An Important Message About CAFO From President Logan Bower | Dairy Industry CAFO Ad Hoc Workgroup Response | PDMP Letter to DEP | Sample Letter for Individual Dairy Producers

Mr. Robert T. Gibson
Department of Environmental Protection
Bureau of Watershed Management
Rachel Carson State Office Building, 10th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17105

Dear Mr. Gibson:

I am a dairy producer and I am committed to keeping Pennsylvania one of the leaders in milk production in our nation. The CAFO permitting process has a major impact on our dairy farm operations and it is critical that DEP receive input from dairy farmers as it considers implementing guidelines for CAFO and water quality permits.

Enclosed is my response to the CAFO Draft Implementation Guidance document. I appreciate the opportunity to submit this response.

It is very important that the DEP guidelines are easily understood and that they give clear direction to dairy producers on what is and what is not required of farm operations to obtain CAFO and water quality permits. Equally important, the guidelines should be consistently and evenly applied and should identify how standards will be measured and applied by all DEP officials across all regions in Pennsylvania.

Basically, dairy producers want to know what they have to do, why they should do it, how they should do it, and once we understand what to do, that the rules will stay consistent and there will not be additional requirements and conditions, that are not actually called for in the regulations, imposed on farm operations as additional conditions of approval.

All of us desire to safeguard the environment as we strive to make a go of our dairy farms and produce milk efficiently and profitably so we can earn livings for our families and our employees.

We believe we can work with DEP to achieve our goals and protect our environment in a clear and simply defined way so that Pennsylvania dairy farms can survive and continue for future generations and we can all share a healthy environment.

Thank you.

Sincerely yours,