The DNR will be holding several hearings around the state later this month and in March to hear input on the proposed hydrogen sulfide standard of 15 ppb from livestock confinements. They're being pressured by legislators to weaken the standard, even though the proposal already allows for operations to exceed the standard 7 times a year and contains no enforcement actions. Please attend your closest hearing if you can and encourage others to attend, and let the DNR know that air emissions standards in Iowa are long overdue and if anything, this proposal doesn't go far enough! (hearing schedule is at the end of the article.) Tarah Heinzen Some say air proposal stinks Others say standards will go too far By PERRY BEEMAN <mailto:[log in to unmask]: Some say air proposal stinks> Register Staff Writer 02/12/2004 Several Iowa lawmakers Wednesday picked apart a new, watered-down proposal to limit air pollution from livestock operations that would offer Iowans their first protection against one toxic gas from the operations. The plan sets a standard for sulfur dioxide but would offer no protection against 150 or more other compounds, including ammonia, that come off rotting manure or the animals. It would allow the livestock operations to violate the hydrogen sulfide limit seven times before an official infraction would be recorded - far more lenient than any other state's air-quality regulations. Republicans on a rules committee cautioned the Iowa Department of Natural Resources not to go too far with a rule, worrying that it could hurt family farmers. The panel will consider the final idea once the department has approved it. The Republicans appeared to have the votes to force a special economic analysis of the new proposal a couple of days ago, but adjourned the meeting before a vote. When they reconvened Wednesday, Rep. Danny Carroll, a Grinnell Republican, withdrew his motion for the special review. State officials said a lawmaker had switched positions, leaving Carroll short of the votes needed to pass the motion. The disagreements at the Administrative Rules Review Committee, which oversees all new rules, may have forecast another tough battle over regulating livestock air pollution. Last year, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources saw proposed limits on ammonia and hydrogen sulfide thrown out by the full Legislature as the session ended. Wednesday, Carroll questioned whether the resources department is using the latest research to set the limit. Catherine Woteki, dean of the Iowa State University College of Agriculture, suggested federal research calls for a more lenient limit than the resources department proposed. State environmental-protection officials are awaiting an opinion from the University of Iowa College of Public Health, where chief health experts have helped develop the proposed limits. Wayne Gieselman, the state environmental-protection chief, said a rule would set a guideline for hydrogen sulfide that would give the state something to check its monitors against. He said that guideline would not lead to any immediate change or cost for hog producers. By law, the department can't enforce any limits until Dec. 1. The department has set up task forces to figure out next steps. Representative Dave Heaton, a Mount Pleasant Republican, complained that the resource department's eight monitors are some 100 meters away from homes. "The intent of the Legislature was to measure the emissions at the house, not closer to the confinements," Heaton said. Sean Fitzsimmons, a state air monitoring expert, said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires that the equipment be some distance away because the wind running across a home would skew results. Changes? PROPOSAL: The new rule would set a one-hour health standard of 15 parts per billion for hydrogen sulfide, a toxic and pungent gas that irritates lungs and nasal passages. It would not be a legal limit, though that could be considered later if a field study now in progress finds consistently high readings at homes near confinements. COMMENTS: The department is accepting comments through April 8: Write to Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Air Quality Bureau, 7900 Hickman Road, Suite 1, Urbandale, I 50322. HEARINGS: Public hearings will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 at Iowa Western Community College, Atlantic; 6 p.m. March 3 at Mason City Public Library; 6:30 p.m. March 8, Davenport Public Library; and 7 p.m. March 11 at Urbandale Public Library. Tarah Heinzen Sierra Club Conservation Organizer 3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280 Des Moines, IA 50310 (515) 251-3995 [log in to unmask] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]