On October 23, 2013, the United
States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia ruled in favor
of plaintiffs American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and Lois Alt, a poultry
producer, over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a Clean Water
Act suit. The EPA claimed that runoff from Ms. Alt’s ventilation-fan in her
farmyard was being carried by rainwater to a nearby “navigable water/water of
the United States,” giving the EPA jurisdiction to require Ms. Alt to obtain a
permit for the runoff. The judge disagreed, however, and enjoined the EPA from
requiring Ms. Alt to obtain a Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System permit. The court stated that the “agricultural storm water
discharge exemption” in the Clean Water Act exempts the runoff (dust, feathers,
and litter) from the farmyard area outside Ms. Alt’s barn’s exhaust system from
EPA jurisdiction. The judge stated that the farmyard area is not the “production
area” of Ms. Alt’s concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), and therefore Ms.
Alt does not need to obtain a permit for the runoff because it is within the
exemption.
For more information, please see the
court’s opinion
on AFBF’s website.
Written by Sarah L. Doyle - Research Assistant
The Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center
@PSUAgLawCenter
October 28, 2013
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