Centner T J
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, 313 Conner Hall, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
Environ Manage. 2001 Nov;28(5):599-609. doi: 10.1007/s002670010246.
Due to concentrations of animals at large facilities, animal feeding operations (AFOs) have emerged as a major potential source of water pollution. The federal government regulates concentrated animal feeding operations under its point-source pollution permitting regulations. A major determinant of whether an operation must apply for a permit is the number of animals at an individual lot or facility. This paper examines federal mandatory controls and voluntary guidelines that seek to reduce contaminant pollution from AFOs. Land treatment practices are delineated due to their importance in reducing the injurious by-products of agricultural production. An evaluation of proposed revisions to federal regulations on confined animal feeding operations suggests they diverge from their goal of controlling water pollution. Federal regulations focus on the size of operation and amount of manure governed by the permitting process to the exclusion of other criteria related to the impairment of water quality. Given the uncertainties about the amount of pollution from AFOs, lack of enforcement of existing regulations, localization of problems, and possible alternatives for addressing the pollution, more demanding federal regulations may not form an appropriate response.
由于大型养殖场动物集中，动物饲养作业（AFOs）已成为水污染的一个主要潜在来源。联邦政府根据其点源污染许可规定对集约化动物饲养作业进行监管。一项作业是否必须申请许可的一个主要决定因素是单个场地或设施中的动物数量。本文研究了旨在减少动物饲养作业污染物排放的联邦强制性控制措施和自愿性指南。由于土地处理措施在减少农业生产有害副产品方面的重要性，对其进行了描述。对联邦关于圈养动物饲养作业法规修订提案的评估表明，这些提案偏离了控制水污染的目标。联邦法规侧重于作业规模和许可程序所涵盖的粪便量，而排除了与水质损害相关的其他标准。鉴于动物饲养作业污染量存在不确定性、现有法规缺乏执行、问题的局部性以及解决污染的可能替代方案，要求更高的联邦法规可能并非恰当对策。
