Bill Text: IA SF447 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Enrolled
Bill Title: A bill for an act providing for certain court actions involving an allegation of a public or private nuisance or the interference with a person’s comfortable use and enjoyment of life or property caused by an animal feeding operation, providing for the award of damages, costs, and expenses, and including effective date provisions. (Formerly SSB 1144.) Effective 3-29-17.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Passed) 2017-03-29 - Signed by Governor. S.J. 823. [SF447 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2017-SF447-Enrolled.html
Senate File 447 - Enrolled
SENATE FILE
BY COMMITTEE ON
AGRICULTURE
(SUCCESSOR TO SSB
1144)
(COMPANION TO HF 468
BY COMMITTEE ON
AGRICULTURE)
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A BILL FOR
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Senate File 447
AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR CERTAIN COURT ACTIONS INVOLVING AN
ALLEGATION OF A PUBLIC OR PRIVATE NUISANCE OR THE
INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON'S COMFORTABLE USE AND ENJOYMENT
OF LIFE OR PROPERTY CAUSED BY AN ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATION,
PROVIDING FOR THE AWARD OF DAMAGES, COSTS, AND EXPENSES, AND
INCLUDING EFFECTIVE DATE PROVISIONS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
Section 1. NEW SECTION. 657.11A Animal agriculture ====
promotion of responsible animal feeding operations.
1. a. Findings. The general assembly finds that important
public interests are advanced by preserving and encouraging the
expansion of responsible animal agricultural production in this
state which provides employment opportunities in and economic
growth for rural Iowa, contributes tax revenues to the state
and to local communities, and protects our valuable natural
resources.
b. Purpose. The purpose of this section is to encourage
persons involved in animal agriculture to adopt existing
prudent and generally utilized management practices for their
animal feeding operations, thereby enhancing the fundamental
role of animal agriculture in this state by providing a
reasonable level of protection to persons engaged in animal
agricultural production from certain types of nuisance actions.
c. Declaration. The general assembly has balanced all
competing interests and declares its intent to preserve
and enhance responsible animal agricultural production,
specifically animal agricultural producers in this state
who use existing prudent and generally utilized management
practices reasonable for their animal feeding operations.
2. Except as otherwise provided by this section, an animal
feeding operation, as defined in section 459.102, found to
be a public or private nuisance under this chapter or under
principles of common law, or found to interfere with another
person's comfortable use and enjoyment of the person's life or
property under any other cause of action, shall be conclusively
presumed to be a permanent nuisance and not a temporary
or continuing nuisance under principles of common law, and
shall be subject to compensatory damages only as provided in
subsection 3.
3. Compensatory damages awarded to a person bringing
an action alleging that an animal feeding operation is a
public or private nuisance, or an interference with the
person's comfortable use and enjoyment of the person's life or
property under any other cause of action, shall not exceed the
following:
a. The person's share of compensatory property damages due
to any diminution in the fair market value of the person's real
property proximately caused by the animal feeding operation.
The fair market value of the real property is deemed to equal
the price that a buyer who is willing but not compelled to
buy and a seller who is willing but not compelled to sell
would accept for the real property. The person's share of any
compensatory property damages must be based on the person's
share of the ownership interest in the real property. For
purposes of this section, ownership interest means holding
legal or equitable title to real property in fee simple, as a
life estate, or as a leasehold interest.
b. The person's compensatory damages due to the person's
past, present, and future adverse health condition. This
determination shall be made utilizing only objective and
documented medical evidence that the nuisance or interference
with the comfortable use and enjoyment of the person's life or
property was the proximate cause of the person's adverse health
condition.
c. The person's compensatory special damages proximately
caused by the animal feeding operation, including without
limitation, annoyance and the loss of comfortable use and
enjoyment of real property. However, the total damages awarded
to a person under this paragraph "c" shall not exceed one and
one=half times the sum of any damages awarded to the person for
the person's share of the total compensatory property damages
awarded under paragraph "a" plus any compensatory damages
awarded to the person under paragraph "b".
4. This section shall apply to an animal feeding operation
in the same manner as section 657.11, subsections 4 and 5.
5. This section shall not apply if the person bringing
the action proves that the public or private nuisance or
interference with another person's comfortable use and
enjoyment of the person's life or property under any other
cause of action is proximately caused by any of the following:
a. The failure to comply with a federal statute or
regulation or a state statute or rule which applies to the
animal feeding operation.
b. The failure to use existing prudent generally utilized
management practices reasonable for the animal feeding
operation.
6. This section does not apply to a person during the
time in which the person is classified as a habitual violator
pursuant to section 459.604.
7. This section does not apply to a cause of action that
accrued prior to the effective date of this Act.
Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act, being deemed of immediate
importance, takes effect upon enactment.
JACK WHITVER
LINDA UPMEYER
W. CHARLES SMITH
TERRY E. BRANSTA
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