CDQA
Environmental
Stewardship Certification
How do I Certify?
Any dairy producer in California may certify in Environmental
Stewardship. These certification requirements will assist the producer to comply
with the federal, state, and local laws and water quality regulations.
Participation in the program by a dairy producer is strictly voluntary. The
requirements are:
Complete the Environmental Stewardship Short Course
1 (ESSC 1) for dairy producers
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Certificates of participation are provided to the producer who
attends
all three sessions of the ESSC 1. Contact your local University of
California Cooperative Extension Dairy Advisor or field representative if
you have questions related to attendance.
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Develop and implement an Environmental Stewardship
Farm Management Plan (ESFMP). These written plans are the property of the
producer and will remain in their possession (at the dairy).
These plans will include (but are not necessarily limited
to):
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Do the four Risk Assessment documents in section 3 of the ESSC1 binder.
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List all categories with a Risk Ranking of 1 from Section 3 of the
ESSC1.
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Identify appropriate alternatives for implementation at your facility to reduce risk for items listed.
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Estimated liquid manure storage needs for winter months (printout from
the *UCCE software)
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Calculate existing water storage capacity (printout from the *UCCE software)
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Develop a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) homework from
ESSC 1
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Develop a Manure Management Emergency Plan (homework from ESSC 1).
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Copies of: conditional use permits (County), Waste Discharge Requirements
(WDR) or waiver of WDR (Regional Water Quality Control
Board), the Notice of Intent for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System Stormwater Permit, and annual reports submitted as a result of a
government issued permit.
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Documentation if available to indicate pond has 10% clay.
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* A computer program was developed by UCCE to standardize
necessary calculations to estimate storage requirements. Producers are
encouraged to use this standardized program to expedite the third party
evaluation.
Successfully complete an on-site evaluation by an
independent, third party evaluator
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Call CDQA evaluation hot-line (530) 574-0524 to request the third party evaluation.
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Schedule your third party evaluation
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Complete the "Do Ahead" part of the checklist before the
evaluator arrives
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Work with people (dairy advisors, trade associations fieldmen, or
consultants) who have been trained by University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) and California Dairy
Quality Assurance
Program (CDQAP) to prepare you for the evaluation
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The individual who completed the ESSC 1 will work with the evaluator
during the evaluation
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All information collected during the evaluation remains
on the dairy. All documents, including the completed checklist, remains on
the dairy.
The evaluation includes a visual assessment of the waste
containment and runoff control facilities. The on-site evaluation is non-regulatory in nature. Following successful completion of an evaluation, the
certification process is complete.
In the event that the on-site evaluation reveals
circumstances which need to be corrected the evaluator will leave the
checklist and discuss with the producer items needing corrections and will
schedule a subsequent re-evaluation. Upon successful completion of the
re-evaluation, the certification process is complete.
If a producer owns more than one facility, an employee
representing each facility will only have to attend the Environmental
Stewardship Short course once. A separate Environmental Stewardship Farm
Management Plan and associated documents will have to be completed for each
facility where livestock are kept.
The cost to cover up to two evaluations per dairy through 2002
was paid through a grant from U.S. EPA.
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