H.F. 2418 Section 1. Section 331.304A, subsection 2, Code 2026, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 2. a. A county shall not adopt or enforce county 3 legislation regulating a condition or activity occurring 4 on land used for the production, care, feeding, or housing 5 of animals unless the regulation of the production, care, 6 feeding, or housing of animals is expressly authorized by 7 state law. County legislation adopted in violation of this 8 section is void and unenforceable and any enforcement activity 9 conducted in violation of this section is void. A condition 10 or activity occurring on land used for the production, care, 11 feeding, or housing of animals includes but is not limited to 12 the construction, operation, or management of an animal feeding 13 operation, an animal feeding operation structure, or aerobic 14 structure, and to the storage, handling, or application of 15 manure or egg washwater. 16 b. Paragraph “a” does not apply to a confinement feeding 17 operation structure that has been constructed or expanded 18 pursuant to a confinement feeding operations siting ordinance 19 as provided in section 459.305A. 20 Sec. 2. Section 335.2, Code 2026, is amended to read as 21 follows: 22 335.2 Farms exempt. 23 1. a. Except to the extent required to implement section 24 335.27 subsection 2 , no an ordinance adopted under this 25 chapter applies shall not apply to land, a farm houses house , 26 a farm barns barn , a farm outbuildings outbuilding , or any 27 other buildings building or structures structure that are is 28 primarily adapted, by reason of nature and area, for use for 29 an agricultural purposes purpose , while so used. However, 30 the ordinances may apply to any structure, building, dam, 31 obstruction, deposit, or excavation in or on the floodplains 32 of any river or stream. 33 2. b. A county shall not require an application, an 34 approval, or the payment of a fee in order for an ordinance 35 -1- LSB 6633YH (2) 91 da/js 1/ 5

H.F. 2418 to be deemed inapplicable to land, a farm barns barn , a farm 1 outbuildings outbuilding , or any other buildings building or 2 structures structure that are is primarily adapted for use for 3 an agricultural purposes purpose under this section subsection . 4 3. c. Land, a farm houses house , a farm barns barn , a farm 5 outbuildings outbuilding , or any other buildings building or 6 structures structure may qualify under this section subsection 7 independently or in combination with other another agricultural 8 uses use . Land enrolled in a soil or water conservation 9 program shall be considered land primarily adapted for use for 10 agricultural purposes purpose under this section . 11 2. An ordinance adopted under this chapter may apply to any 12 of the following: 13 a. The implementation of section 335.27. 14 b. The construction or expansion of a confinement feeding 15 operation structure pursuant to a confinement feeding 16 operations siting ordinance as provided in section 459.305A. 17 Sec. 3. Section 459.202, Code 2026, is amended by adding the 18 following new subsection: 19 NEW SUBSECTION . 7. The separation distance requirements 20 provided in this section may be increased by a confinement 21 feeding operations siting ordinance as provided in section 22 459.202. 23 Sec. 4. Section 459.304, Code 2026, is amended by adding the 24 following new subsection: 25 NEW SUBSECTION . 10. This section does not apply if a county 26 has adopted a confinement feeding operations siting ordinance 27 as provided in section 459.305A. 28 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 459.305A Confinement feeding 29 operations siting ordinance. 30 1. A county may adopt a confinement feeding operations 31 siting ordinance. The purpose of the ordinance is to allow 32 the county board of supervisors to approve or disapprove 33 the location of any construction, including expansion, of a 34 confinement feeding operation structure that if approved would 35 -2- LSB 6633YH (2) 91 da/js 2/ 5

H.F. 2418 be part of a confinement feeding operation that has an animal 1 unit capacity of one thousand animal units or more. 2 2. A person shall not construct or expand a confinement 3 feeding operation structure as described in subsection 1 if 4 the county has adopted a confinement feeding operations siting 5 ordinance until the county board of supervisors has approved 6 the location of the confinement feeding operation in a manner 7 and according to procedures required in the ordinance. 8 a. The county board of supervisors may subject its approval 9 to conditions for the construction or operation of the 10 confinement feeding operation structure or the application of 11 manure originating from the confinement feeding operation. 12 b. A person must be issued a permit by the department 13 for the construction or expansion of the confinement feeding 14 operation structure as provided in section 459.303 prior to 15 obtaining approval by the county board of supervisors. 16 c. A county board of supervisors may base its approval or 17 disapproval on factors other than factors considered by the 18 department when approving or disapproving an application to 19 construct or expand a confinement feeding operation structure. 20 d. The county may impose a separation distance between the 21 confinement feeding operation structure and object or location 22 that is greater than the separation distance required between 23 the confinement feeding operation and an object or location 24 otherwise required under section 459.202. 25 3. A county may adopt county legislation necessary to 26 effectuate the purposes of this section. 27 EXPLANATION 28 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 29 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 30 BACKGROUND —— GENERAL. Confinement feeding operations 31 are regulated by the department of natural resources (DNR) 32 under the “Animal Agriculture Compliance Act” (AACA) (Code 33 chapter 459). A confinement feeding operation is a type of 34 animal feeding operation in which agricultural animals are 35 -3- LSB 6633YH (2) 91 da/js 3/ 5

H.F. 2418 maintained for at least 45 days in any 12-month period. A 1 confinement feeding operation is an animal feeding operation 2 in which animals are kept in a structure (building) that is 3 totally roofed, and includes any associated manure storage 4 structure (Code section 459.102). Generally, a confinement 5 feeding operation must retain manure that is produced at the 6 location until the manure is transported and used according to 7 water quality requirements (e.g., via application on farmland) 8 (see Code section 459.311). Regulations governing confinement 9 feeding operations vary based on the size of the operation 10 measured by its animal unit capacity (AUC). AUC refers to 11 a measurement used to determine the maximum number of animal 12 units that may be maintained as part of a confinement feeding 13 operation at any one time. In calculating AUC, a special 14 equivalency factor is assigned for each classification of 15 confined agricultural animal. A confinement feeding operation 16 with an AUC of 1,000 or more animal units (e.g., 2,500 17 swine weighing 55 or more pounds) must be issued a permit to 18 construct or expand a confinement feeding operation structure. 19 BACKGROUND —— COUNTY PARTICIPATION. A county board of 20 supervisors (board) is prevented from adopting a county zoning 21 ordinance that applies to land and structures associated 22 with agricultural production (Code section 335.2). A board 23 is also preempted from exercising county home rule authority 24 over the regulation of animal feeding operations (Code section 25 331.304A), Under the AACA, a board may formally evaluate 26 the siting of a confinement feeding operation structure 27 (Code section 459.304). The board must adopt a construction 28 evaluation resolution. Under the resolution, the board 29 applies a master matrix in which the board scores criteria 30 relating to the construction of a confinement feeding operation 31 structure as specified in a permit application to DNR. The 32 board may submit an adopted recommendation to DNR to approve 33 or disapprove the application. The board may also submit 34 comments regarding the management of manure incorporated into 35 -4- LSB 6633YH (2) 91 da/js 4/ 5

H.F. 2418 the confinement feeding operation’s manure management plan. 1 BILL’S PROVISIONS. This bill enacts a provision in Code 2 chapter 459, subchapter III, which regulates water quality 3 (see Code section 459.311). The bill provides that a county 4 may adopt a confinement feeding operations siting ordinance 5 (ordinance) that allows a board to approve the site of the 6 construction or expansion of a confinement feeding operation 7 structure that would be part of a confinement feeding operation 8 that has an AUC of 1,000 animal units or more. The ordinance 9 authorizes the board to place conditions on site approval or 10 the application of manure originating from the confinement 11 feeding operation. The bill provides that the ordinance 12 may establish separation distance requirements between a 13 confinement feeding operation structure and a benefited object 14 or location that is greater than required by the AACA (Code 15 section 459.202 governing air quality). The bill provides that 16 the county may adopt the ordinance notwithstanding provisions 17 in Code sections 331.2 and 331.304A. 18 -5- LSB 6633YH (2) 91 da/js 5/ 5