetation used for the grazing and confinement of animals.
Permittee: means a person that has received a LFO
				permit.
Person: means:
(a) an individual, partnership,
			 corporation, association, unincorporated organization, trust or other
			 legal or commercial entity, including a joint venture or affiliated
			 ownership; or
(b) a
			 municipality or state agency; or
(c) individuals and entities
			 affiliated with each other for profit, consideration or any other
			 beneficial interest derived from agricultural land management.
Production Area: means those parts of a LFO facility
				that include the animal confinement area, the waste storage area, the
				waste containment areas, an egg washing or egg processing facility,
				the raw materials storage area, and any area used in the handling,
				treatment, or storage of mortalities.
Secretary: means the Secretary of the Agency of
				Agriculture, Food, and Markets.
VT Water Quality Standards: means the standards and
				criteria adopted by the Natural Resources Board, pursuant to 10 VSA
				Chapter 47 Section 1252(e).
Waste: For the purposes of these LFO Rules, waste
				includes spoiled feed, manure, milkhouse waste, washwater, leachate,
				used bedding, agricultural litter, carcasses, barnyard runoff, or
				dirty water.
Waste Management Structure: Means components,
				practices and other facilities used for storage, composting, and
				stacking manure.
Waste Management System: means a waste management
				program and conservation practices which include, but are not limited
				to, a combination of:
1. an
			 adequately sized waste storage facility, field stacking, composting,
			 leachate control system, and milk house waste system.
2. contracts which transfer the
			 ownership of wastes generated at a production area to another party
			 for management in a manner determined by the Secretary to be
			 appropriate; and/or
3. a
			 nutrient management plan (NMP) for all wastes to be applied
			 compliance with these Rules.
Waste Storage Facility: means an impoundment made for
				the purpose of storing waste by constructing an embankment,
				excavating a pit or dugout, fabricating an in-ground or above-ground
				structure, or any combination thereof.
Waste Storage System: means manure storage lagoons,
				pits, fields, or other farm waste management structures.
Waters of the State: For the purposes of these LFO
				Rules, means all rivers, streams, creeks, brooks, reservoirs, ponds,
				lakes, springs, and all bodies of surface waters, artificial or
				natural, which are contained within, flow through or border the state
				or any portion of it.