Indiana's New Confined Feeding Regulations

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management's (IDEM) new Confined Feeding Operation (CFO) regulations go into effect on July 1, 2012.  As a result of National Pork Producers v. EPA, most of Indiana's regulated Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) will be moving from the state's CAFO program to the state's CFO program.  This makes the new CFO regulations especially significant, as it signals a transition from a federal (CAFO) program to a state (CFO) regulation.  Does that mean that those new CFO permitted farms will no longer face strict regulations?  Not hardly.  The new CFO regulations ratchet up environmental regulations in a number of ways:

Silage vs. Curtilage: More on the EPA's Flyover Controversy

The web has been abuzz the last few weeks with articles and editorials about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) use of aerial flyovers to look for violations of the Clean Water Act on Nebraska and Iowa feedlots. The issue exploded online when someone described the EPA’s actions as using “military drones” to spy on farmers. Even Fox News and The Daily Show picked up on this story. (Both incorrectly reporting, as far as I am aware, since no drones are used by EPA, just a Cessna and a really good camera). I too, have been in the middle of this discussion, thanks to a couple of popular blog posts and a trip last week to speak to the Nebraska Cattlemen on environmental issues and property rights.