Nebraska Revised Statutes Chapter 54. Livestock § 54-2430. Surface water runoff; diversion requirements; increase in acreage limitation; conditions

(1) Except as provided in this section, no new livestock waste control facility shall be constructed and no physical onsite activities specific to a new livestock waste control facility, except the use of a borrow site for construction of other components of the animal feeding operation, shall be initiated unless surface water runoff from the upstream area, except incidental runoff, is adequately diverted around the structure and is not permitted to enter the reservoir area. For purposes of this section, incidental runoff means the runoff that drains from the slope of the embankments, the top of the dam, the reservoir area, the feedlots, the associated roadways, and up to twenty-five acres of additional area that cannot be diverted. Incidental runoff capacity from a twenty-five-year frequency, twenty-four-hour storm shall be provided for in the waste reservoir in addition to the capacity required for the waste effluent or stored materials.

(2) The department shall permit a requested increase in the twenty-five-acre limitation for a new livestock waste control facility for an animal feeding operation for which an inspection was requested prior to January 1, 2000, unless the department determines that the detriment to existing water users that would result from permitting the acreage increase would outweigh the detriment to the operator of the animal feeding operation if the increase were not permitted.

(3) For other new livestock waste control facilities, the department may permit an increase in the twenty-five-acre limitation if it determines that (a) the applicant has no reasonable way to limit the amount of the additional runoff acreage to twenty-five acres or less at the proposed location of the livestock waste control facility, (b) the applicant has no reasonable alternative for relocating the livestock waste control facility so that the additional runoff acreage would not exceed twenty-five acres, and (c) either (i) an increase in the permitted runoff acreage would not reduce water supplies to the detriment of existing water users or (ii)(A) the requested facility is for a proposed expansion of an animal feeding operation in existence and in compliance with the Livestock Waste Management Act as of January 1, 2003, (B) the amount of the runoff acreage permitted in excess of the twenty-five-acre limitation is not more than fifteen percent of total permitted feedlot area, and (C) any detriment to existing water users that would result from permitting the acreage increase would be outweighed by the detriment to the operator of the animal feeding operation if the increase were not permitted.