Visit the Understanding Agricultural Law Educational Series Homepage
Materials:
- PowerPoint: Clean Water Act & Ag: Biosolids & Food Processing Waste Land Application 12.12.25
- Resource: Biosolid Regulation in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain Regions: A Case Study, Sea Grant Law Center
This is the third webinar in this series on the Clean Water Act’s regulatory role in agricultural land use:
- Understanding the Basics of the Clean Water Act & Ag: Impaired Waters & TMDL Process (March 28, 2025)
- Understanding the Basics of the Clean Water Act & Agriculture (June 28, 2024)
See also Brook Duer, Agricultural Law in the Spotlight: Why Aren’t PFAS Compounds in Land Applied Biosolids Regulated By EPA? (July 3, 2025)
On Friday, December 12, 2025, from 12 noon–1:00 pm ET, the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, alongside the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s (PDA) Agricultural Business Development Center (ABDC), will present the next webinar in the Understanding Agricultural Law Educational Series, a course designed to develop subject matter literacy and competence on fundamental issues of agricultural law for attorneys and business advisors who work with or represent agricultural or rural clients but may not necessarily specialize in agricultural law:
“Understanding the Clean Water Act & Ag: Biosolids & Food Processing Waste Land Application”
Historically, concerns about applying biosolids to land have focused largely on odor. More recently, however, a new risk has emerged: the potential for soil and nearby groundwater contamination from elevated levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Additionally, in the Mid-Atlantic region, where residential and agricultural lands often exist side by side, the land application of food processing waste has become a growing concern due to its increasing use in certain areas and to changing practices among landfills and food and feed processors.
This webinar will explain how the Clean Water Act regulates the land application of biosolids—residual materials generated by wastewater treatment facilities—and food processing waste—byproducts from the production of human food and animal feed.
1 hour of substantive CLE credit available for Pennsylvania-licensed attorneys at no charge.
