Dear Friend,

Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund has previously shared that the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) has proposed new administrative rules concerning “Confined Animal Feed Operations (CAFOs).

Public comments concerning the proposed rules are due Monday July 22, 2024 at 5:00 pm.

Proposed Rule Summary

The proposed rule would change the definition of CAFO to mean:

An operation that engages in the feeding or holding of animals:

(A) In buildings, pens, or lots not sustaining vegetative growth in the normal growing season for 12 or more hours a day for more than 120-day period;

(B) With a wastewater control facility that generates 100 gallons per day of waste; or

(C) That discharges any waste into the waters of the state.

If this definition is met, a CAFO permit is required for the operation. If an operation does not meet this definition and it has less than a minimum number of animals, it is NOT required to obtain a CAFO permit.

For example, operations having less than 20 mature dairy cows or 40 cattle, less than than 75 swine, or less than 900 chickens including laying hens, need not obtain a CAFO permit.

Read the full proposed rule here.

* However, the proposed rule states that all operations need to meet the Agricultural Water Quality Management regulations of ORS Chapter 568 and OAR Chapter 603, divisions 90 and 95.  

For complete information, please visit ODA public laws HERE. Specifically take a look at 568.900-033.

Operations will also need to comply with Oregon Administrative Rules Chapter 603, division 90 and 95, found HERE.

There are different requirements based on location, and information for those can be found HERE.

TAKE ACTION

Action Step #1

Submit your comments on the rule to rulemaking@oda.oregon.gov, and reference "Proposed Rule pursuant to S.B. 85, OAR 603-074. -OR, and ORS-468B."

[You can add talking points from below, if you like - but the most important part is your story!]

Action Step #2

Spread the word! Please share this Action Alert with other ranchers, farmers, friends and family. We need as many people to comment as possible.

Action Step #3

Keep informed! FTCLDF will continue to follow and report on this matter. Watch for additional updates.

TALKING POINTS

Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund is completing its written comments that it will submit to the ODA.

Issues we plan to address:

1. Smaller operations need not obtain a CAFO permit.

We support the ODA’s recognition that the smallest operations who are also not operating a wastewater control facility or discharging into the waters of the state operate on a much smaller scale than other agricultural operations and should not be required to obtain a CAFO permit.

2. Modifications to requirements than small operations meet certain water quality standards exceeds the authority provided for in S.B. 85.

OR Senate Bill 85 involves issuance of water quality permits specifically to CAFOs. If smaller operations are excluded by the new rule from the definition of CAFO, then the ODA lacks authority to impose new requirements which are beyond the scope of S.B. 85.

3. The Detailed Water Quality Management Programs should not include the smallest operations.

The proposed CAFO Rule suggests that the smallest operations , exempt from the need to obtain a CAFO permit, be required to meet detailed water quality requirements. Unlike larger operations, small poultry operations or small dairies, among other kinds of operations, are not engaging in the kind of activities that should be subject to such stringent regulation. For example,

an operator with one or two dairy cows may merely be emptying a bucket of water onto their own property when washing the milking bucket. This does not rise to the level of water quality monitoring. Moreover, requiring the one cow operation or backyard poultry operator to study and  determine requirements under these standards is unduly burdensome and unnecessary.

4. ODA should support regenerative agriculture.

The proposed rules impose a burden on smaller, regenerative agricultural operations. Instead, ODA should be seeking to find ways to support independent operations raising animals in a regenerative manner, rather than further regulating them.

Please, submit your comments on this matter prior to July 22 at 5:00 pm, but sending them to rulemaking@oda.oregon.gov. Every voice counts.