ENERGY + ENVIRONMENT
Youngkin approves changes to animal waste rules aimed at reducing groundwater pollution
Approval comes despite disagreement over older earthen lagoons

BY: CHARLIE PAULLIN - JULY 25, 2024 2:16 PM

Virginia is on track to implement updated rules for animal waste created by certain farming operations, despite disagreement on how to regulate older earthen lagoons that pose a greater risk of releasing pollutants into groundwater. … Wednesday, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin approved the regulation changes for farmers who confine cows, pigs and more for 45 days or more within a year for dairy, eggs and meat production, as well as slaughtering.

Youngkin’s approval comes after the citizen-member State Water Control Board OK’d at a June 25 meeting the general permit for 108 animal feed operations in the state, meaning the rules in the one permit applies to all the operations. The current general permit is set to expire Nov. 15, so the revisions will take effect Nov. 16 for another 10-year period.

Waste from the animals can be stored in containers, concrete structures, or earthen lagoons, which are ponds of manure that use natural and chemical processes to treat it. The operators can treat the waste, recycle it or apply to their land as compost, among other purposes.

The rules are part of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s program to regulate pollution discharges to prevent harm to the environment. One concern with animal waste is a potential to release nitrogen into groundwater that can feed into waterways leading to the Chesapeake Bay, which state and federal partners are struggling to clean up.

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