The North Carolina Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a powerful agribusiness group, concluding that state regulators improperly included three specific conditions in general permits that govern industrialized hog, cattle and poultry operations.

The first included a requirement that all concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) submit a short annual report summarizing their operations, including the number of animals, permitted lagoons and acres on which manure is applied.

The second and third, which applied only to a smaller subset of farms, include requirements to measure phosphorus loss from farm fields where waste is applied, and to conduct groundwater monitoring upgradient and downgradient of the lagoons.

The 5-2 decision, issued last month, split along party lines, with Repu

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