The commission shall:
1. Develop comprehensive plans and programs for the prevention, control and abatement of water pollution.
2. Establish, modify, or repeal water quality standards, pretreatment standards and effluent standards. The effluent standards may provide for maintaining the existing quality of the water of the state where the quality thereof exceeds the requirements of the water quality standards.
If the federal environmental protection agency has promulgated an effluent standard or pretreatment standard pursuant to section 301, 306 or 307 of the federal Water Pollution Control Act, a pretreatment or effluent standard adopted pursuant to this section shall not be more stringent than the federal effluent or pretreatment standard for such source. This section may not preclude the establishment of a more restrictive effluent limitation in the permit for a particular point source if the more restrictive effluent limitation is necessary to meet water quality standards, the establishment of an effluent standard for a source or class of sources for which the federal environmental protection agency has not promulgated standards pursuant to section 301, 306 or 307 of the federal Water Pollution Control Act. Except as required by federal law or regulation, the commission shall not adopt an effluent standard more stringent with respect to any pollutant than is necessary to reduce the concentration of that pollutant in the effluent to the level due to natural causes, including the mineral and chemical characteristics of the land, existing in the water of the state to which the effluent is discharged. Notwithstanding any other provision of this part of this division, any new source, the construction of which was commenced after October 18, 1972, and which was constructed as to meet all applicable standards of performance for the new source or any more stringent effluent limitation required to meet water quality standards, shall not be subject to any more stringent effluent limitations during a ten-year period beginning on the date of completion of construction or during the period of depreciation or amortization of the pollution control equipment for the facility for the purposes of section 167 and 169 or both sections of the Internal Revenue Code, whichever period ends first.
3. Establish, modify, or repeal rules relating to the location, construction, operation, and maintenance of disposal systems and public water supply systems and specifying the conditions, including the viability of a system pursuant to section 455B.174, under which the director shall issue, revoke, suspend, modify, or deny permits for the operation, installation, construction, addition to, or modification of any disposal system or public water supply system, or for the discharge of any pollutant. The rules specifying the conditions under which the director shall issue permits for the construction of an electric power generating facility subject to chapter 476A shall provide for issuing a conditional permit upon the submission of engineering descriptions, flow diagrams and schematics that qualitatively and quantitatively identify effluent streams and alternative disposal systems that will provide compliance with effluent standards or limitations.
No rules shall be adopted which regulate the hiring or firing of operators of disposal systems or public water supply systems except rules which regulate the certification of operators as to their technical competency.
A publicly owned treatment works whose discharge meets the final effluent limitations which were contained in its discharge permit on the date that construction of the publicly owned treatment works was approved by the department shall not be required to meet more stringent effluent limitations for a period of ten years from the date the construction was completed and accepted but not longer than twelve years from the date that construction was approved by the department.
4. Co-operate with other state or interstate water pollution control agencies in establishing standards, objectives, or criteria for the quality of interstate waters originating or flowing through this state.
5. Establish, modify or repeal rules relating to drinking water standards for public water supply systems. Such standards shall specify maximum contaminant levels or treatment techniques necessary to protect the public health and welfare. The drinking water standards must assure compliance with federal drinking water standards adopted pursuant to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
6. a. Adopt rules relating to inspection, monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements for the owner or operator of any public water supply or any disposal system or of any source which is an industrial user of a publicly or privately owned disposal system.
b. Adopt rules which require each public water system regulated under chapter 455B to test the source water of that supply for the presence of synthetic organic chemicals and pesticides every three years. The rules shall enumerate the synthetic organic chemicals and pesticides, but not more than ten of each, for which the samples are to be tested; shall specify the approved analytical methods for conducting the analysis of water samples; and shall require the reporting of the analytical test results to the department. Priority for testing in the first year shall be those public water supplies for which none of the specified contaminants have been analyzed within the past five years. All of the laboratory analysis and data management shall be conducted by the center for health effects of environmental contamination. Sample collection shall be conducted using a standard sampling protocol by personnel within the department and the center for health effects of environmental contamination in conjunction with other ongoing field activities. Samples from private wells and samples from privately owned public water supplies shall be allowed to undergo the same analysis. The cost for the analysis provided for samples from private wells and privately owned public water supplies shall not exceed one hundred ninety-five dollars for the first year of testing. The department shall submit a report to the general assembly, by September 1 of each year, of the findings of the tests and the conclusions which may be drawn from the tests.
7. Adopt a statewide plan for the provision of safe drinking water under emergency circumstances. All public agencies, as defined in chapter 28E, shall co-operate in the development and implementation of the plan. The plan shall detail the manner in which the various state and local agencies shall participate in the response to an emergency. The department may enter into any agreement, subject to approval of the commission, with any state agency or unit of local government or with the federal government which may be necessary to establish the role of such agencies in regard to the plan. This plan shall be co-ordinated with disaster emergency plans.
8. Formulate and adopt specific and detailed statewide standards pursuant to chapter 17A for review of plans and specifications and the construction of sewer systems and water supply distribution systems and extensions to such systems not later than October 1, 1977. The standards shall be based on criteria contained in the "Recommended Standards for Sewage Works" and "Recommended Standards for Water Works" (Ten States Standards) as adopted by the Great Lakes-Upper Mississippi River board of state sanitary engineers, design manuals published by the department, applicable federal guidelines and standards, standard textbooks, current technical literature and applicable safety standards. The material standards for polyvinyl chloride pipe shall not exceed the specifications for polyvinyl chloride pipe in designations D-1784-69, D-2241-73, D-2564-76, D-2672-76, D-3036-73 and D-3139-73 of the American society of testing and material. The rules adopted which directly pertain to the construction of sewer systems and water supply distribution systems and the review of plans and specifications for such construction shall be known respectively as the Iowa Standards for Sewer Systems and the Iowa Standards for Water Supply Distribution Systems and shall be applicable in each governmental subdivision of the state. Exceptions shall be made to the standards so formulated only upon special request to and receipt of permission from the department. The department shall publish the standards and make copies of such standards available to governmental subdivisions and to the public.
9. Adopt, modify or repeal rules relating to the construction and reconstruction of water wells, the proper abandonment of wells, and the registration or certification of water well contractors. The rules shall include those necessary to protect the public health and welfare, and to protect the waters of the state. The rules may include, but are not limited to, establishing fees for registration or certification of water well contractors, requiring the submission of well driller's logs, formation samples or well cuttings, water samples, information on test pumping and requiring inspections. Fees shall be based upon the reasonable cost of conducting the water well contractor registration or certification program.
10. Adopt, modify, or repeal rules re- lating to the awarding of grants to counties for the purpose of carrying out responsibilities pursuant to section 455B.172 relative to private water supplies and private sewage disposal facilities.
11. Adopt, modify, or repeal rules relating to the business plan which disposal systems and public water supply systems must file with the department pursuant to section 455B.174, and adopt, modify, or repeal rules establishing a methodology and timetable by which nonviable systems shall take action to become viable or make alternative arrangements in providing treatment or water supply services.
12. Adopt rules for the issuance of a single general permit, after notice and opportunity for a public hearing. The single general permit shall cover numerous facilities to the extent that they are representative of a class of facilities which can be identified and conditioned by a single permit.
13. Adopt, modify, or repeal rules relating to the construction or operation of animal feeding operations. The rules shall include, but are not limited to, minimum manure control requirements, requirements for obtaining permits, and departmental evaluations of animal feeding operations. The department shall not require that a person obtain a permit for the construction of an animal feeding operation structure, if the structure is part of a small animal feeding operation. The department shall collect an indemnity fee as provided in section 204.3 prior to the issuance of a construction permit. The department shall not approve a permit for the construction of three or more animal feeding operation structures unless the applicant files a statement approved by a professional engineer registered pursuant to chapter 542B certifying that the construction of the animal feeding operation structure will not impede the drainage through established drainage tile lines which cross property boundary lines unless measures are taken to reestablish the drainage prior to completion of construction. The department shall deposit moneys collected in indemnity fees in the manure storage indemnity fund created in section 204.2. The department shall issue a permit for an animal feeding operation, if an application is submitted according to procedures required by the department, and the application meets standards established by the department, regardless of whether the animal feeding operation is required to obtain such a permit. An applicant for a construction permit shall not begin construction at the location of a site planned for the construction of an animal feeding operation structure, until the person has been granted a permit for the construction of the structure by the department. The department shall make a determination regarding the approval or denial of a permit within sixty days from the date that the department receives a completed application for a permit. However, the sixty-day requirement shall not apply to an application, if the applicant is not required to obtain a permit in order to construct an animal feeding operation structure or to operate an animal feeding operation. The department shall deliver a copy or require the applicant to deliver a copy of the application for a construction permit to the county board of supervisors in the county where the confinement feeding operation or confinement feeding operation structure subject to the permit is to be located. The department shall not approve the application or issue a construction permit until thirty days following delivery of the application to the county board of supervisors. The department shall consider comments from the county board of supervisors, regarding compliance by the applicant with the legal requirements for the construction of the confinement feeding operation structure as provided in this chapter, and rules adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter, if the comments are delivered to the department within fourteen days after receipt of the application by the county board of supervisors. Prior to granting a permit to a person for the construction of an animal feeding operation, the department may require the installation and operation of a hydrological monitoring system for an exclusively earthen manure storage structure, if, after an on-site inspection, the department determines that the site presents an extraordinary potential for groundwater pollution. A person shall not obtain a permit for the construction of a confinement feeding operation, unless the person develops a manure management plan as provided in section 455B.203. The department shall not issue a permit to a person under this subsection if an enforcement action by the department, relating to a violation of this chapter concerning a confinement feeding operation in which the person has an interest, is pending. The department shall not issue a permit to a person under this subsection for five years after the date of the last violation committed by a person or confinement feeding operation in which the person holds a controlling interest during which the person or operation was classified as a habitual violator under section 455B.191. The department shall conduct an annual review of each confinement feeding operation which is a habitual violator and each confinement feeding operation in which a habitual violator holds a controlling interest. The department shall notify persons classified as habitual violators of their classification, additional restrictions imposed upon the persons pursuant to the classification, and special civil penalties that may be imposed upon the persons. The notice shall be sent to the persons by certified mail.
[C97, § 2565; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 2220; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, § 136.3(2,c); C66, 71, § 136.3(2,c), 455B.9; C73, 75, § 455B.32, 455B.65; C77, 79, 81, § 455B.32; 82 Acts, ch 1199, § 10, 96]
C83, § 455B.173 ~I83 Acts, ch 136, § 2; 85 Acts, ch 176, § 3; 86 Acts, ch 1245, § 1899A; 87 Acts, ch 225, § 114; 89 Acts, ch 125, § 1; 90 Acts, ch 1255, § 23; 91 Acts, ch 224, § 5; 92 Acts, ch 1041, § 2, 3; 95 Acts, ch 61, §1; 95 Acts, ch 195, §21, 22
Referred to in § 204.1, 204.3, 455B.174, 455B.183, 455B.188, 455B.191, 455B.203, 455B.474, 455B.601
Animal agriculture consulting organization to consult and make recommendations relating to regulation of animal feeding operations; future repeal of authorization; 95 Acts, ch 195, §37
Iowa General Assembly
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