Des Moines Register
03-09-07
Panel backs bill overhauling livestock laws
The proposed rules for one of Iowa's hallmark industries abandons talk of giving
counties local zoning control.
BY PERRY BEEMAN AND JENNIFER JACOBS
REGISTER STAFF WRITERS
Putting more distance between new or expanding livestock farms and homes,
water supplies and tourism areas is the aim of a proposal being considered by
Iowa lawmakers.
It's a major overhaul of state livestock laws, and is intended to limit threats to
Iowans' health, waterways and air quality. It abandons talk of giving counties
local zoning control over livestock operations or calling a moratorium on new
construction.
On Thursday, the House Environmental Protection Committee endorsed House
Study Bill 267, a 25-page set of proposed new environmental controls for one of
Iowa's hallmark industries. The vote was 12-8.
Livestock farms are one of the most contentious environmental issues in Iowa.
The state is the nation's largest producer of hogs, finishing 25 million a year.
But hog and cattle farms have been blamed for fish kills caused by manure
spread on crop fields or spilled directly into streams. And neighbors have long
complained about respiratory irritations, asthma and annoying odors they link to
the farms. Some university studies have supported those contentions.
Many environmentalists had pushed for county zoning of the farms, an idea Gov.
Chet Culver supported during his campaign. But that idea proved too politically
hot for lawmakers, who are looking to improve state controls on the confinements
and feedlots instead.
The legislation would, for the first time, give special protection to tourism areas
such as the Iowa Great Lakes and Clear Lake by preventing construction within a
set distance of the areas. More separation distance would be required between
farms and high-quality waterways, too.
The state won't automatically turn down an application from a producer who
wishes to build a new livestock operation or to expand an existing one if the
structure is within the minimum separation distance - if the producer goes
through an odor assessment by Iowa State University.
But the state could turn down any project if there is "a preponderance of
evidence that the construction would be detrimental" to nearby residents or a
protected location.
Rep. Mark Kuhn said Thursday that an existing voluntary state checklist system
called the "master matrix," intended to make the farms more environmentally
friendly, hasn't protected air and water quality as much as hoped.
The new proposal would set up a study committee to suggest ways to change
the matrix, which counties would be required to use. Now, 86 counties have
opted into the program; 13 have chosen not to participate. The state Department
of Natural Resources would still have the final say on permits.
Rep. Steve Olson, a Republican from De Witt, said he voted against the bill
because "we are going to make it more difficult to expand Iowa's livestock
economy and make it harder for father-son operations to exist and bring young
people back to the farm."
Kuhn said he doesn't think the bill will hamper livestock operations from growing
or prospering.
Nathaniel Baer of Environment Iowa said his group welcomes the bill as a step
toward limiting environmental and health damage. He predicted that the bill faces
spirited debate as it moves through committees to floor debate in the House and
Senate.
Lobbying against the bill are major farm groups, including the Iowa Farm Bureau
Federation, the Iown Corn Growers Association and the Iowa Pork Producers
Association. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has registered as
"undecided."
Eldon McAfee, lawyer for the Iowa Pork Producers Association, said hog farmers
consider existing laws adequate to control pollution from livestock operations.
The new bill ignores other sources, industrial plants and municipal facilities, for
example, that are bigger threats, he contends.
Reporter Jennifer Janeczko Jacobs can be reached at (515) 284-8127 or
jejacobs@dmreg.com.