The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and Department of Agriculture (DDA) are providing public notice for the Draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Large, Medium, Designated Non-Poultry & Diversified Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) – Manure Generation and Land Application Facilities. This is a complementary permit to two General Permits already issued which covers Large, Medium, & Designated Poultry CAFOs – without Land Application of Manure and Large, Medium, & Designated Poultry CAFOs – with Land Application of Manure.

A CAFO permit is a point source permit authorized by the Federal Clean Water Act that is required by Federal and State regulations for CAFOs that discharge pollutants into waters of the state, including streams or drainage ditches. In the State of Delaware, DNREC and DDA cooperate in implementing the CAFO program. The purpose of the CAFO permit is to regulate activities at CAFOs involving the management of nutrients and to help improve and maintain the quality of waters of the state.

Once a CAFO General Permit is issued, in order for a permittee to obtain coverage under the permit, the permittee must demonstrate that they meet applicable requirements in Section 9.5 of DNREC’s Regulations Governing the Control of Water Pollution by submitting a completed Notice of Intent and Nutrient Management Plan for DNREC and DDA review. Notice of Intents and Nutrient Management Plans are themselves publicly noticed prior to authorization being issued. This CAFO permit would be applicable to operations which have one or a combination of the following animal types and number of animals:

On the basis of lawful standards and regulations, DNREC proposes to issue the draft CAFO General Permit, subject to certain effluent limitations and conditions under Section 9.5 of DNREC’s Regulations Governing the Control of Water Pollution.

A public hearing on the above application will NOT be held unless the Secretary of DNREC determines that a public hearing is in the public interest or if a written meritorious objection to the application is received by 4:30 p.m. May 11, 2021. A public hearing request shall be deemed meritorious if it exhibits a familiarity with the application and provides a reasoned statement of the action’s probable impact.

Copies of the Fact Sheet and Draft Permit are available at dnrec.delaware.gov/water/surface-water/npdes/animal-feeding/

Or by contacting:

Lydia Smith
Surface Water Discharges Section
89 Kings Highway
Dover, DE 19901
302-739-9946

Related Topics:  agriculture, cafo, manure, NPDES, permitting and regulation, poultry, public notice, water