GOP objects to livestock rules
By PERRY BEEMAN
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0rules>
Register Staff Writer
02/22/2003



 Republican lawmakers on Friday said the Vilsack administration has pushed
through new restrictions on livestock confinements that go beyond what last
year's sweeping new legislation envisioned.

They said the action will sour the administration's relationship with
legislators, most of whom are Republican. Gov. Tom Vilsack is a Democrat.

The rules will take effect March 1 as planned after the Iowa Administrative
Rules Review Committee chose not to block them Friday.

"It's clear to me that the department or committee executed some rather
liberal interpretations of the code," said Rep. Danny Carroll, R-Grinnell.
"At best, this creates a strained relationship between the legislative and
executive branch."

The Republicans on the rules committee said the Iowa Department of Natural
Resources had strayed from the law in developing the so-called "master
matrix." The matrix is a system counties choose to enroll in and will use to
review confinement proposals before the resources department gives final
approval.

The rules will force livestock producers in participating counties to prove
- in addition to meeting a range of basic conditions - that they have gone
the extra mile to limit air and water pollution and disruption to the
community. The matrix is based on a set of points.

The extra rules mean any new confinement that doesn't pass the state's basic
regulations and live up to the matrix-set conditions won't get a permit.

The Republicans were thinking about lodging a formal objection to the
matrix, which would mean they thought the regulations violated the law they
were meant to enforce. Republicans didn't do that, leaving the door open.

Rep. Mark Kuhn, a Charles City Democrat who helped draft the bill, said the
Republicans, some of whom also were in on the early negotiations of the
matrix, were off-base.

"You can't object at the 11th hour to the process because you don't like the
outcome," Kuhn said.

Matt Paul, spokesman for Vilsack, said he doesn't see any sign of strain
between the administration and lawmakers.

"The executive branch and the DNR are working hard with the matrix to do the
very best we can to protect Iowa's environment," he said. "We are working
with the framework provided by the Legislature."

Robin Pruisner, a former DNR employee who was a key player in the rule
negotiations, said she was "distressed" by lawmakers claiming the
legislative intent was violated. Calvin Rozenboom, an Oskaloosa hog farmer,
said the matrix will be tough for many farmers to pass.

Davis County hog farmer Frank Jones, a member of Iowa Citizens for Community
Improvement, which opposes large-scale confinements, said lawmakers should
leave the rules alone and consider giving counties full control.

Elizabeth Horton Plasket of the nonprofit Iowa Environmental Council said
the late maneuvering after months of bipartisan work disturbed her.

"Why didn't this come up in November?" when the rule was published, she
asked.

Jim Braun, a former member of the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission,
which also approved the rules, said if lawmakers don't like the new
regulations, they should draft bills to change them.

State law gives the DNR wide authority in setting rules to implement
legislation, said Wayne Gieselman, the department's environmental-services
chief.

Vilsack appoints the director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources,
which wrote the rule based on suggestions from a special panel appointed by
lawmakers. A group of people from government, farm organizations,
environmental groups and universities crafted the rules, which the Iowa
Department of Natural Resources tweaked before holding 27 public hearings
and receiving 300 comments.

Republicans claim the lawmakers who drafted the law passed last year
envisioned farmers meeting a single minimum score to win permit approval.

The rule as written will require hog producers in counties that choose to
use the system to score at least 25 percent of the points available in three
categories - air, water and community impact - plus get more than half the
points available overall. The rule gives dozens of ways for farmers to score
points, from keeping confinements farther away from neighbors' homes to
filtering the air emissions.

As of Friday, 43 counties had signed up. Gieselman said all but a few
counties are expected to enroll by Friday's deadline.












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