In an effort to identify needs, assess resources, and plan programs, a coordinating meeting was held between the four states and the EPA Region 10 specialists to promote a sense of sharing and interstate support about Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). CAFOs generate a great deal of controversy in the Pacific Northwest. There exists the acknowledged lack of uniformity among CAFO enforcement, the difficulty of achieving effective enforcement and monitoring, and lack of uniform standards across the four northwestern states.

This meeting was held to serve the purpose of coordinating state and federal programs of education, enforcement, and technical assistance to assist livestock and poultry producers in their efforts to manage wastes to protect environmental quality. Appropriate state and regional leaders in the animal waste programs representing EPA Region 10, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the four State Departments of Agriculture, the four State Departments of Environmental Quality, and the Cooperative Extension Service in the four states were invited. The meeting was seen as an opportunity to discuss the issues of common interest and to improve the ability of those responsible to provide consistent and helpful counsel to the various clientele in meeting their envrionmental quality protection expectations.

The meeting was held April 11, 2001 in the Seattle office of EPA Region 10. Twenty-two of the 40 invitees attended. Each state and each agency were represented. The agenda for the day included a presentation explaining the regional EPA programs and expectations. The presentation covered standards and types of operations that are regulated. Each state made group agency presentations and several EPA Region 10 employees with animal waste expertise actively participated in the discussion. The meeting allowed participants to see both similarities and differences with other states in the region.

The important outcomes of this meeting were as follows:

1. States need to work more closely on issues where standards differ across state lines such as the maximum phosphorus threshold values for manure applications.
2. Agencies with CAFO responsibilities should get together periodically to discuss common problems.
3. CAFO regulations are much better accepted in Idaho where interagency cooperation is better than in other states of the region.
4. Nutrient management planning needs more uniformity across the region.

A meeting evaluation questionnaire indicated that participants felt that their time was well spent. The animal waste component objective of this regional water quality project will be modified in years 2 and 3 of this project to address some of the outcomes of this meeting.

The PNW Regional Water Quality Program provides a broad range of research-based educational materials devoted to animal waste management and utilization. These have been compiled and published in a 4-page informational flyer. View an HTML version of the educational materials here, or download the 11x17 informational PDF flyer here, or download the 4-page PDF version here.