Regulations for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations" to provide more clarity to the public on NPDES regulation after the EPA's report "Feedlots Case Studies of Selected States" revealed there was uncertainty in the public regarding CAFO regulatory terminology and criteria. Although the document is not a rule, it did offer insight and furthered public understanding of previous rules. In his 1998 Clean Water Action Plan, President Bill Clinton directed the USDA and the EPA to join forces to develop a framework for future actions to improve national water quality standards for public health. The two federal agencies' specific responsibility was to improve the management of animal waste runoff from agricultural activities. In 1998, the USDA and the EPA hosted eleven public meetings across the country to discuss animal feeding operations (AFOs). On March 9, 1999, the agencies released the framework titled the Unified National Strategy for Animal Feeding Operations. In the framework, the agencies recommended six major activities to be included in operations' Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans (CNMPs): feed management manure handling and storage land application of manure land management record keeping activities that utilize manure. The framework also outlined two types of related programs. First, "voluntary programs" were designed to assist AFO operators with addressing public health and water quality problems. The framework outlines three types of voluntary programs available: "locally led conservation," "environmental education," and "financial and technical assistance." The framework explained that those that participate in voluntary programs are not required to have a comprehensive nutrient management plan (CNMP). The second type of program outlined by the framework was regulatory, which includes command-and-control regulation with NPDES permitting. EPA final rule (2003) EPA's 2003 rule updated decades-old policies to reflect new technology advancements and increase the expected pollution mitigation from CAFOs. The EPA was also responding to a 1991 court order based on the district court's decision in Natural Resources Defense Council v. Reilly. The final rule took effect on April 14, 2003, and responded to public comments received following the issuance of the proposed rule in 2000. The EPA allowed authorized NPDES states until February 2005 to update their programs and develop technical standards. The 2003 rule established "non-numerical best management practices" (BMPs) for CAFOs that apply both to the "production areas" (e.g. the animal confinement area and the manure storage area) and, for the first time ever, to the "land application area" (land to which manure and