Here is what I have to say about filing manure management plans electronically.

The manure management plans are quite lengthy in some cases, skimpy in others.

If those documents are available to the public, without charge, and with easy access, that is one thing.  But if you go to the office to look at the documents and are given all kinds of grief because it is electronic and there is no public access to a computer, and are charged Information Technology time to retrieve the material, then that is another thing.

Further I have seen large maps included with some of these filings.  That would be more difficult to view on a screen or even get a copy of a section of the map.

pam


-----Original Message-----
From: Neila Seaman <[log in to unmask]>
To: IOWA-TOPICS <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tue, Jan 10, 2012 8:44 am
Subject: Re: bill to "streamline" government mandates

I’ve taken a look at the three sections of the bill (SF2005) Laura outlined below.  What I found follows: 
 
Regarding NPDES General Permit #2, the “streamlined” process amends the code to eliminate publishing a notice in two newspapers with a notice of intent to conduct activities and a notice of discontinuation.  Whoever proposes the activities covered by the General Permit would have to complete a form provided by the DNR.
 
A new section to the code would allow Manure Management Plans to be sent electronically (via email) rather than hard copy to the applicable board of supervisors.  It appears nothing else in that section of the code would be changed.

The levee and drainage district notice in the 2011 code required the entire engineer’s report be sent to the effected individuals.  This bill allows the notice to include a statement describing the report rather than sending the full report.  It would also require a statement describing the location and times the full engineer’s report could be reviewed at either a county office or on the county’s website.
 
Neila Seaman
Director
Iowa Chapter of Sierra Club
3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280
Des Moines, IA 50310
515-277-8868
iowa.sierraclub.org
From: [log in to unmask]" href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">laura belin
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2012 10:55 PM
To: [log in to unmask]" href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
Subject: bill to "streamline" government mandates
 
Republican State Senator Merlin Bartz, ranking member of the Iowa Senate Local Government Committee, has introduced a bill (with the approval of the League of Cities and Association of Counties) to remove some local government mandates from Iowa Code.
 
Press release here:
 
 
List of reforms here:
 
 
I would like to hear from people on this list about the possible implications of the following changes proposed by Bartz:
 
   Eliminate Permit Time Delay: Every site where more than one acre of land is disturbed is required to obtain NPDES General Permit #2, (National Pollution Discharge Elimination) and therefore it impacts almost every project (public and private) that involves moving dirt. The process causes time delays in construction. The bill will streamline this process by adjusting the notice provisions.
 
    Manure Management Plan:    Due to the space requirements certain manure management plans that are to be sent to counties shall under the bill be done so electronically to address storage issues.
 
  Notice related to Levee and Drainage Districts and Improvements: Addresses Levee and Drainage Districts and Improvements. Under Iowa Code, the first section requires the auditor to give notice to the owner of each tract of land or lot within the proposed district and any others who might be interested. The next section requires publication with a copy sent by “ordinary mail to each person and to the clerk or recorder of each city names in the notice.” This publication is voluminous, since it includes the engineers report. The change would allow the publication of the notice of the hearing.
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