Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 9, September 27, 2024
A. Dead animal disposal shall be done as
specified in the approved Animal Facility Management Plan. The Dead Animal
Disposal Plan should include the following:
1. Primary Method for the handling and
disposal of normal mortality at the facility.
2. Alternate Method for the handling and
disposal of excessive mortality at the facility. The normal method of disposal
may not be sufficient to handle an excessive mortality situation. Each producer
shall have a Department-approved emergency or alternate method to dispose of
excessive mortality. Excessive mortality burial sites shall be preapproved by
the Department prior to utilization.
B. Burial.
1. Burial pits may be utilized for emergency
conditions, as determined by the Department, when the primary method of
disposal is not sufficient to handle excessive mortality.
2. Burial pits shall not be located in the
100-year floodplain.
3. Soil type
shall be evaluated for leaching potential.
4. Burial pits shall not be located or
utilized on sites that are in areas that may adversely impact surface or
groundwater quality or further impact impaired water bodies.
5. The bottom of the burial pit may not be
within 2 feet of the seasonal high groundwater table.
6. No burial site shall be allowed to flood
with surface water.
7. Animals
placed in a burial site shall be covered daily with sufficient cover (6 inches
per day minimum) to prohibit exhumation by feral animals.
8. When full, the burial site should be
properly capped (minimum 2 feet) and grassed to prohibit erosion.
9. Proposed burial pit sites shall be
approved by the Department. The Department may conduct a geologic review of the
proposed site prior to approval.
10. The Department may require any new or
existing producer to utilize another method of dead animal disposal if burial
is not managed according to the Dead Animal Disposal Plan or repeated
violations of these burial requirements occur or adverse impact to surface or
groundwater is determined to exist.
11. The Department may require groundwater
monitoring for dead animal burial pits on a case-by-case basis. The Department
shall consider all of the facts including, but not limited to, the following:
depth to the seasonal high water table; aquifer vulnerability; proximity to a
State Approved Source Water Protection Area; groundwater use in the area;
distance to adjacent surface waters; number of dead animals buried; and
frequency of burial in the area.
C. Incinerators.
1. For animal facilities proposing an
incinerator for dead animal disposal, either a permit for the air emissions
shall be obtained from the Department's Bureau of Air Quality before the
incinerator can be built or the following criteria shall be met in order to
qualify for an exemption from an air permit:
a. The emission of particulate matter shall
be less than 1 pound per hour at the maximum rated capacity;
b. The incinerator shall be a package
incinerator that meets the requirements from the Department's Bureau of Air
Quality; and
c. The incinerator
shall not exceed an opacity limit of ten percent (10%).
2. Incinerators used for dead animal disposal
shall be properly operated and maintained. Operation shall be as specified in
the owner's manual provided with the incinerator. The owner's manual shall be
kept on site and made available to Department personnel upon request.
3. The use of the incinerator to dispose of
waste oil, hazardous, or any other waste chemical is prohibited. The use of the
incinerator shall be limited to dead animal disposal only unless otherwise
approved by the Department's Bureau of Air Quality.
D. Composters. Composters used for dead
animal disposal shall be designed by a professional engineer or an NRCS
representative and operated in accordance with the approved Animal Facility
Management Plan. Packaged composters shall be approved on a case-by-case
basis.
E. Disposal of dead animals
in a municipal solid waste landfill shall be in accordance with
R.61-107.19.
F. Disposal of animal
carcasses or body parts into manure lagoons, treatment systems, storage ponds,
Waters of the State, ephemeral and intermittent streams, ditches, and swales is
prohibited.
G. Disposal of animal
carcasses or body parts by rendering shall be approved by the Department and
include a signed contract with the rendering company.
H. Other methods of dead animal disposal that
are not addressed in this regulation may be proposed in the Dead Animal
Disposal Plan.
