Capitol to be environment hotbed
Ethanol incentives and local hog enclosure control are among the
possibilities.

By PERRY BEEMAN
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

January 3, 2007

Iowa lawmakers face an unusually busy session when it comes to environmental
issues.

The actions they might take could affect the way Iowans get electricity for
their homes, how much ethanol they use, and the quality of the water in
lakes and streams. This year's legislation could change the condition of
state parks, the income of bottle and can redemption centers, and the
restrictions on the livestock industry.

Gov.-elect Chet Culver hasn't formed much of his environmental agenda, said
spokesman Brad Anderson. Culver continues to meet with legislative leaders.

However, in his campaign, Culver supported local control of livestock
operations, more assistance for the ethanol industry, and a push for more
alternative energy sources such as wind turbines.

Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, are also firming up
plans, key lawmakers said.

Next week, for the first time in 42 years, Iowa's political leaders will be
a Democratic governor and a Legislature fully controlled by his own party.
Although neither party has a lock on environmental issues, the Democrats
have tended to put more emphasis than the Republicans on new regulations and
spending on environmental protection.

That has some environmentalists excited at the prospect that they might get
their way after years of negotiating first with a Republican-controlled
Legislature, then with a split-power Senate and a Republican House.

Environmentalists and advocates of local livestock zoning from across the
state encouraged people to vote for Culver. However, their enthusiasm was
tempered before Culver even finished plans for his inauguration.

Shortly after the election, Democratic leaders said the issue appears dead
because the Democrats are split on the matter. Like many Republicans, some
Democrats fear local control would disrupt a keystone Iowa industry by
leading to widely varying rules from place to place.

Jeff Vonk, ending some six years as director of the Iowa Department of
Natural Resources, which regulates livestock, has called that argument a
smoke screen because the state's uniform environmental requirements would
apply even if counties decided where confinements could be built.

Vonk will lose his job when Culver takes office this month. The new governor
has nominated Rich Leopold, executive director of the nonprofit Iowa
Environmental Council, to replace Vonk.

The livestock debate is raging in Iowa. Hog-confinement neighbors complain
more than ever about odors. They fear confinement emissions hurt their
health. Groups such as the Iowa Pork Producers Association and the Coalition
to Support Iowa's Farmers have worked with hundreds of Iowa farmers to
promote techniques aimed at reducing odors and water pollution, but the
complaints continue.

Recently, an international team of scientists led by University of Iowa
toxicologist Peter Thorne issued six papers and a list of recommendations
that included calling a moratorium on construction of confinements while the
health questions are researched, an approach used by No. 2 hog producer
North Carolina. That idea has virtually no chance of serious debate in
Iowa's Legislature, lawmakers say. Leopold is among those opposing a
moratorium.

The idea of county control over livestock operations, repeatedly blocked by
lawmakers, remains divisive.

"I have yet had anyone tell me that local control works," said Sen. Dennis
Black, the Democratic head of the Senate natural resources committee.

"You would essentially eliminate the hog industry in Iowa," said Black, of
Grinnell.

Sen. Mary Lundby, a Republican leader on environmental issues, said many
county supervisors object, at least privately, to switching to local
control. "County supervisors don't really like local control," said Lundby,
of Marion. "It doesn't solve any problems."

On the other hand, Lundby would like to make all confinements, regardless of
size, comply with state permit requirements.

Culver has said local officials know local conditions the best and deserve
more of a say.

Even the environmental lobby is split on what "local control" would mean.
Most environmental groups, such as Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement,
want county zoning of agriculture.

Leopold said county zoning may not necessarily be the answer. "Local control
is a tool, not an end," he said. "It's not, 'get local control and the
problems are over.' We're talking about air and quality, property rights and
nuisance." There may be multiple ways to fight those problems, including
enforcing the existing regulations, Leopold said.

New state leaders are sorting out options on how to fight water and air
pollution, said Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs.

Lawmakers have discussed a compromise that appears to have political legs:
Allowing county officials to ask for a no-confinement zone around certain
areas, such as the Iowa Great Lakes. That would protect tourism economies
while pointing confinement developers to areas where they might encounter
less resistance, lawmakers said.

Reporter Perry Beeman can be reached at (515) 284-8538 or [log in to unmask]

____________________________________________

Lyle Krewson
Sierra Club, Iowa Chapter Lobbyist

1725 S. 50th Street #602
West Des Moines, IA 50265

[log in to unmask]

515-238-7113 - Cel
____________________________________________ 

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