This guide provides instructions on how to navigate Illinois CAFO databases, find past CAFO violations, create custom aerial maps of CAFOs, and more. If you have any questions or comments, please contact: WaterRangers@sraproject.org

Illinois EPA CAFO Permit Documents

Use these sites to find existing livestock permit applications under the General NPDES Permit

To view the list of existing CAFO permits and their permit application documents:

• Use this site
• Click the blue “View” button for details on the application, manure analysis, soil samples, and more.

To view permit information for CAFOs that are under permit:

• Use this site
• If you have the CAFO name, enter it next to “Main / Organization Name”
• To do a general search, enter “Swine,” “Dairy,” or “Poultry” next to “Main / Organization Name”
• Make sure “State” is “IL”
• Click Submit
• You can find the ID# for permits
  • Note: You can’t access permit documents from this site. To get permit documents, you must make a FOIA request.

Illinois Notices of Intent to Construct

Use this site to find recent proposals and expected animal counts for CAFO construction on new and existing facilities.

To view the number of animals at a site:

• Click blue “+” icon in left column
• “Projected Animal Units” is the estimated number of animal units that will be added to the facility as a result of the construction project
• “Total Site Animal Units” is the total number of animal units at the facility following construction (i.e., total animal units at the facility under current operations, plus any new animal unit capacity added during construction).

Animal	Animal Unit Equivalent	Animal Equivalent of 1,000 Animal Units
Brood cows and slaughter and feeder cattle	1.0	1,000
Milking dairy cows	1.4	714
Young dairy stock	0.6	1,666
Swine weighing over 55 lb.	0.4	2,500
Swine weighing under 55 lb.	0.1	10,000
Sheep, lambs, or goats	0.1	10,000
Horses	2.0	500
Turkeys 7 lb. or more	0.018	55,555
Turkeys less than 7 lb.	0.005	200,000
Laying hens or broilers 3 lb. or more	0.01	100,000
Laying hens or broilers less than 3 lb.	0.0025	400,000
Ducks	0.04	50,000

Illinois Enforcement Database

Use this site to find past CAFO enforcement documents.

To search previous enforcement documents for CAFOs:

• Select “Enforcement” in the “Action Type” drop-down menu
• Select a county if applicable
• Select “Livestock” from the “Program” drop-down menu under the water program section
• Click “Search”
• Click “View” next to the case of interest
• Click the blue “View Order” button in the lower left of the screen to view the official enforcement documentation.

NEPAssist

Use this tool to map CAFOs and impaired waterways.

• Click “Launch the NEPAssist Tool” on right
• Type the address/city/location you want to view on the top left
• Go to the drop-down menu under “Basemap” on the top menu. Click “Bing Maps Hybrid” to add a satellite image base map
• Use the “Select Map Contents” section on the right to add layers to the map
• To make an impaired waterway map:
  • Click the + sign next to “Water”
  • Click “Impaired Streams” 
  • Click “Impaired Waterbodies”
  • Print or save map
• You can add more layers by clicking each + beside other map layer items to make maps with more/different information.

Enviromapper

Use this tool to map impaired waterways and find impaired waterway reports indicating the reason for impairment

• Enter a location such as address, zip, city, county, waterbody, park name, etc. (e.g., 22207; Arlington, VA; Jones Creek; etc.)
• Click “More Data” at top
• Click “Additional Data Layers”
• Click “Water Features”
• Click “Impaired Streams”
• Click “Impaired Waterbodies”
• If you click the red impairment line, you’ll get a text box
• Click “MORE INFO” next to the “WaterbodyReportLink”
• This will give you the cause of impairment on the right side of your screen
• Print or save.

FWS Wetland Mapper

Use this site to identify wetlands near CAFOs.

• Click the “Wetlands Mapper” link at the bottom of the page to launch the map
• On the left, there will be two drop-down boxes:
  • Base Maps Includes:
    • Streets 
    • Satellite 
    • Hybrid 
    • Topo 
    • Terrain 
    • Gray 
    • Open Street Map 
    • NATGEO 
    • USGS Topo 
    • NAT’L MAP 
  • Map Layers Includes:
    • Wetlands 
    • Riparian 
    • Riparian Mapping Areas 
    • Areas of Interest 
    • FWS Managed Lands 
    • Historic Wetland Data 
• Choose your preferred basemap, then click all boxes under Map Layers
  • The USGS Topo basemap will provide a topographic map with waterways; the Satellite basemap shows an aerial view of the land
• Type an address or coordinates
• Zoom in or out to adjust picture
• Wetlands will be shown on the map
• Take your arrow and click on wetland
  • A box will open to give total acreage of wetland and a description

• To measure the distance from a wetland to a CAFO:
  • Click “Measure” in the upper left corner
  • Click the ruler with arrows going left and right above it
  • Click your cursor on the map and drag it to the location to which you want to measure
  • View the distance in the gray box

• To measure the acreage of an area:
  • Click “Measure” in the upper left corner
  • Select the ruler icon with a green shape behind it
  • Select points on the map to measure the acreage of an area
  • De-select the ruler icon to exit the tool

• Click Print on the map to create a physical copy

Water Quality Standards by State

Use this site to find your state’s water quality standards.

• Scroll down to the colorful map of the United States
• Select a state
• Use the links under “State Standards in Effect for CWA Purposes” to find the state’s water quality standards.