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Sunday, January 18, 2009

Environment - "CAFO regulation proposals will return to Indiana General Assembly in eight bills"

Pam Tharp has a long and comprehensive article today in the Richmond Paladium-Item that begins:

The battle over regulating concentrated animal feeding operations in Indiana has returned to the Indiana General Assembly for the third consecutive year.

The Indiana House will consider four CAFO-related bills in 2009 and the Indiana Senate has four. House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee Chairman Phil Pflum, D-Milton, said CAFO bills will get hearings this month in his committee, probably on the same day.

"We're going to give it a whirl again. I really think we need statewide legislation and statewide rules," Pflum said. "I've witnessed the struggles in other counties. (Lack of state rules) puts too much burden on county zoning boards and commissioners, who often don't have the legal support they need. I think we can grow the livestock industry, but we have to be careful where. It's about location."

House bills include requirements for "good character" for CAFO operators and a two-mile setback for CAFOs and smaller confined feeding operations from state parks and reservoirs. Other bills require the state to investigate the usefulness of anaerobic digesters to reduce odors from megalivestock farms and a property tax abatement for anaerobic digestors or odor control equipment.

Three CAFO bills filed in the Senate are assigned to the Committee on Energy and Environmental Affairs chaired by Sen. Beverly Gard, R-Indianapolis. Gard's bill's establishing a "good character" requirement to obtain a CAFO permit is scheduled for a hearing on Jan. 26. A second bill requires manure management plans to include procedures to minimize air emissions and establish air emission standards. A third bill authored by Richmond state Sen. Allen Paul asks for a three-year moratorium on new CAFOs so additional regulations can be written.

A sidebar to the story lists the bills, along with brief summaries:
House Bill 1074 -- Establishes good character disclosure requirements for CAFOs and CFOs; allows the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to review and act on disclosed information and applies to both original construction and modifications.

House Bill 1075 --Provides that after June 30, 2009 a person may not begin CAFO or CFO construction or enter into an agreement for manure application if any part of the area is within two miles of the boundary of a park, reservoir or other land or water under the jurisdiction of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

House Bill 1033 -- Requires the Department of Agriculture to conduct a statewide evaluation of livestock waste anaerobic digestion systems using the protocol developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency AgSTAR Program. Also requires the state ag department to explore the use of anaerobic digestion systems to generate renewable energy as a development tool.

House Bill 1444 --Establishes a property tax abatement for anaerobic digestion equipment.

Senate Bill 217 -- Requires CFOs to include procedures for air emission minimization and water quality monitoring in the manure management plan and submit and implement an air emission minimization plan to reduce off-site impact and maximize nutrient recovery from manure storage and land application areas. Requires the water pollution control board to adopt rules with standards for those issues. Requires the state chemist to adopt rules for use of fertilizer material and the distribution and storage of bulk commercial fertilizers, including standards to protect the air and waters of the state.

Senate Bill 221 -- Establishes good character disclosure requirements for CFOs and CAFOs and allows IDEM to act on that information. Applies certain provisions of the act to pending confined feeding projects.

Senate Bill 50 -- Establishes a three-year moratorium on the construction of any new CAFOs in the state.

Senate Bill 419 -- Deals with the antidegradation of surface waters and prohibits the application of the rule to activities regulated by a federal wastewater permit, which CAFOs are required to have.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 18, 2009 01:05 PM
Posted to Environment