SB221 finds support among good producers

Livestock Bill Off To A Strong Start at Statehouse
01/26/2009
by Gary Truitt

A bill to regulate Indiana livestock operations looks to be off to a good start in the Indiana General Assembly. Senate Bill 221 would require producers seeking to build or expand their CAFO operations to supply references to show they have not violated environmental regulations in the past. IDEM Commissioner Tom Easterly told the Senate Environmental Committee he wants the authority to keep bad producers from operating in Indiana, “There is nothing in law that would allow me to not give that person a permit for a new farm even when they are not operating their current farm within the law.”

Hoosier Livestock groups along with Indiana Farm Bureau testified in support of the bill. Michael Platt, executive Director of Indiana Pork, told HAT that Pork Producers do not want Indiana to become a safe haven for bad operators, “We are fully in support of keeping bad actors out of the state; it looks bad on us it looks bad for the environment.” Platt said the legislation does need some fine tuning in order to keep the regulations from being too big of a burden on those producers who do follow the law. Several environmental groups, including the Hoosier Environmental Council, also testified in support of the legislation


Bill author and Committee chairman, State Senator Beverly Gard said itis a first to have both environmentalists and livestock producers on the same side. There are several livestock bills currently before lawmakers, but Gard said this is in the only one that is going anywhere, “This is the only livestock bill that will get a hearing in the Senate.” This is the third time this kind of legislation has been before lawmakers and livestock groups hope the third time will be the charm.

A vote was not taken on the bill because several issues have yet to be resolved. Senator Tallilan raised the concern that no character references were required for the transfer of permits. There was also confusion about how this legislation applied to CFOs vs. CAFOs. These issues will likely be resolved in the next few weeks before the measure moves out of committee.