DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency has extended the comment period on proposals by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to change regulations of livestock operations to be in compliance with federal Clean Water Act. The Des Moines Register says the EPA has extended the period by two weeks until Oct. 31st.

In July, the EPA said Iowa’s program is not sufficient to assess whether livestock confinements need to obtain federal waste discharge permits. It also says Iowa’s inspection program is inadequate and the state failed to act in nearly half of the water quality violation cases against cattle farms that the EPA reviewed. The report was done in response to a petition filed in 2007 by three environmental groups that alleged Iowa fell far short of meeting enforcement requirements.