AFO/CAFO permits

The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) publishes its page on permits for animal feeding operations (AFOs) and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) under the North Dakota Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NDPDES) permits program of its Division of Water Quality. DEQ says it has the statutory responsibility to control the pollution of surface waters, groundwaters and the air of the state, and that rules for the control of pollution from certain livestock enterprises were first issued in 1972 by the State Health Department and updated in 1989 and 2005.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name livestock operation permits among its standard record sources. DEQ says the nutrients in livestock waste can have detrimental effects when carried into surface waters or groundwater, and that nutrients in groundwater may contaminate drinking water wells.

DEQ says state law prohibits two practices: feeding livestock on ice, and feeding livestock or handling livestock waste in any way that would allow the waste to directly enter or be washed into waters of the state by runoff from rain or snow melt.

Asking for the file tells the owner

DEQ's Data & Maps page sets out a notice about requesting animal feeding operation records. The page prints the notice twice, once under "NDAC 44-04-32" naming the State Department of Health and once under "NDCC 44-04-32" naming DEQ. It says the department shall keep a written record of each individual who requests information, and the type of information requested, regarding an animal feeding operation permit. Within seven business days of receiving the request, DEQ shall give the owner and operator of the operation written notice of the type of information requested and the name and address of the requester. If a request asks about more than three files, the page says DEQ charges a fee to cover mailing those notices, as well as a copying fee.

A request for the file of a neighboring operation therefore gives its owner and operator the requester's name and address.

The rules and the documents

The rules are chapter 33.1-16-03.1 of the North Dakota Administrative Code, Control of Pollution from Animal Feeding Operations, and the NDPDES rules in chapter 33.1-16-01. DEQ's page links documents titled Do I Need A Permit? and State Animal Feeding Operation Permitting Process, the application form, a design manual, and a page of county and township zoning regulations for concentrated animal feeding operations.

Where to look a site up

The pages read link no list of permitted animal feeding operations. The Division of Water Quality is at 701-328-5210.

Getting the file

DEQ takes open records requests at DEQOpenRecords@nd.gov, on its General Request Form for general records. What to put in a request is on the Open Records Requests page.

Sources

North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality pages, read October 13, 2026:

• AFO/CAFO, no modified date shown.
• Water Quality - North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, no modified date shown.
• Data and Maps - North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, no modified date shown.
• Rules, Regulations, and Policies - North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, last updated 05/30/2019 as its footer prints it.
• Open Records Requests - North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, no modified date shown.