Regulatory Review: Animal Agriculture Industry Under the Clean Water Act

Over the past few decades, animal agriculture has shifted from small family owned farms to large corporate owned mega-farms called Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). Although these CAFOs, which confine hundreds to tens of thousands of animals in buildings, are economically efficient in producing eggs, milk, and meat, they present a range of risks associated with environmental, human health, and animal welfare issues. A major concern associated with CAFOs is the large amounts of waste produced that goes untreated and its environmental effects. As humans are subject to managing and treating our own waste, the same does not apply for animal byproducts. Animal waste pollution is subject to federal regulation through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) Permits under the Clean Water Act, however, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has delegated its authority to states to monitor and implement the NPDES program. Some states have taken action beyond federal regulation to regulate CAFO waste while others remain ineffective in implementing federal regulation. In this paper I examine the state regulation and its effectiveness in regulating CAFO waste under the Clean Water Act in three states: New York, Iowa, and North Carolina. The regulation in each of these states differ and are greatly influenced by environmental groups, industry groups, and state legislatures.