{"id":4369,"date":"2025-10-07T11:04:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T15:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/?p=4369"},"modified":"2025-10-15T16:18:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T20:18:48","slug":"public-comment-and-hearings-set-on-new-statewide-animal-feeding-operations-permit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/2025\/10\/07\/public-comment-and-hearings-set-on-new-statewide-animal-feeding-operations-permit\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Comment and Hearings Set on New Statewide Animal Feeding Operations Permit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>October hearings set for Eastern Shore, Southern Maryland, Western Maryland and Online<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br \/>BALTIMORE (October 7, 2025) \u2013 The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) today announced that a series of public meetings will be held to hear comments from farmers, the public and advocates on a new draft statewide animal feeding operations <a href=\"https:\/\/mde.maryland.gov\/programs\/land\/RecyclingandOperationsprogram\/Documents\/01_Draft%2025AF%20GD%20Permit.pdf\">permit<\/a>.<br \/><br \/>\u201cThis is an important environmental permit that really has to strike the right balance between supporting a thriving agricultural industry in Maryland and the health of our land and Chesapeake Bay,\u201d said Secretary of the Environment Serena McIlwain. \u201cOur goal is to issue a fair permit that reflects the input of all stakeholders and the latest best practices.\u201d<br \/><br \/>The draft renewal permit takes into consideration feedback received during a series of listening sessions held last year. The public hearings will provide additional opportunities for comment before a final decision is reached. Written comments will be accepted through Jan. 2.<br \/><br \/>This permit prevents pollution to waterways by requiring the submission of comprehensive nutrient management plans and establishing conditions for operating large poultry houses, dairy farms, cattle operations and other agricultural operations that confine animals. The regulations and general discharge permit for these facilities are part of a comprehensive statewide effort to address all sources of pollution that can impair Maryland waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.<br \/><br \/>Three in-person public hearings and an online public hearing have been scheduled (all are from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.):<br \/><br \/><strong>Oct. 15 \u2013 Thurmont<\/strong><br \/>Thurmont Regional Library, Community Room<br \/>76 East Moser Road, Thurmont, Maryland 21788<br \/><br \/><strong>Oct. 21 \u2013 Princess Anne<\/strong><br \/>University of Maryland Eastern Shore <br \/>Princess Anne, Maryland 21853<br \/><br \/><strong>Oct. 29 \u2013 Easton<\/strong><br \/>Talbot Community Center Curling Rink<br \/>10028 Ocean Gateway, Easton, Maryland 21601 <br \/><br \/><strong>October 30<br \/><\/strong><a style=\"font-size: revert\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/13V7DNCqTxsNRFQrpOhckHDrcHHfy-44Cgy5eqSkz87M\/viewform?edit_requested=true\">Virtual public hearing<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>November 18<br \/><\/strong>First Baptist Church of Salisbury\u00a0<br \/>528 Booth Street<br \/>Salisbury, Maryland 21801<\/p>\n<p><br \/>Additional information, including the draft permit, fact sheet, public hearings details and instructions on submitting written comments, is available on <a href=\"https:\/\/mde.maryland.gov\/programs\/Land\/RecyclingandOperationsprogram\/Pages\/AFOInfo.aspx\">our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"># # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October hearings set for Eastern Shore, Southern Maryland, Western Maryland and Online BALTIMORE (October 7, 2025) \u2013 The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) today announced that a series of public meetings will be held to hear comments from farmers, the public and advocates on a new draft statewide animal feeding operations permit. \u201cThis is<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/2025\/10\/07\/public-comment-and-hearings-set-on-new-statewide-animal-feeding-operations-permit\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,4,14],"tags":[85,28,132],"class_list":["post-4369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bay-restoration","category-clean-water-2","category-press-release","tag-chesapeake-bay","tag-clean-water","tag-secretary-serena-mcilwain"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4369"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4392,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4369\/revisions\/4392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}