(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
This story was originally published by Iowa Capital Dispatch and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Republicans rewrite controversial manure bill [1]
['Jared Strong', 'More From Author', '- February']
Date: 2024-02-13
Lawmakers have dramatically scaled back a bill in the Iowa Senate that would have allowed certain unapproved dispersals of feedlot manure in farm fields.
An amended version of Senate Study Bill 3152 was approved by a 9-4 committee vote Tuesday, with only Republicans in favor.
The new language allows for the removal of manure from a storage basin at a livestock feedlot if it’s necessary to prevent water quality violations — for example, if a basin is set to overflow.
Last year, a district court judge invalidated a plan for manure disposal at a large cattle feedlot in Clayton County. Removal of manure from the site’s 39-million-gallon storage basin was halted for months, pending approval of a new nutrient management plan by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
The amended legislation would allow emergency manure removals in a similar situation if: the feedlot operators submit a new plan for approval; the manure is applied according to state regulations; and the DNR is notified prior to removal, according to Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway.
An updated version of the bill was not immediately available Tuesday on the state’s website. It’s unclear when the bill might be considered by the full Senate.
The previous version of the bill would have allowed a feedlot to submit a manure plan and operate under its terms before receiving DNR approval. The bill further would have allowed the plan to remain effective even if the DNR rejected it, as long as that rejection was being appealed.
Nutrient management plans are meant to ensure that fields are not overloaded with nitrate and phosphorus — two key pollutants of Iowa’s waterways. Opponents warned that the initial bill might have allowed feedlots to operate with unapproved manure plans for more than a year, increasing the risk of waterway pollution.
Despite the overhaul of the bill, Democrats did not support the new version.
“This amendment — while it does improve the bill a bit — leaves a pretty wide-open loophole that could end up being kind of crappy for Iowa’s waterways,” said Sen. Liz Bennett, D-Cedar Rapids, without elaboration.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/02/13/republicans-rewrite-controversial-manure-bill/
Published and (C) by Iowa Capital Dispatch
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND-NC 4.0.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/iowacapitaldispatch/
