Bill Text: IA SSB1180 | 2013-2014 | 85th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A study bill for an act providing for the determination of animal units which are part of confinement feeding operations, and making penalties applicable.

Spectrum: Unknown

Status: (N/A - Dead) 2013-02-28 - Voted - Agriculture. [SSB1180 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2013-SSB1180-Introduced.html

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Senate Study Bill 1180 - Introduced
SENATE FILE _____
BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON
AGRICULTURE BILL BY
CHAIRPERSON SENG)
A BILL FOR
An Act providing for the determination of animal units which
are part of confinement feeding operations, and making
penalties applicable.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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Section 1. Section 459.301, subsection 3, Code 2013, is
amended to read as follows:
3. In calculating the animal unit capacity of a confinement
feeding operation, the animal unit capacity shall include the
animal unit capacity of all confinement feeding operation
buildings which are part of the confinement feeding operation,
unless a confinement feeding operation building has been
abandoned as provided in section 459.201 that are used to house
animals .
Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 459.312A Election to be a small animal
feeding operation.
A person otherwise required to submit an updated manure
management plan as required in section 459.312 and pay an
annual compliance fee as required in section 459.400 may make
a small animal feeding operation election as provided in this
section.
1. Upon the effective date of the election, the confinement
feeding operation covered by the updated manure management
plan shall be considered a small animal feeding operation only
for purposes of submitting the updated manure management plan
and paying the annual compliance fee, during the period of the
election.
2. A person is eligible to make an election only if all of
the following apply:
a. Five hundred or fewer animal units are housed at the
confinement feeding operation at any one time during the period
of election.
b. The department is notified of the election in a manner
required by the department. The department may require that a
person submit a notice of election as part of an updated manure
management plan form or as a separate document.
3. The department shall provide for the period of election,
including its effective and expiration dates. However, the
period of election shall be at least for the same period
covered by the updated manure management plan. An election
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automatically terminates when more than five hundred animal
units are housed at the confinement feeding operation at any
one time.
4. This section does not affect any of the following:
a. A condition associated with a construction permit as
provided in this subchapter, including but not limited to a
master matrix as provided in section 459.305.
b. A requirement unrelated to filing an updated manure
management plan or paying an annual compliance fee, including
but not limited to the filing of a construction design
statement as provided in section 459.306, the application of
manure as provided in section 459.313A, or the certification of
a person as a confinement site manure applicator as provided
in section 459.315.
Sec. 3. Section 459.400, subsection 1, paragraph c, Code
2013, is amended to read as follows:
c. An annual compliance fee that is required to accompany an
updated manure management plan submitted to the department for
approval as provided in section 459.312 .
(1) The amount of the annual compliance fee shall not exceed
a rate of fifteen cents per animal unit based on the multiplied
by the maximum number of animal unit capacity of units housed
at the confinement feeding operation during the period covered
by the manure management plan.
(2) If the person submitting the manure management plan is
a contract producer, as provided in chapter 202 , the active
contractor shall be assessed the annual compliance fee.
EXPLANATION
BACKGROUND. The department of natural resources
(department) is required to regulate confinement feeding
operations (operations) under Code chapter 459, the “Animal
Agriculture Compliance Act”. This bill amends provisions in
subchapter III which govern water quality, including how and
when manure from such operations is to be applied to land.
CURRENT ANIMAL UNIT CAPACITY FORMULA TO DETERMINE AN
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OPERATION’S SIZE. To some extent, the degree of regulation
depends upon an operation’s size which is determined by
calculating its animal unit capacity; the maximum number
of animal units that may be maintained in all confinement
buildings (buildings) at any one time (Code section 459.102).
Each of various types of animals are assigned a special
equivalency factor. For example, a butcher or breeding swine
weighing more than 55 pounds has a factor of 0.4 animal units
(Code section 459.102). Generally, when calculating the animal
unit capacity of an operation, buildings constructed as part
of the operation are included regardless of whether they are
occupied, except if a building has been abandoned, i.e., has
been razed or converted to another use (Code section 459.301).
SMALL ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS. The current law provides
a special regulatory exemption for small animal feeding
operations, which have an animal unit capacity of 500 or fewer
animal units (Code section 459.102). In the example above, a
confinement feeding operation with three buildings keeping a
maximum of 400 swine in each of two buildings and no animals in
the third building would not qualify as a small animal feeding
operation if the capacity of the three buildings were 600, 500,
and 300 animal units, respectively (1,400 x 0.4 = 560).
REVISING CURRENT FORMULA —— CALCULATING CONFINEMENT ANIMAL
UNIT CAPACITY BASED ON USED AND UNUSED BUILDINGS. This bill
revises the current formula by excluding any building that is
not occupied regardless of whether it is abandoned. This is
the same formula used to calculate the animal unit capacity of
dry-bedded confinement feeding operations using so-called “hoop
buildings” (Code section 459B.103). In the example above, the
confinement feeding would qualify as a small animal feeding
operation since the third empty building is no longer counted
(1,100 x 0.4 = 440).
NEW FORMULA —— RECLASSIFYING CONFINEMENT FEEDING OPERATIONS
BASED ON MAXIMUM NUMBER OF ANIMAL UNITS. The bill allows a
person to elect to be exempt from filing a manure management
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plan update (update) with the department and paying an
associated annual compliance fee (fee) if the person can
reclassify the operation as a small animal feeding operation
using the new formula. An update is required to be filed by a
person who owns a confinement feeding operation or who applies
manure from a confinement feeding operation located outside
the state (Code section 459.312). Both the original plan
and the update must include the latest information regarding
manure application. Using the example above, the operation
could elect to be exempt as a small animal feeding operation
(800 x 0.4 = 320). The bill provides that the department
must determine the period of election so long as the minimum
election period equals the duration of the updated plan.
However, the election period automatically terminates if
the operation no longer qualifies as a small animal feeding
operation as calculated using the new formula.
NEW FORMULA —— ANNUAL COMPLIANCE FEE. The bill provides
that a person must now calculate the fee accompanying the
update by applying the new formula. Using the example above,
if the operation were not exempted as a small animal feeding
operation, the person who would have paid a fee of $84 (560 x 15
cents) under the current formula would pay $48 (320 x 15 cents)
under the new formula.
CIVIL PENALTIES. A person who violates Code chapter 468,
subchapter III is subject to a civil penalty. The department
is authorized to impose a range of civil penalties based
on a number of criteria. The general civil penalty cannot
exceed $10,000 (Code sections 459.603 and 455B.109). A
person violating a provision is also subject to judicial
action brought by the attorney general (Code sections 459.603
and 455B.191). The general civil penalty applicable for a
violation cannot exceed $5,000.
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