State toughens permits on large farms and their millions of tons of manure

Michigan EGLE has outlined new provisions for its permitting of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs, related to how the large farms handle their animal wastes.

CAFOs will now be restricted in applying manure and liquid wastes onto fields in winter months, in an effort to protect Michigan water quality from runoff pollution.

New rules from Michigan's environmental regulatory agency on when and how the largest animal farms dispose of manure and liquid wastes are being praised by environmentalists as a step toward improving state water quality — and blasted by farmers as more costly bureaucratic impositions that won't better the environment.

Philip Roos, director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), late last month issued his "Opinion from