Overview
In September 2000, the TCEQ and the Texas State Soil and Water
Conservation Board initiated an innovative project to reduce
phosphorus levels in the North Bosque and Leon River watersheds.
Storm water runoff containing manure from dairy farms is a
significant source of phosphorus in the two watersheds.
To address the problem, the TSSWCB’s Dairy Manure Export
Support project created incentives in November 2000 for the
transport of manure from dairies in the North Bosque and Leon River
watersheds to composting facilities, where it is turned from waste
into a beneficial product. The composting process reduces the
volume of manure by roughly half. The composted manure can then be
hauled to other watersheds to be used as a soil amendment.
Between November 1, 2000, and August 31, 2006, the TCEQ’s
Composted Manure Incentive Project (CMIP) issued rebates to
governmental entities for purchases of composted manure as well as
technical and marketing assistance to participating manure
composters.
Both the DMES and CMIP projects have received their primary
support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Clean
Water Act Section 319(h).
The compost program grew significantly from when it became
operational in November, 2000, through August, 2006, when the CMIP
ended.
Since the programs’ primary focus has been addressing the
impairment of the North Bosque River, the removal of manure from
that watershed has been documented separately. Through August 31,
2006, the DMES had delivered more than 650,000 tons of dairy manure
from the North Bosque watershed to participating compost
facilities. As of the same date, the CMIP had supported the export
of more than 329,000 tons of dairy manure from the watershed in the
form of compost, thus removing more than 1.48 million pounds of
phosphorus from the watershed.
1 One ton of dairy manure as delivered, at approx. 50%
moisture, yields approx. one cubic yard of compost.
2 Solid manure excludes manure flushed to
lagoons.
The line in the figure representing 50 percent of manure
generated in the watershed shows an upward trend in fiscal 2006
because the number of cattle in the watershed increased during that
period. The bars representing total sales and exports of composted
manure also show an upward trend in fiscal 2006, due in part to
intensive TCEQ marketing and promotion efforts in the final year.
These efforts included a supplemental rebate program, available on
a limited basis to large-scale non-governmental compost users, as
well as demonstration of compost erosion control and reclamation
practices at Fort Hood and in rock quarries in Texas.
The CMIP rebate and technical assistance program ended on August
31, 2006. Compost sales and export totals may not be available to
extend this chart beyond fiscal 2006. It met the goal of removing
from the watershed at least 50 percent of solid cattle manure
from CAFOs in fiscal 2003, 2004, and 2006, with a slight shortfall
in fiscal 2005 (see figure). As of the end of August, 2007—a
full year after the end of the CMIP rebate program and six months
after the end of the DMES manure hauling reimbursement—the
five compost facilities that participated in the final years of the
program were still in operation, actively composting and exporting
composted manure from the watershed.
As of December, 2006, the DMES rebate for hauling manure to
compost facilities was still in place.
The Texas Department of Transportation uses the compost
throughout the state to promote roadside vegetation, thus helping
prevent NPS pollution from highway runoff—another benefit from
the project. TxDOT participated in the CMIP by creating a special
specification for the composted manure from the CMIP watersheds, by
instituting an internal promotion and tracking system for roadside
uses of this material, and by conducting workshops, trainings,
demonstrations, and research trials involving its use. Other state
and local government markets for the composted manure were also
explored and developed.
The TCEQ and its Clean Rivers Program partner, the Brazos River
Authority, are monitoring water quality in the North Bosque and
Leon Rivers to assess the impact of runoff from dairies and to
verify whether composting and export of manure result in improved
water quality.
Other project management and implementation partners include
Texas Cooperative Extension, the University of Texas, the Texas
Transportation Institute, and the Texas Institute for Applied
Environmental Research. Partial funding comes from federal nonpoint
source grants from the EPA.
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Removing the Manure
The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Commission’s
portion of the project, the Dairy Manure Export Support project,
has handled the first part of the process—removing the manure.
The DMES project gives incentives for the transporting of surplus
manure from dairy farms in portions of the North Bosque and Leon
River watersheds to compost facilities.
The export of the composted manure and the nutrients contained
in it help address concerns in the region about nonpoint source
impacts associated with land application of manure. The project
also aids in achieving the target for nutrient-load reduction
established in the North Bosque Total Maximum Daily Load
Implementation Plan.
The initial amount of manure targeted for transport from dairy
farms in the area was 300,000 tons. Hauling dairy manure under the
DMES project has proceeded much faster than originally anticipated.
As of August 31, 2006, more than 907,000 tons has been hauled to
commercial composting facilities from both watersheds. It is
estimated that this prevented the land application of approximately
4 million lbs of phosphorus in the project area. These results are
indicative of the popularity of the program with the dairy industry
in the area.
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Making the Compost
The CMIP ensured that manure at the composting facilities was
properly processed and contained, and that it did not worsen
existing water quality problems.
During the early stages of the project, the TCEQ NPS Program
developed guidance, site criteria, and reporting forms for
participating compost operators. Six composting facilities were
approved under provisional guidelines and began receiving shipments
of manure from local dairies. TCEQ personnel gave technical
assistance on compost-production techniques to interested
operators.
In addition to technical assistance, the TCEQ also enforced CMIP
program requirements (see following sections) and performs site
visits to participating compost facilities to verify that the
composting process follows appropriate practices and that storm
water controls, like lagoons and berms, have been properly
installed and maintained. TxDOT has adopted new specifications for
compost products which require routine product testing and
certification of products through the U.S. Composting
Council’s Seal of Testing Assurance program.
Compost facilities were required to participate in the Composted
Manure Incentive Project in order to qualify for the CMIP compost
rebate and in order for manure deliveries they received to be
eligible for the DMES hauling reimbursement.
Permits for Manure Compost Facilities
All existing and proposed composting facilities in Texas that
compost manure from registered or permitted livestock facilities
must receive
authorization under a wastewater permit to before releasing
wastewater from the compost site. “Wastewater” includes
any storm water that comes within the composting area and that
could come in contact with raw or composted manure.
If all storm water that falls in the composting area is captured
and stored securely on site for use only in composting, there is no
need for a wastewater permit. However, composting facilities that
participate in this grant project are required to supply certified
design documentation establishing that they will prevent any
discharges of wastewater, even if their design makes irrigation
unnecessary and would therefore make them exempt from the
permitting requirement.
TCEQ staff developed the
statewide Manure Composting General Permit WQG200000 to
streamline the authorization of facilities that agree to operate
under the stringent restrictions required in this grant project.
Qualifying facilities have operated under the requirements of this
general permit, without the expense and delay required to receive
approval for an individual wastewater permit. The TCEQ adopted the
general permit in October 2002; it is due for renewal or revision
in October 2007. The forms for applying to operate under the permit
and an explanation of the process are available from the Storm
Water & Pretreatment Team via e-mail and on
the Web page for this permit.
The general permit authorizes the disposal of wastewater from
manure composting facilities only through irrigation or by
evaporation. These facilities are not authorized to discharge any
wastewater into waterways. They are required to supply design
documentation, certified by an engineer, that their use of the
wastewater in irrigation will not allow pollutants to reach
waterways and that their wastewater ponds are capable of retaining
the expected site wastewater without overflowing.
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Building Markets and Support
Under the CMIP program, the TCEQ funded activities to help
assure the continued export of manure from the Bosque and Leon
River watersheds beyond the end of the project. The TCEQ has worked
to promote awareness of composted manure as a soil amendment and to
stimulate markets among government agencies.
Rebate Program
To encourage the use of composted manure, the Composted Manure
Incentive Project offered a $5 rebate for every cubic yard of
eligible compost purchased by Texas state agencies, local
governments, and other eligible users until August 31, 2005. The
TCEQ continued this rebate at a reduced rate of $4 per cubic yard
until August 31, 2006.
A program offered under the CMIP beginning in 2004 gave a rebate
to agricultural producers, compost retailers, and some other
private users who bought composted manure from participating
facilities.
The Texas Department of Transportation continues to spread the
word about the benefits of using compost in highway projects to its
district personnel, contractors, and other interested parties.
Information about TxDOT’s demonstration and use of compost
appears at the
TxDOT Web site. 
The CMIP began in November 2000. As of August 31, 2006, it had
recorded sales of over 575,000 cubic yards of manure compost.
Approximately 78 percent (over 468,000 cubic yards) went to
beneficial uses outside the North Bosque and Leon watersheds, which
equates to more than 2 million lbs of phosphorus exported from the
two watersheds. Export of more than 329,000 tons of manure from the
North Bosque watershed alone removed more than 1.48 million lbs of
phosphorus from the area and came close to meeting the TMDL I-Plan
goal for 2003–2006 (see figure). The CMIP documented the sale
and export of composted manure specifically from North Bosque
watershed dairies at or near 50% of the total solid CAFO manure
generated in the watershed from fiscal 2003 through 2006.
Education and Marketing
For more than 10 years, the TCEQ’s Small Business and
Environmental Assistance program has reached out and supplied
technical assistance in the use of compost. Even before the CMIP
began, SBEA was offering TxDOT and other agencies workshops,
demonstrations of the use of compost, and technical assistance.
Under the CMIP, expanded SBEA outreach has included workshops,
demonstrations, and technical assistance specifically addressing
the benefits, opportunities, and incentives for using composted
manure through the CMIP. The CMIP funded a major Texas Cooperative
Extension education and marketing campaign for composted manure, surveying existing
and potential markets for composted manure in the region, focusing
the campaign on those markets, and conducting field trials and
demonstrations to document and publicize the effectiveness of the
appropriate uses of composted manure in a wide array of
landscaping, horticultural, and agricultural applications. TCE
maintains a Web
site exhibiting the activities and information
developed in this project.
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Using the Compost to Prevent NPS Pollution
TxDOT, as expected, proved to be the largest governmental
purchaser of compost by far over the course of the project. As of
August 31, 2006, TxDOT had purchased and used more than 240,000
cubic yards of composted manure from the facilities participating
in the CMIP, exceeding its original goal. TxDOT continues to
incorporate composted manure its into new projects. TxDOT has been
using compost for erosion control and establishing vegetation in
both construction and maintenance activities.
TxDOT has revised its specifications to increase compost use
among its districts. These specifications cover proper application
and use of compost for controlling erosion and sedimentation and
for establishing vegetation on roadsides after construction and
maintenance. Copies of these
revised specifications for furnishing and placing compost and
for
compost-mulch filter berms , and
other information about TxDOT’s use of
compost , can be found at the TxDOT Web site. The
TCEQ has developed a set of
resources and regulatory guidance on the use of compost and
mulch in storm water erosion and sediment control and
re-vegetation.
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Monitoring for Success
The TCEQ and the Brazos River Authority developed a water
quality monitoring strategy for the North Bosque and Leon
watersheds to measure short-term improvements in water quality
attributable to the removal and composting of manure. Field
monitoring was conducted between June 2003 and August 2005; those
data are currently under analysis. Beginning in fall 2005, the
Texas Institute of Applied Environmental Research began large-scale
monitoring in the North Bosque watershed to evaluate the long-term
effectiveness of BMPs to reduce nonpoint source–derived
phosphorus to include the composting program. This monitoring will
include stations where data have been intensively collected over
approximately 10 years.
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Water Quality Status Report
The Water Quality Status Report (PDF) for March 2006 is a
document describing the water quality issues in the North Bosque
River being addressed by the Composted Manure Incentive Program and
the
Total Maximum Daily Load Implementation Plan. It includes a map
of the watershed showing the location of various features, and
graphs that show annual average concentrations of key water quality
constituents over time. It lists ongoing and planned water quality
management activities ongoing and planned for the watershed,
periodically updating their status. It is too soon to attribute any
water quality improvement in the North Bosque River to these
activities because they only began in 2001, and it takes a number
of years for their effect to be verified under a variety of weather
conditions.
(Help with PDF.)
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