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Ohio CAFO Program
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In January 2007, EPA received Ohio's request to allow the Ohio Department of Agriculture to administer the part of the NPDES program that deals with concentrated animal feeding operations. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency would continue to administer the program for all point sources other than CAFOs and storm water associated with construction activity at animal feeding operations.
In October 2008, following an in-depth review of Ohio's request, EPA notified the public that we proposed to approve the ODA program. The proposed approval was contingent on the state making specified changes to its statutes and regulations. The public notice appeared in the Federal Register and several Ohio newspapers. EPA conducted a public hearing and open house during the comment period, which ended in December 2008. EPA received over 6000 comments regarding the proposed approval. We are reviewing the comments and will respond to them in a responsiveness summary that will be posted below when we reach a final decision on the proposal.
ODA finalized revisions to its NPDES rules for CAFOs in January 2009. Ohio enacted revisions to its statutes regarding ODA's implementation of the NPDES program for CAFOs in December 2009. ODA is in the process of making additional revisions to its rules in response to revisions to the federal CAFO regulations published in November 2008. ODA would need to adopt and submit these revisions as part of a revised request for program transfer.
EPA's final decision on Ohio's request will be based on a determination of whether ODA has the legal authority, as well as the ability and resources, to administer the NPDES program for CAFOs, consistent with the Clean Water Act and federal requirements for authorized state NPDES programs. Our decision will also be based on comments that EPA has received on the proposal.
Public Notice Documents
- Fact Sheet on EPA’s proposal to approve Ohio’s request for ODA to administer the NPDES program for CAFOs (PDF) (2pp, 123K)
- Federal
Register notice of EPA’s proposal to approve Ohio’s request for ODA to
administer the NPDES program for CAFOs, and notice of Public Hearing
and Open House
Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.
Public Participation
- December 8, 2008, letter retaining the original period for comments on Ohio's request (2pp, 63KB)
- Electronic Comments
- Mailed, Faxed or Other Comment Submissions, Part 1 (84pp, 2.8MB)
- Mailed, Faxed or Other Comment Submissions, Part 2 (103pp, 15.2MB)
- Mailed, Faxed or Other Comment Submissions, Part 3 (30pp, 2.6MB)
- Mailed, Faxed or Other Comment Submissions, Part 4 (47pp, 2.3MB)
- One copy of over 5,000 postcards to "Allow the ODA to Federally Permit Livestock Farms in Ohio" (1pp., 368MB)
- Transcript of November 18, 2008 public hearing (100pp, 202K) A public hearing was held Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at The Fawcett Center in Columbus, Ohio. Written and oral comments were accepted following a brief presentation by EPA.
Additional Comments Posted on January 12, 2009
- Mailed, Faxed or Other Comment Submissions, Part 5(82pp, 5.83MB)
- Mailed, Faxed or Other Comment Submissions, Part 6(52pp, 3.83MB)
- One copy of over 120 postcards "What will you do to protect Ohio's children, our future" (1pp., 27KB)
Record of Ohio’s Request for ODA to Administer the NPDES program for CAFOs:
Ohio’s December 28, 2006 Application
- Governor's Letter (2pp, 94K)
- Program Description (58pp, 3828K)
- Ohio Department of Agriculture Rule-Making Process (6pp, 247K)
- State of Ohio - US Environmental Protection Agency Memorandum of Agreement (19pp, 10804K)
- Statutes (66pp, 3479K)
- Rules
- Rules Technical Explanations (12pp, 664K)
- Attorney General Statement (148pp, 6230K)
Inter-Department Memorandum of Agreement: Ohio Department of Agriculture - Ohio Department of Natural Resources (10pp, 493K)
- Inter-Department Memorandum of Agreement: Ohio Department of Agriculture - Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (29pp, 1104K)
- Ohio Department of Agriculture Inspection Forms (27pp, 505K)
- Supporting Documents
- Enforcement Documents
- EPA’s November 2007 letter to ODA seeking revision or clarification on remainder of application (14pp, 597K)
- ODA’s
September 4, 2008, letter to EPA, providing proposed revisions to
Ohio’s statutes and rules to address issues identified in EPA’s April
and November 2007 letters
- ODA’s September 22, 2008, letters to EPA, providing corrections to enclosure sent with September 4 letter (8pp, 447K)
- EPA’s October 3, 2008, letter to ODA, informing ODA that Ohio’s request is approvable, provided the changes specified in its September 4 letter are adopted (2pp, 76K)