The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency informed the Iowa Department of Natural Resources yesterday that a preliminary report finds the state of Iowa does not adequately enforce the Clean Water Act with respect to confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

Excerpt from EPA Regional Administrator Karl Brooks’ letter to Iowa DNR Director Chuck Gipp (pdf):

Based on EPA Region 7’s initial assessment, it appears that there are portions of the IDNR’s CAFO program that do not comply with some aspects of Section 402 of the Clean Water Act. Section V of the enclosed report describes the findings in detail. Section VI of the report identifies those findings that require action by IDNR to address. Actions are necessary to ensure that Iowa’s NPDES [National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System] permitting, compliance and enforcement program for CAFOs complies with the Clean Water Act. Within 60 calendar days of receipt of this letter, please submit to us a work plan describing the actions IDNR has taken or will take to address the initial findings contained in the enclosed report. Your submittal should also include a schedule for the actions that IDNR intends to take. After your written response is received, EPA Region 7 will provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the document you submit. The EPA intends to consider any relevant public comments and those comments may require some modification of the work plan.

The EPA’s “Preliminary Results of an Informal Investigation of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program For Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations in the State of Iowa” can be found on the EPA’s website (pdf).

The investigation stemmed from a petition to withdraw the Iowa DNR’s authority to manage the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, submitted in September 2007 by three non-profit organizations: Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, the Environmental Integrity Project, and the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter. I enclose below a joint press release from the petitioning groups, which contains more background and details on the problems EPA found.

I wonder whether the Iowa DNR will comply with the EPA’s request to apply existing law to CAFOs. Governor Terry Branstad considers the Iowa DNR to be too aggressive already in enforcing pollution regulations against agricultural operations. U.S. Representatives Leonard Boswell (D, IA-03), Tom Latham (R, IA-04), and Steve King (R, IA-05) voted last year to reduce the EPA’s ability to enforce the Clean Water Act.

Press release from Iowa CCI, Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, and Environmental Integrity Project, July 13 (emphasis in original):