; sense of Congress (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Animal agricultural production represents an important part of our Nation’s economy and a critical source of income for hundreds of thousands of American families. (2) Animal agricultural production facilities, including combined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), produce millions of tons of animal waste annually, the management and disposal of which represents an integral part of the animal agricultural production process. (3) Traditional methods of animal waste disposal, especially those associated with lagoon and spray-field systems, have been shown by federally funded research to result in negative environmental and social externalities, including contamination of soil, groundwater, and surface water with nitrogen, contamination of air with ammonia, and other threats to animal and human health. (4) During severe weather events, the risk of negative externalities can become particularly acute, as lagoons have the potential to overflow or breach their walls and flood surrounding communities and waterways with unprocessed animal waste. (5) In the Southeastern United States, combined animal feeding operations dedicated to the production of swine are disproportionately located in low-income communities. (6) In recent decades, collaborative research and development efforts by industry, academia, and the public sector have produced numerous superior waste management and disposal technologies that have been shown to significantly reduce the negative environmental and social externalities associated with lagoon and spray-field systems and, in some cases, produce value-added byproducts that can generate new revenue for producers. (7) The widespread adoption of superior waste management and disposal technologies has been inhibited by various social and economic factors, including the cost to producers of installing and operating such systems. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the conversion of existing lagoon and spray-field