In This Issue

USDA-EPA Update

The USDA received 1800 letters commenting on the Draft Animal Feeding Strategy and are incorporating details into the second draft proposal, which will be public later this year. Feedback from the EPA indicates several comments from California were taken into consideration. For those who sent letters to them, thank you. The public hearing in Visalia this past November and these letters give the message that the Tulare County and California dairy, livestock, and poultry industries are concerned and willing to work out a practical solution to the environmental issue at hand.

The following article from Dr. Deanne Meyer, UC Cooperative Extension Waste Management Specialist, is a reminder of how to deal with EPA inspections. EPA has begun inspections in the northern San Joaquin Valley and will inspect dairies in this area later this year. As soon as more exact information is available from EPA, it will be furnished by this office and other industry outlets. Having your dairy in compliance with Tulare County, Regional Water Quality Control, and California EPA guidelines will greatly help in complying with the USDA/EPA directives.

Surviving the EPA Inspection

It is the legal obligation of livestock operators to contain all manures, wastewaters, and contaminated rainfall on their property. It is illegal to contaminate surface water. It is illegal to contaminate groundwater. Each operator must comply with federal, state and county regulations.

The following is a summary of state regulations. State regulations codified in 1984.1 The essential components are (also known as Waste Discharge Requirements):

• Animals are not allowed to enter surface waters in the confined area.
• All wastewater and contaminated rainfall up to and including a 25-yr, 24-hr storm must be contained.
• Storage ponds must be protected from inundation or washout during a 20-yr or 100-yr peak stream flow (depending on facility age).
• Retention ponds shall be lined with, or underlain by, soils which contain at least 10% clay.
• Manure or wastewater shall be applied to crop lands at reasonable rates for the crop, soil, climate, special local situations, management system, and type of manure. Discharge of wastewater to crop lands shall not result in surface runoff and shall be managed to minimize percolation to groundwater.
• Manured areas shall be managed to minimize infiltration of water into groundwater. Manure must be stored in structures that are clay lined (minimum 10% clay) or lined with a material of similar impermeability.

All operators are obligated to follow these regulations. The only thing waived is the need to send in an annual report the RWQCB. There are no grandfathered components of the state regulations. Some counties have grandfathered older facilities to not need conditional use permits.

Numerous agencies have the authority to inspect facilities. U.S. EPA Region 9 (from San Francisco) can inspect an animal feeding operation (AFO) as part of enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act. The Regional Water Quality Control Board (Cal EPA) can inspect facilities to determine compliance with Porter Cologne Water Quality Act. Enforcement and compliance documents finalized by U.S. EPA in March of 1998 indicate that they will inspect all large facilities by 2002 and all remaining facilities by 2005. For California, most facilities fit in the large category.

Don't panic! Designate a person to be responsible for facility inspections. Be sure that person has the ability to be nice during inspections. The individual should be familiar with manure management and land application methods.

First and foremost, BE NICE! EPA has the responsibility to inspect livestock facilities. You should cooperate with the inspectors and allow them on your property. If it is a bad time or day, request that they return later during the day or during the week. You can refuse the inspection. The inspector can obtain a court order to do the inspection. If this needs to occur, the inspector will not be enthusiastic about the inspection.

Ask anyone interested in inspecting your facility for identification. Look at credentials (they should have a laminated photo identification card). Obtain a business card and put it in your file.

Biosecurity is becoming more and more of an issue in dairy operations. Request that the inspectors wash shoes before entering the facility. This should be with a sanitizing agent.

Escort the inspectors around the facility and pay attention to what they are asking and visually evaluating. The inspector will ask numerous questions. Logical questions should provide answers to: herd size, cropping practices, herd expansion history, facility changes, and discharge history. A physical evaluation of manure collection and storage devices should allow the inspectors to determine if the facility is designed to handle the volume of wastes generated daily and if management is capable of handling the facility.

Manure collection and storage structures will be evaluated. Facilities will be looked over to determine if corrals are scraped often and if their slope is adequate to prevent ponding and permit runoff of rainwater. The runoff should be collected and contained in the manure retention pond. Piled manure should be stored in a central location that is designed to collect and contain contaminated rainfall. Random piles of manure are not desirable. Pond capacity and freeboard will be observed. Pond maintenance (lack of weeds, floatage, holes, and maintenance of sidewalls) will be evaluated. Also, silage storage areas will be evaluated to determine if silage juices can infiltrate soil or runoff.

Manure handing will be evaluated. Answer questions honestly and take care to answer only the questions asked. Questions will be asked to determine if pumps, treatment equipment, separators, etc. are maintained and repaired. The inspector will want to have confidence that someone on the facility is knowledgeable in land application of manure nutrients. Are nutrients managed (concentrations and application rates known) or just dumped on land? Does someone on the facility understand irrigation water management? Is field runoff collected and contained during the irrigation season? Is rain runoff from manured fields contained during the rainy season? Is irrigation water managed to minimize infiltration to groundwater?

Inspectors may photograph part of your facility. Likewise, you may want to take a camera along to photograph anything the inspector photographs (from the same angle) or things that seem to be a concern. A picture of the inspection site can be very useful to understand components of the inspection report when you receive it.

You will most likely receive a copy of the inspection report some time after the inspection. The accompanying letter may be a letter of violation or a letter of acknowledgment. Carefully read the inspection report. Be sure to respond to the report if action is required. Respond by the date indicated even if the response says you received their report and you are in the process of fixing the problems identified, that you believe you will have them fixed by a certain date. You will want to respond to the report if there are any errors in the information. (Example, the report indicates you have 500 cows and associated replacement stock--but, your replacements are at a separate facility. You will want to respond and indicate that your replacements are at a separate facility.)

DOPP

The Dairy Options Pilot Program, DOPP, is scheduled for March 16th in the Visalia Ag Building at the corner of West Main and Woodland. This is where the Ag Commissioner and University of California Cooperative Extension offices are located. This training session is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a no-host lunch break. For more information call the farm advisor's office, 733-6488. This meeting is required if you wish to use this USDA program, and it is suggested to call ahead to reserve a seat.

38th Annual Dairy Cattle Day