We can help to meet regulationsThe District provides guidance to landowners related to agricultural environmental regulations. Farms are regulated – determining how and how much can be confusing. The District has a delegation agreement with the State Conservation Commission and the PA Department of Environmental Protection for the implementation of the Commonwealth's Nutrient Management Program (Act 38) and the Manure Management Program (Chapter 91).
Act 38, requires high-density animal operations to develop and implement approved Nutrient Management Plans. Every farm in Pennsylvania that has animals and/or land applies manure or agricultural process wastewater (generated on the farm or received from an importer), regardless of size, is required to have and implement a written Manure Management Plan. This includes manure and agricultural process wastewater application by various types of equipment and/or direct application of manure by animals on pastures and in Animal Concentration Areas (ACAs). In other words, farms that do not mechanically apply manure but which do have pastures or ACAs still need a manure management plan. This applies for any size of farm from 1 animal to thousands of animals. A person who has 1 horse or 1 goat in the back yard is under these regulations, although their plan will look different than one for a farm with 2,000 cows. An Act 38 Nutrient Management Plan (as required by CAO and CAFO operations) must be written by a PA Certified Nutrient Management Specialist. A producer that is following an Act 38 Plan that is reviewed and approved the County Conservation Board has some limited liability protection. PA Chapter 91, Manure Management regulations address pollution control and prevention at agricultural operations and requires a Manure Management Plan. All farms generating manure are required to have a management plan. Manure Management Plans can be prepared by the agricultural operator although the operator may benefit from obtaining assistance from individuals trained and experienced in developing these plans, such as the Conservation District. Farm maps are one of the requirements for the Plan. Maps can be hand-drawn or computer-generated. The PA ONESTOP website is a site that anyone can use to make a farm map with all of the required information. PA Chapter 102, Farmers are required to have Agricultural Erosion & Sedimentation plans for their operations if they have over 5,000 square feet of earth disturbances from agricultural plowing or tilling activities (this does include no-till cropping methods and animal heavy use areas). An Ag E&S plan can be written by a certified planner, the Conservation District, a landowner or anybody with knowledge of the farming operation. The PAOneStop website includes an Ag E&S Plan module. This module can be used to calculate the soil loss for the Ag E&S Plan. It can also be used to create the required maps. PA DEP has also developed a “Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Manual for Agricultural Operations” manual and other resources for agriculture erosion and sediment control. A Conservation Plan that has been written by USDA-NRCS may meet most of the requirements of the AG E&S Plan. NRCS plans may or may not address the Near Stream Areas or AHUA criteria. A Landowner should request NRCS to write a Conservation Plan that meets the AG E&S (or Chapter 102) requirements. For more information on these regulations and development of plans, contact Sarah Carlson at the District at 814-887-4017 or [email protected] 
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District's No-Till Drill
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Soil Resources - Permit Information
