WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATION LAWS IN SOUTH DAKOTA?
The animal feeding operation requirements in South Dakota are based on a federal law passed by Congress in 1972. This law was called the Clean Water Act and specified that certain animal feeding operations were subject to the permitting system created by the Act. This permitting system was called the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System or NPDES Permit Program. Essentially, the Act requires a NPDES permit for any discharge of pollution that comes from a point source. Congress said that animal feeding operations were considered a point source. In 1974, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed regulations establishing the basic requirements animal feeding operations have to meet today. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the state began to develop a program that met all federal requirements so the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) could implement the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) program in South Dakota instead of EPA.