The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency have reached an agreement over farm runoff into the bay. The two have been battling for years over runoff from livestock and poultry CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) in the bay area.

The legally binding agreement replaces the EPA rulemaking provision with four requirements that will ensure pollution from the CAFOs is reduced by 2017.

The commitments in this modified agreement will help determine whether farms are actually discharging pollution.

First, EPA must audit each state’s CAFO and Animal Feeding Operation (AFO) programs to ensure they comply with the Clean Water Act and are being implemented to effectively meet the pollution reduction goals of the state WIPs. If they find problems EPA is bound to take appropriate actions. For example, for Virginia to meet its Blueprint goals, EPA should require that the state amend its AFO regulations to require that cattle be fenced out of streams.

Second, inspect animal feeding operations in the Bay region to ensure compliance with applicable requirements, and take action if they are not. This is essential because in Pennsylvania, for example, preliminary analyses have indicated a significant percentage of Pennsylvania’s farms may not be in compliance with one or more long-standing conservation-based regulations.

Third, review specific CAFO permits and their associated nutrient management plans, determine whether those plans are effectively achieving water quality goals, and take action if they are not. CBF has long been concerned that some farmers don’t follow the nutrient management plans and that for some they are just a paper exercise.

And finally, EPA will use the data collected to determine whether revisions to national CAFO rules are necessary to reach cleanup goals.

The Mississippi River and other watersheds have been watching the Chesapeake Bay dispute seeing it as setting the benchmark for ag runoff standards.

Read more from the CBF here: