Review the effectiveness of existing enforcement processes

At present, some farms are inspected on a regular basis by the EPA and one or more state-level bureaus. Other farms may experience a lapse between inspections of as much as several years (Brawdy, 1998). This variation in inspection frequency leads some farmers to discharge illegal amounts of pollution. Often the discharges are unintentional, but in all cases the farms operate without suffering the consequences of breaching the stated regulations. It is presumed that a review of present enforcement effectiveness will show that there are several potential ways in which the current permitting and review process could be improved (FAO, 2001). After making the changes identified in the review, it will be possible for government agencies on different levels (i.e. state-level and national level) to pool their resources, eliminate the duplication of work, and effectively inspect all agricultural producers (NPS, 1999). This increased efficiency in inspection will help reduce the number of discharge violations in a given area. Fostering cooperation between producers and multiple government agencies will also facilitate the development and distribution of new techniques designed to reduce agricultural discharges. Finally, the government will have increased potential for collecting revenue, since fines can be collected in fairness once all producers are being regularly inspected.