Legislative counsel outlines bill shifting CAFO enforcement to ANR; committee to add $7.5 million to farm security fund

Michael Grady, legislative counsel, told a Senate Agriculture committee that a draft miscellaneous agricultural bill would clarify how the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) and the Agency of Agriculture (Agency of AG) share authority over concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and would make conforming changes to state water-quality rules.

The bill would replace an existing memorandum of understanding between the two agencies with statutory cooperative language and make ANR the primary enforcing authority for CAFO permits while retaining an Agency of Agriculture role for the state's nonpoint-source program, Grady said. "EPA has said ANR needs to be the primary enforcer for the CAFO program," Grady said.

The change responds to federal direction tied to the Clean Water Act and the NPDES permit program. Grady said U.S. EPA has told Vermont that ANR must begin permitting, inspecting and reviewing nutrient-management plans for regulated operations. He said the draft bill aligns state law with those federal expectations while preserving Agency of Agriculture involvement on nonpoint-source work and farm support.

Why this matters: committee members pressed for detail because the change could force some production facilities to relocate or alter structures to meet larger buffer or setback requirements. Grady and others noted…