Did you know that all agricultural landowners and operators in Pennsylvania are required by law to have Agricultural Erosion and Sediment (Ag E&S) Control plans and/or Manure Management Plans?

Did you know that these plans need to be current and accurate and be implemented for you to be in compliance with the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law?

All farms, large and small, are regulated to some degree. Every landowner that has livestock or allows manure to be spread on their property must have a Manure Management Plan. This applies even if you only have one horse or a few 4-H animals.  Ag E&S control plans are required for farms that plow (or no-till) at least 5,000 square feet (1/10th an acre) or have an Animal Concentration Area such as a barnyard or exercise lot of at least 5,000 square feet. These policies apply even if you allow your ground to be used by someone else or rent it to a farmer.

These laws have been on the books in PA since the mid 1970’s but they were recently updated in 2010 and 2011. Since the summer of 2011, the Conservation District has been conducting on farm meetings, outreach and educational efforts to inform landowners and operators of their responsibilities with respect to these regulations.

In 2016, as part of the Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay “reboot” strategy, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) pledged, among other things, to inspect 10 percent of those farms annually to ensure they were in compliance with the law. To do that, DEP enlisted help from the staff of more than two dozen county conservation districts.  Being out of compliance means that a farm’s plans are either missing or no longer valid. The district gives farmers 90 days to rectify any issues with their plans and offers technical and financial assistance to get plans up-to-date.

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