The Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality are taking public comment on plans to renew permit coverage for 18 confined animal feeding operations under the state's new general water quality permit for livestock farms.
The agencies' Oct. 20 public notice covers operations in 11 counties: four each in Malheur and Tillamook counties, two each in Coos and Washington counties, and one each in Baker, Josephine, Lane, Linn, Umatilla and Wallowa counties. Seventeen applied to renew with no changes to their nutrient management plans. One applied with substantial changes, but the notice and the department's CAFO page do not identify which operation.
The renewing operations include dairies, feedlots and ranches, among them Price Feedlot and McBride Ranch LLC in Malheur County, H3 Feeders LLC in Umatilla County and Schoch Dairy LLC in Washington County, according to the department's list.
The mechanics are straightforward. Operations register to Oregon CAFO National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System General Permit #01-2026, which replaces the 2016 permit that expired and was administratively extended in 2021. Farms stay under the old permit until they renew. As of October, about 276 operations remained registered to the 2016 permit and 51 had moved to the new one, according to the notice.
The permit governs manure, litter and process wastewater. Each operation must follow an approved nutrient management plan that applies those materials to crops at agronomic rates, with regular manure and soil testing. The permit allows no surface water discharges and sets effluent limits of zero for nitrate plus nitrite nitrogen, phosphorus and E. coli. Inspectors visit permitted operations every 10 months and respond to every water quality complaint involving a livestock operation.
Renewing operations must also file a water supply plan, which the Oregon Water Resources Department reviews to determine whether the operation's water use is legally authorized.
The Department of Agriculture will hold a public hearing on Microsoft Teams at 3 p.m. Pacific time Nov. 19. Written comments are due by 5 p.m. Dec. 4 and may be sent by mail, fax or email to [email protected]. The agencies said they will respond to all comments and may modify the proposed registrations. The 2026 permit expires five years after its effective date.
