ACRE: THE PLAN TO PROTECT AGRICULTURAL,
COMMUNITIES AND THE RURAL ENVIRONMENT


       Pennsylvania is a national leader in agriculture and environmental protection. We were the first state to enact nutrient management laws for farms. Nearly 2,000 farms have developed nutrient management plans and more than 460 farmers voluntarily have taken courses to do their part to conserve, enhance and protect the environment. Pennsylvania is one of the first states with phosphorous indexing--an approach that is more protective of water quality than the alternative nitrogen indexing--and also one of the first to have an EPA-approved permit program for large-scale farming operations.
       The Rendell administration aims to build on this strong foundation, proposing extensive new improvements to farm management regulations. These changes are substantially broader than federal regulations and encompass more farms and farm types, strengthening key water quality requirements. Moreover, they aim to bring rural communities together again by taking on the issue of farm odors and by fostering negotiation and dialogue rather than litigation.

  • Create Agriculture Review Board: Farmers, residents and municipalities will have a forum where they can identify disagreements over existing or planned farming operations in a community. The five-member review board will encourage and support dialogue among differing parties to resolve disputes. The board also will conduct administrative hearings and rule on the legality of certain local ordinances affecting agriculture, if dialogue should fail to resolve issues.

  • Regulate Greater Number & Broader Variety of Farms: Proposed regulatory changes published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on Aug. 7 increase the number of farming operations considered to be CAOs--and therefore subject to stringent environmental requirements--from 810 to 1,310 by incorporating nonproduction animals, such as horses, and more than double the number of farming operations considered to be CAFOs--and therefore also subject to stringent environmental requirements--from 160 to 350 by incorporating poultry operations and adopting EPA animal threshold numbers.

  • Enhance Enforcement: The Rendell administration will finance technical assistance programs and increase staff for monitoring and enforcement. DEP will initiate a focused effort to ensure compliance with existing prohibitions against unpermitted discharges to Pennsylvania waters under the state's Clean Streams Law.

  • Require Best Management Practices for Odor: New and expanding CAFOs and CAOs will be required to put in place best management practices related to construction and operation of farm operations to avoid or mitigate odor problems--among the first such mandatory regulations in the nation. Other farm operations will be encouraged to put the practices into play as well.

  • Address Federal Air Quality Mandates: An Agricultural Air Quality Task Force will examine data, review the specific causes of air emission problems related to agriculture and suggest further measures to reduce this potential concern. The task force will provide technical assistance to help farmers address federal air quality requirements. This initiative promotes an open, science-based discussion of air quality issues.

  • Close the Manure "Export Loophole": Farms importing manure from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and concentrated animal operations (CAOs) must have signed agreements, nutrient balance sheets documenting allowable application rates, required record keeping, and the same manure applications setbacks and buffers as the farm that produced the manure to protect water resources.

  • Ensure Minimum Buffers to Streams: Nutrient management plan changes will require either a 100-foot setback or a 35-foot permanent vegetative buffer from water for manure application for concentrated animal feeding operations, concentrated animal operations and importing farms.

  • Improve Agriculture Impaired Streams: The state is launching the first-ever exercise to analyze and begin to take action on water quality problems in all "agriculturally impaired" waterways. Water quality assessments document that almost 4,000 miles of streams do not meet designated standards as a result of nutrient and sediment releases from agricultural operations. Farm organizations have offered to assist in outreach so farmers can understand better the linkages between farm operations and water quality challenges, and so stream assessment methodologies can be reviewed and improved.

  • Use of Antibiotics: DEP and Agriculture are monitoring research and development related to agricultural antibiotics to identify the impact of specific types and the extent of residuals in the environment. The information will be used to guide future policy related to the use of antibiotics in the food system and the potential public health risks.

  • Appropriate Funding for Efforts: Overall, as much as $13 million in new and existing resources will be available for enhanced environmental protection on farms.

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