CHAPTER 167
USE AND DISPOSAL OF DEAD ANIMALS

Referred to in §159.6, 166D.10B

Definitions applicable to chapter; see §159.1

  
     
167.1  Scope.
  This chapter shall not apply to licensed slaughterhouses, or to the disposal, by licensed slaughterhouses, of the bodies of animals, or any part thereof, slaughtered for human food.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2744; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.1]

     
167.2  Disposal of dead animals.
  No person shall engage in the business of disposing of the bodies of dead animals without first obtaining a license for that purpose from the department.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2745; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.2]

     
167.3  “Disposing” defined.
  1.  A person who receives from any other person the body of any dead animal for the purpose of obtaining the hide, skin, or grease from such animal, in any way whatsoever, or any part thereof, shall be deemed to be engaged in the business of disposing of the bodies of dead animals, and must be the operator or employee of a licensed disposal plant.
  2.  A disposal plant does not include an operation where the body of a dead animal is cremated, so long as the operation does not use the body of a dead animal for any other purpose described in subsection 1.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2746; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.3]
2009 Acts, ch 154, §1

     
167.4  Licensing procedure — fees.
  1.  The following shall apply to a person required to be licensed under this chapter:
  a.  The person shall submit an application for a license to the department in a manner and according to procedures required by the department.
  b.  The person shall include in the application information as required by the department, on forms prescribed by the department, which shall include at least all of the following:
  (1)  For a disposal plant, the person shall state the person’s name and address, the person’s proposed place of business, and the total number of vehicles to be involved in the operation.
  (2)  For a collection point involving the accumulation of whole animal carcasses or their parts for ultimate transportation to a disposal plant, the person’s name and address, the person’s proposed place of business, and the total number of vehicles to be involved in the operation.
  (3)  For a delivery service which transports whole animal carcasses or their parts to a disposal plant or collection point, the person’s name and address, the total number of vehicles to be involved in the operation, and the location where the vehicles involved in the operation are to be maintained.
  c.  The person shall submit a separate application for each location that the person is to operate as a disposal plant, collection point, or a delivery service.
  d.  The person shall pay a license fee as follows:
  (1)  For a disposal plant, one hundred dollars.
  (2)  For a collection point, one hundred dollars. However, a person is not required to pay the license fee for a collection point which is operated by a disposal plant.
  (3)  For a delivery service which is not part of the operation of a disposal plant or collection point, fifty dollars.
  e.  A license issued to a person under this section shall expire on December 31 of each year. The person may renew the license by completing a renewal form as prescribed by the department in a manner and according to procedures required by the department. However, the renewal form must be submitted to the department prior to the license’s expiration date. The person shall pay a renewal license fee which shall be for the same amount as the original license fee.
  f.  A person’s license is subject to suspension or revocation by the department if the department determines that the person has committed a material violation of this chapter, including rules adopted by this chapter, or a term or condition of the license. The person may contest the department’s action as provided in chapter 17A.
  2.  Fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the general fund of the state.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2747; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.4]
2004 Acts, ch 1162, §1; 2005 Acts, ch 3, §42; 2009 Acts, ch 133, §206
Referred to in §167.15

     
167.5  Inspection of place.
  On receipt of such application, the secretary of agriculture or some person appointed by the secretary, shall at once inspect the building in which the applicant proposes to conduct such business. If the inspector finds that said building complies with the requirements of this chapter, and with the rules of the department, and that the applicant is a responsible and suitable person, the inspector shall so certify in writing to such specific findings, and forward the same to the department.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2748; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.5]

167.6  Repealed by 
2004 Acts, ch 1162, §5
.  See §167.4. 

     
167.7  Record of licenses.
  The department shall keep a record of all licenses applied for or issued, which shall show the date of application and by whom made, the cause of all rejections, the date of issue, to whom issued, the date of expiration, and the location of the licensed business.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2750; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.7]

     
167.8  Inspection revealing unsuitable place.
  If the inspector finds that said building does not comply with the requirements of this chapter or with the rules of the department, the inspector shall notify the applicant wherein the same fails to so comply. If within a reasonable time thereafter, to be fixed by the inspector, the specified defects are remedied, the department shall make a second inspection, and proceed therewith as in case of an original inspection. Not more than two inspections need be made under one application.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2751; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.8]
167.9 and 167.10Repealed by 2004 Acts, ch 1162, §52004 Acts, ch 1162, §5.  See §167.4. 

     
167.11  Disposal plants — specifications.
  Each place for the carrying on of said business shall, to the satisfaction of the department, be provided with floors constructed of concrete, or some other nonabsorbent material, adequate drainage, be thoroughly sanitary, and adapted to carrying on the business.
  This section shall not apply where the state building code, as adopted pursuant to section 103A.7, has been adopted or when the state building code applies throughout the state.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2754; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.11]
2004 Acts, ch 1086, §42

     
167.12  Disposing of bodies.
  The following requirements shall be observed in the disposal of such bodies:
  1.  Cooking vats or tanks shall be airtight, except proper escapes for live steam.
  2.  Steam shall be so disposed of as not to cause unnecessary annoyance or create a nuisance.
  3.  The skinning and dismembering of bodies shall be done within said building.
  4.  The building shall be so situated and arranged, and the business therein so conducted, as not to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property.
  5.  Such portions of bodies as are not entirely consumed by cooking or burning shall be disposed of by burying as hereafter provided, or in such manner as the department may direct.
  6.  In case of disposal by burying, the burial shall be to such depth that no part of such body shall be nearer than four feet to the natural surface of the ground, and every part of such body shall be covered with quicklime, and by at least four feet of earth.
  7.  All bodies shall be disposed of within twenty-four hours after death.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2755; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.12]

     
167.13  Rules.
  The department shall make such reasonable rules for the carrying on and conducting of such business as it may deem advisable, and all persons engaging in such business shall comply therewith.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2756; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.13]

     
167.14  Annual inspection.
  The department shall inspect each place licensed under this chapter at least once each year, and as often as it deems necessary, and shall see that the licensee conducts the business in conformity to this chapter and the rules made by the department. For a failure or refusal by any licensee to obey the provisions of this chapter or said rules, the department shall suspend or revoke the license held by such licensee.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2757; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.14]

     
167.15  Transportation of animals — carcasses, parts, or offal material.
  1.  A person required to be licensed under section 167.4 shall transport a whole or part of an animal carcass or offal material according to requirements adopted by departmental rule.
  a.  The delivery vehicle’s container used for loading and transporting the carcass or offal material shall be constructed according to departmental rules in a manner that prevents parts or liquids associated with the carcass or offal material from escaping during transport.
  b.  The department shall adopt rules requiring that the delivery vehicle’s container be covered when transporting an animal carcass or offal material. However, this requirement shall not apply to a route delivery vehicle used primarily to transport animal carcasses from a farm to another location, unless the department issues a special order as provided in this paragraph. The department may issue such an order and require that the delivery vehicle’s container be covered, if the state veterinarian determines that an animal or animal carcass on the farm has been infected or exposed to an infectious or contagious disease or that there has been an outbreak of an infectious or contagious disease in the area where the farm is located.
  c.  The person shall not overload the delivery vehicle’s container with carcasses or offal material.
  2.  The department shall provide for the inspection of delivery vehicles used to transport carcasses or offal material, and for the inspection of disposal plants, collection points, or other locations in which carcasses or offal material is stored or processed before being delivered to a disposal plant.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2758; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.15]
2004 Acts, ch 1162, §2; 2005 Acts, ch 3, §43

     
167.16  Driving upon premises of another.
  Vehicles when loaded with the carcass of an animal which has died of disease shall be driven directly to the place of disposal or transfer, except that the driver in so driving may stop on the highway for other like carcasses, but the driver shall not drive into the yard or upon the premises of any person unless the driver first obtains the permission of the person to do so.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2759; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.16]

     
167.17  Disinfecting outfit.
  The driver or owner of a vehicle used in conveying animals which said driver or owner has reason to believe died of disease, shall, immediately after unloading said animals, cause the bed, box, tank or other container of such vehicle, the wheels thereof, all canvas and covers, the feet of the animals drawing said conveyance, and the outer clothing of all persons who have handled said carcasses to be disinfected with a solution of at least one part of creosol dip to four parts of water, or with some other equally effective disinfectant.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2760; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.17]

     
167.18  Duty to dispose of dead bodies.
  1.  A person who has been caring for or who owns an animal that has died shall not allow the carcass to lie about the person’s premises. The carcass shall be disposed of within a reasonable time after death by composting, cooking, burying, or burning, as provided in this chapter, or by disposing of it, within the allowed time, to a person licensed to dispose of it.
  2.  Subsection 1 does not apply to a veterinarian, issued a valid license or a valid temporary permit by the Iowa board of veterinary medicine as provided in chapter 169, who contains a dead animal’s carcass in a manner that prevents an outbreak of disease.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2761; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.18]
87 Acts, ch 96, §1; 2009 Acts, ch 154, §2

     
167.19  Penalty.
  A person who violates this chapter or a rule adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter is guilty of a simple misdemeanor. The person may be subject to a civil penalty of not less than one hundred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars for each violation. However, the state shall be precluded from bringing a criminal action against the person if the department has initiated a civil enforcement proceeding. Moneys collected in civil penalties shall be deposited into the general fund of the state.
[C97, §5019; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2762; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.19]
2004 Acts, ch 1162, §3

     
167.20  Appropriation.
  The expense attending the inspection provided for in this chapter shall be paid from any unappropriated funds in the state treasury.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2763; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.20]

     
167.21  Reciprocal agreements with other states.
  The department is authorized to enter into reciprocal agreements in behalf of this state with any one or more of the states adjacent to this state, providing for permits to be issued to rendering plants located in either state to transport carcasses to their plants over public highways of this state and the reciprocating state.
[C62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §167.21]

     
167.22  Chronic wasting disease.
  1.  As used in this section “chronic wasting disease” means the same as defined in section 170.1.
  2.  Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a person licensed under this chapter shall not transport the carcass of a deer or elk into this state if the carcass originates from an area outside this state that has a significant prevalence of chronic wasting disease as determined by the state veterinarian. In order to transport the carcass into this state, the person must obtain approval by the state veterinarian in a manner and according to procedures required by the department.
2004 Acts, ch 1162, §4, 6