Permits for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)

Welcome to the Division of Water page on the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) General Permits for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).

Large free-stall barn

The New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation and Agriculture and Markets, the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee, farmers, agribusiness, and other interested parties have worked together to develop these General Permits. We believe these permits will meet the business needs of farmers and assist CAFO owners or operators in complying with State and Federal water quality requirements.

We encourage the interested public, state and federal agency staff, livestock and poultry owners and private sector consultants to review the information and documents provided on the pages listed below.

General Permit GP-0-09-001 is a general permit issued pursuant to the Environmental Conservation Law for CAFO operations. The permit is issued for a five-year term. The effective date is July 1, 2009 and the expiration date is June 30, 2014.

General Permit GP-04-02 is a discharge permit issued pursuant to the Environmental Conservation Law and the Clean Water Act. The permit is issued for a five-year term. The effective date is July 1, 2004 and the expiration date is June 30, 2009.

If you have any questions regarding the CAFO permit program please contact Doug Ashline at (518) 402-8247 or send your question via email.

CAFO Rulemaking

We are revising 6NYCRR Part 750 that pertains to CAFOs and 6NYCRR Part 360 that pertains to solid waste management at farms. The following documents are related to the rulemaking:

Short Environmental Assessment Form (PDF) (365 KB)
Positive Declaration (PDF) (45 KB)
Final Environmental Impact Statement (PDF) (952 KB)
Appendix A for the Final EIS (PDF) (250 KB)
Appendix B (Part 1) for the Final EIS (PDF) (3.43 MB)
Appendix B (Part 2) for the Final EIS (PDF) (3.93 MB)
Appendix B (Part 3) for the Final EIS (PDF) (2.82 MB)
Appendix B (Part 4) for the Final EIS (PDF) (3.83 MB)
Appendix C for the Final EIS (PDF) (1.32 MB)
Appendix D for the Final EIS (PDF) (825 KB)
Draft Modified General Permit GP-0-09-001 (PDF) (256 KB)
Fact Sheet for Draft Modified General Permit GP-0-09-001 (PDF) (43 KB)

More about Permits for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs):

Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) CAFO SPDES General Permit - Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) SPDES General Permit GP-0-09-001
Clean Water Act (CWA) SPDES CAFO General Permit - Clean Water Act (CWA) SPDES General Permit GP-04-02
Map of New York State CAFO Sites - New York State Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) Site Map