Forwarded by Jane Clark

Pasted below and attached as a word document is a joint news release from
the Department of Natural Resources and the Iowa Cattlemen's Association.
Please contact Karen Grimes at (515) 281-5135 for more information.

Iowa DNR News
Environmental Protection

For immediate release March 23, 2001

For more information, contact:
Wayne Gieselman, DNR Animal Feeding Operations Coordinator, at (515)
281-5817;
Barb Lynch, DNR Field Office 3 Supervisor, at (712) 262-4177;
Carol Balvanz, Vice President of Public Policy, Iowa Cattlemen's
Association, at (515) 296-2266;
Dave Petty, Past President, Iowa Cattlemen's Association at (641) 486-2220;
or
John Lawrence, Director, Iowa Beef Center, at (515) 294-6290.

Note to Editor: This is a joint news release from the Department of Natural
Resources and the Iowa Cattlemen's Association.

DNR AND CATTLEMEN AGREE ON PLAN FOR OPEN FEEDLOTS

DES MOINES - The Iowa Cattlemen's Association and the DNR agreed March 21 on
a three-part plan to bring open feedlots into compliance with current
federal and state laws that have been in place since the 1970s, but have not
been actively enforced.

The agreement was made in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's criticism of the DNR's permitting and enforcement efforts and EPA's
inspection of open feedlots in Iowa.  EPA reviewed state programs and
inspected open feedlots in the four-state EPA Region VII of Iowa, Nebraska,
Kansas and Missouri last year.

Producer associations, environmental groups and state and federal agencies
provided input for the plan.

"The three-step plan for voluntary registration, environmental assessment
and compliance provides a sensible way for producers to bring their lots
into compliance," said Wayne Gieselman, coordinator of the DNR animal
feeding operations program.  "It's a major step forward, finding a way for
us to meet our goals of clean water and for cattle and dairy producers to
have time to adjust to this change in the regulatory climate.

"We are going to rely on producers to register their feedlots by Dec. 31 of
this year.  We'll help determine where each registered lot is doing a good
job and where they need to improve to meet the environmental regulations,"
said Gieselman.

 To encourage compliance, those who register would receive amnesty from DNR
for not having required National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
permits, routine inspections and from monetary penalties for minor water
quality violations, provided they are working to comply with the
regulations.

Registered feedlots would not be subject to routine EPA inspections.  The
U.S. EPA plans to be back in Iowa beginning this spring to conduct
inspections of unregistered, unpermitted open feedlots. U.S. EPA inspections
could result in substantial penalties for producers who are required to have
permits but do not have them.

Permits are issued through the DNR and are required for open feedlots with
more than 1,000 animal units (1,000 beef cattle or 700 dairy cattle).
Depending on their location, smaller operations with more than 300 beef
cattle or more than 200 dairy cows may also need a permit.

The voluntary registration with the DNR will start the permit process.
After registration, there will be an in-house assessment using existing
Geographic Information Systems (GIS), soils and topography maps to assign a
high, medium or low environmental priority to each feedlot.

Then DNR field staff will visit on-site with producers to determine if the
in-house assessment is accurate and what needs to be done to reach
compliance, with the goal of having all open feedlots in compliance within
five years.  Higher priority lots will be the first to receive visits and
will be asked to have a compliance schedule within two years.

More information and registration forms can be found on the Iowa Manure
Management Action Group's (IMMAG) website, located at
http://extension.agron.iastate.edu/immag/.

"We've tried to bring all the players to the table, working with the cattle
association and the dairy people since last year, and adding in educational
agencies, environmental groups and other stakeholders," said Gieselman.

In addition to the ICA and the DNR, the following groups have participated
in the process and provided input on the plan: Iowa State University
Extension, the Iowa Beef Center, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, the
U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Iowa Department of
Agriculture, the Conservation Districts of Iowa, the Iowa Environmental
Council, the Izaac Walton League and the Iowa Dairy Products Association.

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