July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Character added to CAFO rules (03/27/2009)
By By STEVE GARBACZ-
Character will be a requirement for new confined feeding operations in the state starting July 1.
The Indiana House of Representative passed legislature Thursday adding new requirements for new or expanding CFOs, adding the inclusion of character references and broadening notification of neighbors.
State Rep. Bill Davis (R-Portland), said Thursday afternoon that the new legislature, Senate Bill 221, passed the House with unanimous support. The bill cruised through the Indiana Senate unanimously on Feb. 23.
The bill passed at a coincidental time for Jay County, as concerns about a potential 6,200 head Rooijakkers Dairy LLC. operation near the Jay-Adams County line and the potential developer's record have surfaced in the past two weeks. "It deals with good character with those people who are applying for permits to build confined feeding operations or expand them," Davis said. "It also includes language about notification. You're going to notify anyone with a half-mile radius, so it would be a mile across."
The provisions for expansion apply to any growth "that increases animal capacity or manure containment capacity, or both," the bill states.
The good character additions come in the form of a provided disclosure statement with several criteria to meet including a listing of any alleged actions or omissions, domestic or foreign or both, that potentially violated environmental regulations. The developer must also include information about any pending or settled litigation against it, as well as identify any environmental permits in its possession.
The bill also consolidates the legal definitions of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and CFOs to be one and the same.
The legislature will require CAFO operators to notify "land owners and occupants whose land is within ½ mile of certain parts of the CFO within 10 days of submitting the application."
The rules will apply to CAFO developers filing applications for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management after on or after July 1.
The legislature won't help Jay County specifically in the case of the potential Rooijakkers dairy, since the company has already secured its NPDES permit in late February, but would create additional defenses for the county in the future.[[In-content Ad]]
The Indiana House of Representative passed legislature Thursday adding new requirements for new or expanding CFOs, adding the inclusion of character references and broadening notification of neighbors.
State Rep. Bill Davis (R-Portland), said Thursday afternoon that the new legislature, Senate Bill 221, passed the House with unanimous support. The bill cruised through the Indiana Senate unanimously on Feb. 23.
The bill passed at a coincidental time for Jay County, as concerns about a potential 6,200 head Rooijakkers Dairy LLC. operation near the Jay-Adams County line and the potential developer's record have surfaced in the past two weeks. "It deals with good character with those people who are applying for permits to build confined feeding operations or expand them," Davis said. "It also includes language about notification. You're going to notify anyone with a half-mile radius, so it would be a mile across."
The provisions for expansion apply to any growth "that increases animal capacity or manure containment capacity, or both," the bill states.
The good character additions come in the form of a provided disclosure statement with several criteria to meet including a listing of any alleged actions or omissions, domestic or foreign or both, that potentially violated environmental regulations. The developer must also include information about any pending or settled litigation against it, as well as identify any environmental permits in its possession.
The bill also consolidates the legal definitions of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and CFOs to be one and the same.
The legislature will require CAFO operators to notify "land owners and occupants whose land is within ½ mile of certain parts of the CFO within 10 days of submitting the application."
The rules will apply to CAFO developers filing applications for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management after on or after July 1.
The legislature won't help Jay County specifically in the case of the potential Rooijakkers dairy, since the company has already secured its NPDES permit in late February, but would create additional defenses for the county in the future.[[In-content Ad]]
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