Maryland
Animal Feeding Operations
The animal feeding operations page of the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) says animal feeding operations are regulated by the state to protect local waterways, the Chesapeake Bay and drinking water from nutrient and sediment pollution. MDE's page says animal feeding facilities are regulated through a general discharge permit, and that a farm that meets the criteria must apply for coverage with a Notice of Intent (NOI) and a Nutrient Management Plan showing how manure and processed wastewater are stored, handled and applied to land. The page posts the final 25AF General Discharge Permit for Animal Feeding Operations.
In a Phase I ESA
ASTM E1527-21 does not name animal feeding operation permits among its standard record sources. On farmland, check whether the property or a neighbor is a permitted operation.
- Three kinds. MDE's page defines an animal feeding operation (AFO) as a facility that confines and feeds animals for a total of at least 45 days in any 12 months, where vegetation is not sustained in the normal growing season. A concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) is a larger AFO that meets size thresholds set by EPA and MDE. A Maryland animal feeding operation (MAFO) is below the federal CAFO size, but its potential for nutrient runoff or harm to water quality is similar; MDE says the State regulates MAFOs and requires permit coverage like that of a CAFO.
- What the permit covers. MDE says the permit sets operating conditions for farms that confine animals, naming large poultry houses, dairy farms and cattle operations. The requirements it lists are that manure and wastewater be managed to prevent nutrient runoff, that storage structures be properly maintained, that land application follow approved agronomic rates, and that stormwater and wash water be controlled to avoid discharge.
- Public notice. MDE says it is required to post the NOI and required plans for 30 days before a CAFO is registered under the general permit, and that the public may comment and ask for a hearing in that time.
- Reports and records. MDE says every applicant must file an annual implementation report summing up the past year's nutrient management and best management practices. MDE also offers recordkeeping forms, among them a nutrient land application log, documentation of manure, litter and wastewater storage structures, a manure, litter and wastewater transfer record, and a mortality disposal log. MDE calls these forms optional, so a farm may not have kept them. Ask the owner which records exist, and where storage structures stood and dead animals were disposed of.
- Mortality events. The page links a fact sheet on catastrophic poultry mortality events. This handbook did not read it.
Where to look a site up
- MDE's Animal Feeding Operations page links a CAFO public search tool twice: once as the place to find every CAFO on public notice, and once under the label "Find out about facilities near you". This handbook did not open the tool and says nothing of what it holds.
- The Open MDE page describes the compliance data MDE links by program area, Animal Feeding Operations among them.
- For questions, MDE gives 410-537-3314.
Getting the file
The page read does not describe a records request route for animal feeding operation files. MDE's Public Information Act requests page covers requests for MDE records in general.
Sources
Maryland Department of the Environment pages, read October 15, 2026, no modified date shown: