Living in the country is often viewed as more idyllic than living in the suburbs or city. But for many Hoosiers, living in a rural area can be spoiled by nearby farms where large numbers of livestock or poultry are being raised.
In Indiana, an animal farm is considered a confined feeding operation (if it has 300 or more cattle, 600 or more swine or sheep, 30,000 or more poultry or 500 horses in confinement, according to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
Under current Indiana law, anyone who plans to operate, start construction on or expand a confined feeding operation must submit an application and receive a permit from IDEM before construction or expansion of the facility can begin.
Before approval is given, IDEM engineers review the design and conduct inspections of buildings and manure storage structures. There are also routine and complaint-based inspections.
That could change if House Bill 1494 is passed this year by the Indiana Legislature, and representatives of the Hoosier Environmental Council as well as Hoosier residents are opposing the bill, which they believe takes away some of the needed rules and regulations governing confined feeding operations.
In the synopsis for HB 1494, it states that it would replace the “current prohibition against starting construction or expansion of a CFO without the prior approval of the Department of Environmental Management with the requirement that a person obtain a permit to construct and operate a confined feeding operation.”
The Hoosier Environmental Council is opposed to taking away the rules and regulations that help ensure there are no environmental issues related to the confined feeding operations. Kim Ferraro, senior staff attorney and director of agriculture policy for the advocacy group, said the proposed bill would take away the need for a person or company wanting to start or expand a CFO to notify neighbors and the county government before a permit is issued.
State Rep. David Wolkins, R-Warsaw, author of the bill, said that it would not change the current law, saying that the bill’s wording that a person must obtain a permit means that they must have prior approval from IDEM to receive that permit. “We did not change any existing state requirement” in the bill, Wolkins said.