Building or expanding a confined feeding operation? What you and your consultant need to know

Are you planning to expand or build a new confined feeding operation (CFO), manure storage facility or manure collection area? If so, be sure your consultant is aware of the guidance for conducting subsoil investigations. Failure to follow this guidance could delay or otherwise impact your ability to obtain a permit under the Agricultural Operation Practices Act.

Over the past few years, the Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB) and Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation, in conjunction with representatives from the livestock industries, have issued a series of technical guidelines providing guidance to consultants conducting subsoil investigations for CFOs:

Agdex 096-61: Determining Equivalent Protective Layers and Constructed Liners
Agdex 096-62: Subsoil Investigations for Manure Storage Facilities and Manure Collection Areas
Agdex 096-63: Subsoil Investigations for Naturally Occurring Protective Layers
Agdex 096-64: Subsoil Investigations for Compacted Soil Liner
These guidelines provide instructions for how to properly identify a groundwater resource, determine depth to a water table, and estimate equivalent depths and hydraulic conductivity of liners and protective layers. 

The last guideline of the series was issued in March 2023 and the NRCB has considered the past few years a transition period in the use of this guidance. However, going forward, NRCB approval officers will require that the procedures described in the guidelines are followed in applications for new facilities.