Alternatives to Rendering home
For an overview of the subject, please refer to the summary document, Alternatives to Rendering for Meat Processors.
Composting facilities in Nebraska are regulated under Title 132 (Integrated Solid Waste Management Regulations) of the Nebraska Administrative Code. Chapter 6 of Title 132 contains general criteria for solid waste processing operations, and also includes some specific requirements for composting facilities. In addition, relevant information can be found in several other chapters, as noted below.
The first step if you are considering the composting option in Nebraska is to determine whether or not you will need a permit. The permit exception criteria are spelled out in Chapter 2 of Title 132. If you are composting meat processing wastes, the number that applies to you is 1000 cubic yards per year. (The regulations distinguish between "yard wastes" and "other materials", with meat processing wastes clearly falling into the latter category.) According to the estimates in the "How much space?" section in "Composting for meat processors", 1000 cubic yards per year of meat translates to something under 600 to 800 tons per year, or around three tons per working day. If your production approaches or exceeds this rate, you should plan on acquiring a permit if you are going to compost meat processing waste in Nebraska.
The permit application fee for a solid waste compost site is $3100 (see Title 132, Chapter 9). The contents of the application appear in Title 132, Chapter 2. These include such items as:
In addition to the one-time permit fee, the state also charges a $2100 per year operating fee (see Title 132, Chapter 10).
The design specifications listed in Chapter 6 cover items including soil conditions, measures for groundwater protection, and maps of the site, its surroundings, and essential support and infrastructure features. Operating specifications list the primary environmental and health concerns associated with solid waste facilities (litter, disease, air and surface water quality) and require that these concerns be addressed, although in general the regulation does not prescribe which specific measures are to be applied. The rules are more explicit about a few topics, including exclusion of hazardous and specific toxic wastes, and controlling access to the site.
Site closure criteria are also covered by the rule. Written notification is required at least 180 before closure activities are initiated, and the closure process must be completed within 180 after the last waste is received. (This last provision, applicable to all solid waste facilities, seems inconsistent with composting operations, but the rule provides for extensions.)
Several states include special provisions for composting facilities in their solid waste regulations. In some cases, the effect is to make it easier to establish composting sites for suitable materials, presumably to promote the use of composting as a preferable alternative to landfilling. Nebraska lists several additional requirements to be satisfied by composting facilities. This may seem to have the effect of making it more, rather than less burdensome for composting facilities to meet regulatory requirements compared with other solid waste management options. However, it should be noted that the thousand cubic yard per year exemption serves the same purpose for small meat processing operations. (For yard waste, an even more generous exemption of 20,000 cubic yards per year applies.) In any case, the additional requirements are not overly burdensome. They include some provisions for design criteria to address runoff and leachate concerns, and some additional items in the operational requirements covering a description of composting methods, provisions for disposing of any waste which is separated out from the material to be composted, and provisions for analysis (if necessary) of materials being composted, and of underlying soils.
New rules for animal composting in Nebraska went into effect in November, 2000. The rules can be found in Title 23 of the Nebraska Administrative Code, Chapter 17. (Title 23 contains rules pertaining to agriculture.)
The rules cover animals up to 300 pounds that are composted on the premises where they died. A number of specific requirements are spelled out, generally covering good compost management practices.
The new rules appear to be intended more to set standards than to extend the scope of regulation. They provide an alternative to burial or incineration, which had previously been the only options to rendering available in Nebraska. Livestock production facilities will get the most immediate benefits from the new rules. They do not appear to offer any additional options to meat processors which are not livestock producers. However, the rules do represent a potentially useful model for how regulatory initiatives can encourage environmentally beneficial practices in Nebraska.
For additional information on composting rules in Nebraska, you can contact:
Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality
(402) 471-4228