House Study Bill 657 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE BILL BY CHAIRPERSON WULF) A BILL FOR An Act requiring the department of natural resources to 1 identify specific animal sources of pollutants to a water of 2 the state when determining the water’s inclusion on a list 3 of impaired waters. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 6067YC (3) 91 da/js
H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 455B.195, subsection 1, Code 2026, is 1 amended by adding the following new paragraph: 2 NEW PARAGRAPH . 0g. The department shall not place any 3 water of the state on a section 303(d) list based on levels 4 of fecal indicator bacteria until the department conducts an 5 analysis, which may include using microbial source tracking, to 6 designate by percentage each species of animal, if any, that 7 has contributed to the impairment. 8 EXPLANATION 9 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 10 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 11 This bill relates to water quality of surface waters of 12 the state (Code section 455B.171(41)) under the federal 13 Clean Water Act (CWA), which includes a series of public laws 14 codified in 33 U.S.C. §1251 1376. Section 303 of the CWA 15 (33 U.S.C. §1313) establishes water quality standards for 16 states. States must establish a priority ranking of waters of 17 the state that have been impaired according to total maximum 18 daily loads (TMDL) of pollutants as established by the United 19 States environmental protection agency (EPA) (40 C.F.R. 20 §130.7(b)(4)). Every two years, the department of natural 21 resources (DNR) compiles a list of the state’s impaired waters 22 (303(d) list) for approval by EPA. State statute requires DNR 23 to use credible data when determining whether any water of the 24 state is to be placed on or removed from the section 303(d) 25 list (Code sections 455B.193 through 455B.195). The bill 26 provides that if, in compiling a 303(d) list, DNR determines 27 that pollution is attributable to fecal bacteria, it must 28 designate by percentage each species of animal, if any, that 29 has contributed to the impairment. 30 -1- LSB 6067YC (3) 91 da/js 1/ 1