DES MOINES — A sweeping rewrite of Iowa’s
livestock regulations backed by environmental groups but opposed by
agricultural interests could face a rocky road in the Iowa House.
The bill still must gain approval by the full Iowa House by the end next week to stay alive for the rest of the session.
The
measure has cleared the House Environmental Protection Committee, but
is now facing consideration by the House Agriculture Committee, which
will take a closer look at the measure as the deadline approaches.
Rep.
Mark Kuhn, D-Charles City, one of the bill’s main sponsors, wants to
make sure it is given further consideration rather than shelved by
House leaders. But he thinks a subcommittee assigned to consider the
bill is stacked with opponents.
“It appears the bill has been
assigned to a ‘kill’ committee,” Kuhn said, noting that by his count,
four out of five members on the subcommittee have said they are against
new livestock regulations.
The bill that cleared the
Environmental Protection Committee increases separation distances new
livestock confinement facilities must be built from homes, churches,
schools, businesses, public use areas and water sources. New
protections also would be extended to tourist sites and planned housing
developments, among others.
“We were given the task of doing
something that both allowed the industry to grow and protected
neighbors and gave neighbors some rights, so it’s a tough call, it’s a
hard thing to do,” Kuhn said.
Smaller planned livestock
confinements also would have to obtain construction permits, as larger
confinements are required to do now.
House Speaker Pat Murphy,
D-Dubuque, said leaders have asked the agriculture committee to look at
the bill and sit down with people that “probably weren’t as engaged as
they should have been” when it was being considered by the
Environmental Protection Committee.
“The big part I’m looking at is what bill can I get that will get 51 votes,” Murphy said.
Rep.
Delores Mertz, D-Ottosen, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee,
said she wants to find some kind of consensus between environmental
groups and the livestock industry.
“My passion is agriculture, and I will not do anything to hurt that industry,” said Mertz, a livestock farmer.
Rep. Mike Reasoner, D-Creston, is on the subcommittee and said no public meeting had yet been scheduled.
He
said they want to make sure they understand the bill’s implications and
give both agricultural and environmental interests a chance to respond.
“The
fact that we’re addressing air and water quality concerns, that’s a
good thing, but we need to make sure we understand the outcome of any
legislation, and so my nature is to proceed cautiously,” Reasoner said.
Nathaniel
Baer, a lobbyist and advocate for Environment Iowa, said he is
disappointed the bill is assigned to a subcommittee that includes what
he believes are opponents to livestock regulations.
“We just don’t see urgency from the subcommittee to tackle this,” Baer said.
He said Democrats campaigned last year on the idea of improving Iowa’s air and water quality.
“We
were optimistic that a bill to really improve state standards for air
and water quality would have the support of both leadership and
rank-and-file members,” Baer said.
Chris Gruenhagen, an attorney
for Iowa Farm Bureau, said the bill reduces the amount of land
available for livestock producers to expand.
“I think our members view the bill as very punitive to the livestock industry,” Gruenhagen said.
Jeff Schnell, public policy director for the Iowa Pork Producers Association, said the group is opposed to the bill.
“We don’t see anything in this bill that does anything to improve water quality,” Schnell said.
