United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Enforcement
& Compliance Assurance
Washington, DC 20460
EPA3Q5-F-GG-GG8
August 2000
www.epa.gov
Ag Center
Helping Agriculture Comply with
Environmental Requirements
FOCUS ON
Agriculture Compliance
Assistance Project: Livestock
This fact sheet will tell you about a national project to develop programs and materials that will
help livestock producers comply with environmental regulations.
Three-year project
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) are
cooperating in a 3-year national project
to help livestock producers implement
sound environmental management
practices and comply with
environmental regulations that affect
their businesses.
The livestock management compliance
assistance project, for which
approximately $300,000 has been
allocated, is being funded through a
cooperative agreement administered by
USDA's Cooperative State Research,
Education, and Extension Service
(CSREES) andEPA's National
Agriculture Compliance Assistance
Center (Ag Center).
Nationwide team
A peer review process chose a project
with the University of Nebraska and
North Carolina State University as
co-leaders. Other cooperators include
12 other universities and additional
federal and education-related
participants. (See list of cooperators
below.)
The nationwide team of project
participants will work closely with the
Ag Center and CSREES to increase
livestock producers' understanding of
the principles of environmental
management and to foster compliance
with all environmental requirements
that affect this key segment of U.S.
agriculture.
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The project will
develop materials
ana. other tools to
help producers use
common-sense,
cost'effective
approaches to
meeting
environmental
requirements.
The project will
develop a national
"core curriculum"
on management
and compliance.
OBJECTIVE I
Develop a nationally recognized,
producer-oriented core
curriculum addressing high
profile livestock environmental
issues.
A key product of the project will be a
high-quality core curriculum, on
management and compliance topics.
Experts who have pioneered similar
resources will lead this effort. The
curriculum will be reviewed and pilot
tested in five geographic regions to
ensure that it is relevant to regional and
livestock species differences.
Livestock environmental issues to be
addressed include
• manure storage
• advanced waste treatment systems
• odor management
• land application and nutrient
management.
The curriculum modules will include
• a reference publication for livestock
producers that describes design
requirements, management
practices, planning tools, and
compliance issues
• teaching aids for information
providers, including pre-planned
presentations with electronic visual
aids
• electronic and/or printed tools for
facilitating more complex design
calculations and recordkeeping
processes.
The national core curriculum will be
delivered to livestock industry
information providers through five
regional meetings. These five symposia
will provide in-depth inservice
education for public sector information
providers (such as Extension educators
and Natural Resources Conservation
Service staff), engineering and
environmental consultants, and key
representatives of private sector allied
industries (such as crop consultants and
livestock feed consultants).
OBJECTIVE 2
Provide livestock producers and
information providers access to
these curriculum resources
through multiple, readily
accessible delivery
methodologies.
The project will provide
• electronic access to the new
resources
• regional access to in-depth
educational programs for
information providers responsible
for delivering these resources
• access to printed publications.
Ag Center Fact Sheet Series Page 2
Compliance Assistance/EPA/USDA National Projects/Agriculture Compliance Assistance Project: Livestock
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The Ag Center
welcomes
comments on this
document and its
other services.
The project will identify
• technical resource contacts
• publications that discuss best
management practices (BMPs) for
storage, handling, and land
application of manure
• available web-based and stand-alone
software for sizing storage structures,
nutrient management, record-
keeping, or other technical
applications
• state and federal regulations
addressing animal manure
management.
Cooperators
• North Carolina State University
(project co-lead)
• University of Nebraska (project co-
lead)
• Cornell University
• Pennsylvania State University
• University of California - Davis
• Farm*A*Syst
• Iowa State University
• Kansas State University
• Mid West Plan Service
• Natural Resources Conservation
Service, USDA
• Agricultural Research Service,
USDA
• North Carolina A&T University
• Purdue University
• University of Georgia
• University of Illinois
• University of Minnesota
• University of Missouri
• Texas A&M University
USDA/EPA contacts
• Denis Ebodaghe
National Program Leader-Small
Farms, USDA, Mail Stop 2220,
Washington, DC 20250-2220
Telephone: 202-401-4385
E-mail: debodaghe@reeusda.gov
• Ginah Mortensen
Director, EPA National Agriculture
Compliance Assistance Center
Telephone: 1-888-663-2155
E-mail: mortensen.ginah@epa.gov
For more information
You can get more facts about
compliance by calling the Ag Center's
toll-free number. Materials can be sent
to you by fax or mail, or you can talk to
an Ag Center representative. For a list
of all publications available from the Ag
Center, request document number
10001, "Ag Center Publications."
National Agriculture Compliance
Assistance Center
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
Toll-free: 1 -888-663-2155
Internet: www.epa.gov/oeca/ag
Fax: 913-551-7270
United States Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20460
Ag Center Fact Sheet Series
PageS
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