HB 1279 – Local zoning control over CAFOs

House Bill 1279 – Zoning and Confined Feeding Operations. Rep. Lutz:

Requires a person that wishes to construct a confined feeding operation or a concentrated animal feeding operation in a county that zones to obtain all approvals to construct the operation required under applicable zoning ordinances or other zoning laws applicable in the county in which the operation would be located.

Current statutes apparently only require a confined feeding operation (CAFO) to get the approval of the Department of Environmental Management before it begins construction. Obtaining a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit (apparently a federal EPA permit) satisfies this requirement. The proposed legislation would require a CAFO to also obtain all approvals under applicable zoning ordinances. The zoning process would have to be completed before applying to IDEM.

For all things CAFO, I would recommend that readers head over to Kemplog.

[tags]HB1279-2007, CAFO, zoning, local government[/tags]