Livestock Waste Management Practices And Legilation Outside Br

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report one of a series of projects to assess management of agricultural
wastes in the Lower Fraser Valley. The objective of this specific project is to
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identify livestock waste management practices and legislation outside of British
Columbia.
The broad objectives of the overall initiative, of which this project is a
component, are to evaluate the production, management and use of agricultural
wastes, and then to utilize this information in developing strategies for improving
nutrient (manure and inorganic fertilizer) management.
The key problems identified from experience elsewhere include:
. the underlying public concern with manure management and its pollution
and potential pollution risks associated with air, water, habitat and soil
resources;
. large quantities of manure have been applied to a limited land area often
without considering the potential hazards; and
. most emphasis appears to be on potential water pollution and a focus of
concern on the decreasing quality of drinking water.
Problems directly associated with manure management are similar in many
locations, what differs is the practices to deal with the problems.
The review of legislation, regulation and policy elsewhere should be considered
a "snapshot in time' as the various governmental approaches to livestock waste
management are extremely dynamic at this time in Europe and the USA.
While we cannot expect to extrapolate from the experience of another jurisdiction
directly and apply it to the Fraser Valley, the combination of experiences
elsewhere are helpful in that they provide various policy approaches - some
successful, others not.