CAFO Penalties & WOTUS Still Alive

CAFO Penalties & WOTUS Still Alive

CAFO Penalties & WOTUS Still Alive. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

We haven't talked about the Waters of the U.S. or WOTUS lately and even though the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers have withdrawn the interpretive rule, Colin Woodall - Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association - says WOTUS still poses a threat to all of agriculture.

WOODALL: Well as we read the interpretive rule we never thought that producers were exempt and more importantly there are more than 56 common farming and ranching activities that are done throughout this country so it did not exempt producers but yet it was something that the administrations was hiding behind as she continued to push forward on the Waters of the United States. So we knew that since it wasn't real protection we needed to get rid of it, take away some of her smoke and mirrors, that way we can focus on the underlying rule which it still very much alive.

During 2014, the Oregon Department of Agriculture's Confined Animal Feeding Operation or CAFO Program had an average of 516 facilities registered to a CAFO Permit. Program staff conducted 757 inspections with facility operators. During 2014, the program documented and issued 29 Notices of Non Compliance/Plan of Corrections, which equal four percent of the total inspections performed. Of the 29 issued, six resulted in the program issuing $5,348 of civil penalties. The civil penalties issued represent less than one percent of the total inspections conducted during 2014.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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