HF 2365 (LSB 5816YH (4) 83)

HOUSE FILE 2365

BY  WORTHAN, DRAKE, DE BOEF, GRASSLEY, FORRISTALL, ALONS, S. OLSON, MERTZ, HUSEMAN, RAYHONS, ROBERTS, and SWEENEY

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to residences in proximity to confinement feeding operations and making penalties applicable.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 459.201, Code 2009, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  6.  “Residence” means a building, and the land it is located on, including all structures attached to or appurtenant to the building, if the building is used as a place of human habitation on a permanent and frequent basis, is not readily mobile, is assessed and taxed as real property, and meets all of the following criteria:
   a.  The building must be occupied as a domicile.
   (1)  The building is occupied as a domicile, if all of the following criteria have been satisfied:
   (a)  The building has been occupied by humans for more than six months in the last two years.
   (b)  The building has not been constructed or moved to its current location within the previous six months.
   (2)  Any requirement of subparagraph (1) does not apply if a preponderance of evidence shows that the building is a person’s permanent home and that person returns to the building after any temporary absence. Any person providing evidence under this subparagraph has the burden of proof.
   b.  (1)  The building is permanently connected to a basic utility that normally provides for the uninterrupted delivery of all of the following:
   (a)  Electricity.
   (b)  Drinking or sanitary water.
   (c)  Human sewage disposal via a private or semipublic sewage disposal system or a sewage disposal system which is owned by a city, a sanitary district, or a designated and approved management agency under the federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1288. Human sewage disposal does not include a portable or fixed tank or vessel holding untreated human waste without secondary wastewater treatment.
   (2)  The requirement in subparagraph (1) does not apply if a person occupying the building professes a religious principle or tenet that prohibits the use of basic utilities and the person would be exempt from compulsory education standards if the person had a school-age child as provided in section 299.24.
EXPLANATION
   BACKGROUND. This bill amends Code chapter 459, the Animal Agriculture Compliance Act (Code section 459.101), and specifically subchapter II which provides for air quality regulations. The bill includes a definition of “residence” which is subject to a number of separation distance requirements relating to the construction or expansion of a confinement feeding operation structure (Code sections 459.202 and 459.203), the application of liquid manure (Code section 459.204), and the stockpiling of manure originating from a confinement feeding operation (Code sections 459.204B and 459.205).
   DEFINITION OF RESIDENCE. The bill provides that a residence is a building that is used as a place of human habitation on a permanent and frequent basis, is not readily mobile, and is assessed and taxed as real property. In addition, it must meet the following two criteria:
   First, it must be used as a domicile by being occupied by humans for more than six months in the last two years and cannot have been moved to its current location within the previous six months. However, a person may overcome these requirements by proving that it is the person’s permanent home and that person returns to the building after any temporary absence.
   Second, the building is permanently connected to a basic utility that normally provides for the uninterrupted delivery of electricity, drinking or sanitary water, and human sewage disposal. However, a person is not required to comply with these requirements if a person occupying the house professes a religious principle or tenet that prohibits the use of basic utilities.
   PENALTIES. A person who violates an applicable separation distance required in Code chapter 459 for a residence is subject to a civil penalty established according to a schedule established by the environmental protection commission not to exceed $10,000 (Code sections 455B.109 and 459.602).