Alberta is further streamlining regulations for building or expanding feedlots, also called confined feeding operations.
Changes are coming for buffer zones, short-term manure storage and spreading timetables. The formulas regarding application rates and minimum distance separation from residences have not changed, but better definitions on requirements are being written, said Barb Shackel-Hardman of Alberta Agriculture.
“The whole process has been developed to streamline operations. You won’t see new numbers in the regulations,” she said.
People building or renovating a site are advised to talk to the Natural Resources Conservation Board, or NRCB, to determine if an application should be changed or delayed in case the new changes affect their plans.
Alberta Agriculture is also hiring staff to walk producers through the application process and the NRCB has changed its application form to provide a more customized permit.
Details of the new regulations will be posted later this year on the Alberta Agriculture website. Intensive livestock sites come under the agricultural operation practices act and are administered by the NRCB.
