September 2011 - Iowa Pork Producers Association

funding was provided for voluntary conservation
programs. These new resources will provide IDALS
with much needed funds to assist in nitrogen
and wetland on-the-ground projects. In addition,
legislators pulled livestock and other fines
administered by the Iowa Deptment of Natural
Resources from the IDNR budget and placed those
dollars into the Iowa Watershed Improvement
Board (WIRB), administered by IDALS to further
its voluntary on-the-ground water quality projects.
Livestock Feeding Bill, S.F. 478
This bill has been signed into law. It creates a state
funding mechanism to deal with circumstances
in which owners of livestock become financially
unable to provide immediate sustenance (feed,
water, adequate shelter) to their farm animals. The
new law renames the manure storage indemnity
fund to the “livestock remediation fund.” In
addition, it allows IDALS to petition the courts for
a superior lien on livestock fed under this program
to recoup state-paid expenditures.
Water Resources Council and Federal
319 Funds, S.F. 535
S.F. 535 has been signed into law. This legislation
transfers the Water Resources Council from the
office of the governor to the secretary of agriculture.
In this bill’s original form, it also provided for the
transfer of powers and duties for the administration
of Section 319 of the federal Clean Water Act from
IDNR to IDALS. However, late in the session, this
bill was amended to remove all language pertaining
to the transfer of the 319 funds administration.
The final bill only transferred the Water Resources
Council to IDALS.
Ag Protection Act (Video and False
Pretenses Bill), H.F. 589
This bill passed the House but did not pass the
Senate and therefore was not enacted into law.
The bill would have prohibited tampering with
property associated with an animal facility or crop
operation and would have prohibited the production
and possession of an audio or visual recording
without the owner’s consent. The bill would also
have prohibited anyone from gaining access to an
animal facility or crop operation under false pretenses.
Finally, the bill would have prohibited making a
false statement as part of an employment application
with the intent to commit an unauthorized act.
The Iowa attorney general’s office considered the
bill, as passed by the House, to be unconstitutional
under First Amendment rights to free speech if it
was enforced against those who had possession of
a prohibited video, but did not participate in the
production of the video.
Subsequently, amendments to the bill were considered
in the Senate to address these constitutional concerns.
One amendment would have essentially eliminated
the prohibition on production and possession of a
video, but it retained the prohibitions on gaining
access to an animal facility or crop operation under
false pretenses and making a false statement as part of
an employment application with the intent to commit
an unauthorized act. The amendment would also
have added prohibitions on conspiracy and aiding
and abetting in committing the prohibited actions.
None of these amendments passed and the Legislature
adjourned without passing any version of the bill,
although the measure remains alive for action in 2012.
Electrical Licensing Requirements,
H.F. 618
This bill provided agriculture with a complete
exemption from the current electrical licensing and
inspection requirements. It passed the House, but
was considered dead in the Senate. To move the issue
forward, Sen. Steve Sodders and others developed
a compromise, which IPPA supported, that would
give farmers a seat on the electrical board that adopts
rules on electrical issues, provide an exemption for
small projects (100 amp or less), include a general
maintenance provision, and an emergency provision
in the case of major failure that might impact
operational flow (power outage to hog facilities or
drier failure in the middle of harvest). Although
IPPA supported the full exemption, the association
also sought the compromise to give members some
relief from the current system. The Legislature
adjourned without taking any action.
SEPTEMBER 2011
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