| Classification | Mixed — six threads, tracked individually below |
| Jurisdiction | N.C. state courts / DEQ / EMC / EPA (various) |
| Baseline | FAT briefing: North Carolina’s Hog CAFOs in 2026: A Regulatory Record That Closed, and a Label That Never Opened (Pork Industry Research Series) |
| Last updated | September 28, 2026 |
This page tracks six related regulatory threads arising from North Carolina’s swine CAFO (hog-lagoon) system. FAT reports genuine movement only — resolved background matters (the McKiver nuisance settlement, the Right to Farm Act challenges, EJCAN v. DEQ, the OAH digester ruling, the underlying 338PA23 decision itself, and the Violation Points System repeal itself) are noted as background, not re-reported as new.
1. EMC rulemaking watch
Following N.C. Dep’t of Envtl. Quality v. N.C. Farm Bureau Federation, Inc., No. 338PA23 (N.C. Oct. 17, 2025) — which struck three general-permit conditions (an annual operations report for ~2,000 swine facilities; Phosphorus Loss Assessment Tool analysis for ~5% of operations; groundwater monitoring wells for ~50–55 facilities in the 100-year floodplain) as unpromulgated APA rules — FAT watches whether DEQ initiates Environmental Management Commission rulemaking to re-adopt these conditions. As of this update, DEQ’s EMC proposed-rules docket shows no animal-waste, PLAT, or floodplain groundwater-monitoring rulemaking among its active items. Classification: Permit / land-use dispute.
2. EPA Title VI Complaint No. 05RNO-21-R4
Southern Environmental Law Center v. N.C. DEQ, challenging DEQ’s March 2021 swine digester permits (AWI310035, AWI301139, AWI230466, AWS820005) in Duplin/Sampson Counties on environmental-justice grounds — populations of color are reported as 54–76% of residents within one mile of the permitted sites. Filed September 27, 2021; accepted by EPA January 13, 2022; DEQ responded February 14, 2022. As of this update, no resolution agreement, finding, or closure letter has been located. A related complaint (No. 05RNO-23-R4, Vermont Law School Environmental Justice Clinic, concerning dry-litter poultry operations) remains unresolved as well. Accuracy note: an earlier, separate complaint (No. 11R-14-R4, filed 2014) settled May 3, 2018 and closed May 7, 2018 with no finding of discrimination — that complaint is closed, not active. Classification: Litigation pending (administrative complaint).
3. Randolph Cnty. Bd. of Educ. v. Stein, No. 25-130
Governs whether the Smithfield-funded Environmental Enhancement Grants program restarts. The N.C. Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for summary judgment in the Attorney General’s favor (Jan. 7, 2026, published); a petition for discretionary review was filed with the N.C. Supreme Court on February 11, 2026 and remained undecided as of this update. NCDOJ’s Environmental Enhancement Grants page states the program “is currently paused as a result of ongoing litigation” (over $43 million distributed, 228 projects, 240 abandoned lagoons closed since 2002, per NCDOJ). The underlying 25-year Smithfield Agreement (2000–2025) has run its full term and is in wind-down — that is the natural expiration of the agreement, not new court action, and does not itself resolve the grants program’s paused status or the pending petition. Classification: Litigation pending.
4. N.C. animal waste general permits renewal
AWG100000 (swine) and AWG400000/AWG500000/AWG600000 (digester systems). DEQ ran a full 2024 renewal process (comment period April 4–November 3, 2023; four public hearings) but never issued the permits; the General Assembly extended the existing permits and certificates of coverage to September 30, 2028 by S.L. 2025-97, s. 4.1 (ratified October 22, 2025), after an earlier extension in S.L. 2024-32, s. 5.1. As of this update, FAT has found no confirmed 2026 renewal activity beyond the 2023–24 comment period; the extension remains the operative status quo. This renewal is the natural vehicle for re-promulgating the conditions struck in 338PA23, so movement here bears directly on thread 1. Classification: Permit / land-use dispute.
5. Statutory enforcement posture
S.L. 2026-11, s. 4 (Senate Bill 401, N.C. Farm Act of 2025-2026, ratified June 11, 2026, signed June 22, 2026) repealed N.C.G.S. 143-215.6E, the swine farm Violation Points System enacted by S.L. 1997-458, s. 10.1, under which three significant violations in a five-year period triggered mandatory permit revocation. That repeal is complete. FAT watches the next Farm Act and any DEQ/EMC action creating a successor enforcement mechanism, and whether DEQ resumes publishing its Annual Report to the General Assembly on Animal Waste Management. DEQ has posted a report for FY2023–24 (submitted October 2024); no FY2024–25 or later report has been located, and DEQ’s Animal Feeding Operations Program Summary page carries no current statewide facility or lagoon counts.
6. Align RNG (Smithfield Foods / Dominion Energy) digester buildout
Grady Road (19 farms planned, Sampson and Duplin Counties; 321,456 Dth/yr) and Bowdens (35 farms planned, Duplin County; 304,866 Dth/yr) renewable-natural-gas projects. As of the most recent reporting located, Grady Road had connected only 6 of 19 planned farms, and Bowdens remained listed as “under development” with no confirmed completion date. FAT watches DEQ’s swine-biogas permitting actions page for new certificates of coverage or permit modifications, and CARB for any published Low Carbon Fuel Standard carbon-intensity pathway certification (Align’s LCFS application was finalized March 2025; the certified CI score is not public, and Smithfield/Dominion have declined to disclose credit volumes or revenue as proprietary). Classification: Permit / land-use dispute unless litigation is filed.
Background, already resolved — not re-reported as new
- Envtl. Justice Cmty. Action Network v. N.C. DEQ, No. 22-1047 (N.C. Ct. App. Dec. 5, 2023) (unpublished) upheld the individual Grady Road digester permits; an OAH decision (March 2023) upheld the AWG400000 general permit.
- The Murphy-Brown nuisance litigation settled November 19, 2020 (terms undisclosed) after McKiver v. Murphy-Brown, LLC, 980 F.3d 937 (4th Cir. 2020).
- North Carolina’s 2017 and 2018 Right to Farm amendments (S.L. 2017-11; S.L. 2018-113) survived constitutional challenge in Rural Empowerment Ass’n for Cmty. Help v. State, No. COA21-175 (N.C. Ct. App. Dec. 21, 2021), review denied December 16, 2022.
- The swine farm Violation Points System repeal (S.L. 2026-11, s. 4) is itself complete, not an open thread.
Cross-reference: FAT’s separate REACH v. EPA tracker page covers the D.C. Circuit appeal of the EPCRA animal-waste air-emissions reporting exemption — that is a distinct federal matter, tracked as one case, not duplicated here.
What FAT is tracking
- DEQ’s EMC rulemaking docket for any animal-waste, PLAT, or floodplain-groundwater rulemaking
- EPA’s External Civil Rights Compliance Office for a resolution, finding, or closure of Title VI Complaint 05RNO-21-R4
- The N.C. Supreme Court’s disposition of the Randolph County petition for discretionary review, and any lifting of NCDOJ’s pause notice on the Environmental Enhancement Grants program
- Any DEQ action restarting the AWG general-permit renewal, or further legislative extension
- DEQ’s swine-biogas permitting actions page and CARB’s LCFS pathway certifications for Align RNG projects
Sources
- N.C. DEQ — EMC proposed rules
- N.C. DEQ — Title VI compliance
- NCDOJ — Environmental Enhancement Grants
- N.C. DEQ — Animal Waste Management Annual Report
- Inside Climate News — North Carolina hog waste biogas fuels California (Feb. 15, 2026)
- North Carolina Health News — How North Carolina wasted the chance to fix hog pollution (Sept. 3, 2026)
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