AUBURN, April 12---For owners and managers of "concentrated
animal feeding operations" (CAFOs), simply following the rules
isn’t good enough.
Under
new regulations, merely adopting environmentally friendly practices
aimed at reducing waste runoff from livestock facilities into
surface- and groundwater is only part of what will be expected from
managers of these operations.
Operators also will be expected to keep abreast of
changes in these practices by taking continuing education courses.
Under new regulations established by the Alabama
Department of Environmental Management, continuing education will be
required for all managing owners, operators and on-site supervisors
of proposed or existing CAFO facilities. CAFO registrants must
complete up to 16 hours of approved group or individual training
within a year of registering their operations. Every year thereafter,
they also will be expected to complete at least 8 additional hours
of training. Under current regulations, 12 hours of initial
training, followed by 6 hours of annual refresher course, are all
that is required.
Operators also must provide proof of compliance with
these new regulations when they re-register each year. There is a
steep price involved for operators who choose not to attend or to
document the required training.
"Operators who choose not to comply with these
new educational requirements will have to pay the Alabama Department
of Environmental Management (ADEM) what is known as a ‘Greenfield
fee’ totaling $500 with the initial registration," says Ted
Tyson, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System biosystems engineer.
"They will also be required to pay the same amount at each
annual re-registration for as long as they fail to enroll in
training courses."
It is the CAFO operator’s responsibility to
document compliance with these new educational requirements with the
Alabama Department of Environmental Management during each
re-registration.
Certificates of attendance will be issued for all
CAFO-related training seminars showing the type of training provided
as well as the amount of continuing education credit earned. CAFO
operators will be expected to submit these certificates as proof of
compliance at each annual registration.
If no certificate of training is provided in certain
instances, operators also can satisfy requirements by submitting one
of the following:
Failure to obtain and submit certification for the
initial and annual follow-up training or to pay the additive
"Greenfield" free constitutes a significant violation of
AFO/CAFO regulations, Tyson says.
CAFO training typically is provided by the Alabama
Waste Management Education Team, comprised of personnel from the
Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the federal Natural
Resource and Conservation Service. Cooperating agencies include the
Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Alabama Department
of Agriculture and Industries. Private-sector organizations, such as
the Alabama Farmers Federation and the Alabama Poultry and Egg
Association, also have provided assistance.
The goal of CAFO continuing education training is to
ensure operators have access to the most current information
necessary to comply with waste-management provisions. The training,
which is provided either by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System
or the Natural Resources Conservation Service, covers a wide variety
of topics, including developing a waste-management system plan,
procedures for keeping track of waste-management practices, siting,
building and maintaining water wells, and building liquid-waste
confinement buildings.
For more information, contact your local Extension
or NRCS office.
(Source: Ted Tyson, Alabama Cooperative Extension
System biosystems engineer, 334-844-3542.)
