EPA to require livestock operation manure plans to be made public

Large-scale livestock operations on tribal and nontribal land must now submit their manure-management plans for public review under regulations issued Thursday by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

State officials say between 30 and 35 livestock operations in the state will be affected, possibly including five of the 72 dairies in the Yakima Valley. These operations are called Concentrated or Confined Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs, for short.

But it's unclear as yet whether any Yakima Valley dairies will be required to reveal their manure management plans to the public. Officials at the state Department of Agriculture, which implements the EPA's rule, didn't return e-mail and phone requests for information.

Under state law, the manure-management plans of dairies are exempt from the state Open Records Act. Dairies say the documents can reveal trade secrets, such as how much manure they produce and acreage farmed.

Citizen groups, however, argue that no one can be assured that dairies are appropriately handling their manure without public oversight.

The requirement that the CAFO manure-management plans be open to the public was foreshadowed in a federal court decision in 2007. That ruling was a result of appeals to the 2003 proposed EPA discharge permit by both environmental and industry groups.

Industry groups prevailed on the question of whether dairies had a duty to apply for the new CAFO permits by arguing successfully that they do not discharge into waterways.

As a result, the U.S. Court of Appeals Second Circuit said CAFO operators can't be required to get a discharge permit if there's only a potential for pollution. Put another way, a dairy that stores manure in lagoons and sprays it on crops is not considered to be discharging.

The final regulations take effect Dec. 22.

• Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com