12/24/02
By MARK POWELL
Attorneys for Maryland farmers and the poultry industry met with lawyers for the Maryland Department of the Environment last week to argue the merits of state’s so-called “co-permits.”
Earlier this year an administrative law judge had rebuked MDE for over-stepping its bounds in making the poultry company permits include the co-permits. Now, MDE attorney Katherine Hart, called the agency’s “final decision maker,” will rule on the issue after MDE appealed the judge’s decision.
Co-permits, issued by the MDE as part of the wastewater permit for poultry processing plants, make poultry companies liable for the nutrient management practices of contract farmers. Maryland Farm Bureau and poultry companies have opposed the permits on the grounds that it would make the companies “environmental cops.”
Farmers also said the rule is redundant because it requires them to do what the state nutrient management law already requires.
The Gov. Parris Glendening Administration has argued that the co-permit closes a loophole, bringing poultry firms under the guidelines of the state’s nutrient management law and making them responsible for farmers’ nutrient management actions.
Officials at MDE would not comment on when Hart would rule on the issue. They also would not comment on suggestions by Annapolis insiders who say the current administration is pushing the issue along at MDE so that a final decision could be make before Gov.-elect Robert Ehrlich takes office. It is not clear what the future governor would do concerning co-permits, but he is portrayed by himself and others as being “pro-business.”
Also last week, co-permits were excluded from the federal nutrient management rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency. The rules, requiring large livestock farms called Concentrated Feeding Operations to manage their manure, were drafted in the Clinton Administration to include co-permits. Under Bush Administration, that concept has been removed.