Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 5/11/16

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) will ease wastewater discharge requirements for poultry operations by bringing them under state permitting that allows an agricultural stormwater exemption.

The announcement reverses the previous administration’s decision to require additional permits under federal law.

“The state environmental department will protect the agriculture industry from federal overreach by requiring poultry operations permitted by the state rather than by federal requirements,” the NCDEQ said in a May 5 blog post.

The state in 2005 originally required egg producer Rose Acre Farms to obtain a Clean Water Act non-discharge National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, whereas all other egg farms in North Carolina were allowed to use the state exemption.

But the new NCDEQ administration eliminated the federal requirements after reviewing Rose Acre’s court challenge to those rules.

North Carolina is aligning with the court’s determination that the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority. The state already requires state permits for water quality protection and manure management.

“The court ruled that the federal EPA and special interest groups misinterpreted federal clean water regulations by calling for poultry operations to hold a federal permit. The EPA did not file an appeal, indicating that it agrees with the federal judge’s ruling,” the NCDEQ said.

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