House File 2638 - Introduced



                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL
                                           PROTECTION

                                       (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 698)


    Passed House, Date               Passed Senate, Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act providing for separation distance requirements between a
  2    confinement feeding operation structure and a designated
  3    wetland, and making penalties applicable.
  4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  5 TLSB 5944HV 82
  6 da/rj/14

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 459.102, subsection 21, Code 2007, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    21.  "Designated wetland" means land designated as a
  1  4 protected wetland by the United States department of the
  1  5 interior or the department of natural resources, including but
  1  6 not limited to a protected wetland as defined in section
  1  7 456B.1, if the land is owned and managed by the federal
  1  8 government, or the department of natural resources, a county,
  1  9 or a city.  However, a designated wetland does not include
  1 10 land where an agricultural drainage well has been plugged
  1 11 causing a temporary wetland or land within a drainage district
  1 12 or levee district.
  1 13                           EXPLANATION
  1 14    This bill amends Code chapter 459, which regulates the
  1 15 impact of confinement feeding operations on the environment.
  1 16 Code section 459.102 provides that in order to be classified
  1 17 as a "designated wetland" two conditions must be met:  (1) it
  1 18 must be identified as a "protected wetland" by the United
  1 19 States department of the interior, and (2) it must be owned
  1 20 and managed by the federal government or the department of
  1 21 natural resources.  The bill amends that Code section to
  1 22 provide that a protected wetland may also be owned or managed
  1 23 by a county or a city.
  1 24    Code section 459.310 establishes a separation distance of
  1 25 2,500 feet between a confinement feeding operation structure
  1 26 (e.g., a confinement building, manure storage structure, or
  1 27 egg washwater storage structure) and a designated wetland.  A
  1 28 person who violates the separation distance requirement is
  1 29 subject to a number of penalties including the administrative
  1 30 assessment of a civil penalty of up to $10,000 (Code sections
  1 31 459.603 and 455B.109).
  1 32 LSB 5944HV 82
  1 33 da/rj/14