Coalition calls for tougher Iowa clean water rules

DES MOINES - A coalition of groups on Tuesday called upon the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to strengthen proposed clean water rules for large-scale commercial livestock operations.

Members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, the Iowa Sierra Club and the Environmental Integrity Project submitted comments cosigned by 23 other groups demanding stronger DNR rules.

CCI officials said the groups represented community, environmental, family farm, labor, rural, student, business, and animal welfare interests at the local, county, state, regional and national levels. CCI members say they have submitted at least 3,680 individual comments calling for state regulators to strengthen a draft Clean Water Act rule with tougher environmental standards for so-called factory farms.

DNR officials conducted six hearings that were to conclude Tuesday night in Ainsworth to solicit public comments on proposed rules aimed at improving the quality of Iowa's waterways via better enforcement of livestock operations.

The state regulatory agency reached an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year whereby Iowa would step up its enforcement of clean water standards as they pertain to livestock production as a way to stave off a federal takeover of those efforts. The proposed rule results from a petition submitted by Iowa environmental interests asking the EPA to withdraw the state of Iowa's Clean Water Act authority for failure to regulate large-scale livestock operations. Those groups now argue the DNR's proposed rule making does not go far enough.

State regulators cite a 2010 state law indicating that Iowa standards cannot be more stringent than federal requirements.

But the coalition argued in its comments Tuesday that 'this does not bar DNR from using its knowledge of Iowa CAFO (commercial animal feeding operation) pollution and impaired water quality to determine which facilities require permits or what technical standards for nutrient management are capable of meeting federal requirements.”

'DNR should amend the proposed rule to establish presumptions that certain CAFOs discharge and have a duty to apply for NPDES permits and strengthen technical standards that are currently inadequate to comply with the federal regulations,” according to the joint petition. 'Iowa's ‘no more stringent than' law does not prevent DNR from requiring permits of all discharging CAFOs, and in fact anything less is impermissible.”

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