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The feds
national organic program
'§205.202 (c) Buffer zone. An area located between a certified production operation or portion of a production operation and an adjacent land area that is not maintained under organic management. A buffer zone must be sufficient in size or other features (e.g., windbreaks or a diversion ditch) to prevent the possibility of unintended contact by prohibited substances applied to adjacent land areas with an area that is part of a certified operation.'

WSDA Summary
washington state department of agriculture
The Organic Ecology website now features a comprehensive summary of the USDA National Organic Program Final Rule, written by Jim Riddle, UMN, and Miles McEvoy, Washington State Department of Agriculture. The summary was updated by Jim Riddle on December 20, 2006. In simplified terms, the NOP regulations require:

For crop farms –
• 3 years with no application of prohibited materials (no synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or GMOs) prior to harvest of the first certified organic crop;
• Implementation of an Organic System Plan, with proactive fertility systems; conservation measures; environmentally sound manure, weed, disease, and pest management practices; and soil building crop rotation systems;
• Use of natural inputs and/or approved synthetic substances on the National List;
• No use of prohibited substances while certified;
• No use of genetically engineered organisms, (GMOs) defined in the rule as ”excluded methods”;
• No sewage sludge or irradiation;
• Use of organic seeds, when commercially available;
• Use of organic seedlings for annual crops;
• Restrictions on use of raw manure and compost;
• Maintenance of buffer zones, depending on risk of contamination; and
• No residues of prohibited substances exceeding 5% of the EPA tolerance.

For livestock operations –
• Implementation of an Organic Livestock Plan;
• Mandatory outdoor access, when seasonally appropriate;
• Access to pasture for ruminants;
• No antibiotics, growth hormones, slaughter byproducts, or GMOs;
• 100% organic feed and approved feed supplements;
• Sound animal husbandry and preventative health care;
• Organic management from last third of gestation or 2nd day after hatching; and
• No rotating animals between organic and non-organic management.