U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee passes draft farm bill with needed conservation language

The Senate Agriculture committee met today to consider amendments to the Committee’s draft Farm Bill.  While there are many issues the Council is following in the Farm Bill, our top priority is to re-link crop insurance premium subsidies to conservation compliance as was the case prior to 1996.  The Farm Bill that came out of the Senate Agriculture committee today re-establishes that link.  An amendment to the Committee Bill by Senator Hoeven (R-ND) that would have stuck the tie between Conservation Compliance and crop insurance failed in committee.

Des Moines Water Works releases new details about record nitrate event, levels also high elsewhere in Iowa

Update 5/14:  In a news release, the City of Cedar Rapids said it is also monitoring nitrate levels in the Cedar River, noting a nitrate monitor upstream of the measured a nitrate level of 18.5 mg/L, which the city’s water utility called “one of [the] highest nitrate levels ever measured in the Cedar River.” At this time, Cedar Rapids drinking water is meeting the EPA’s safe water guidelines.

This afternoon, the Des Moines Water Works officially released details about Last week’s record nitrate levels in both the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers.  According to the release, “This new record follows the continued upward trend of nitrate concentrations since fertilizer use and increased row-crop agriculture began in the mid-1960s. It has been calculated that last week’s nitrate load surpassed last year’s entire nitrate load.”

Bill Stowe, head of the Water Works, has not minced words as he has described the nitrate removal challenge the Water Works faces or its causes.

“The optimal solution to prevent nitrate concentrations from entering our source water is through watershed protection programs and good land management practices,” said Stowe.

“However, the recently published Nutrient Reduction Strategy is inadequate in that it lacks vision, goals, measurable outcomes, or timelines for agricultural (non-point) discharges.  Without significant action, Des Moines Water Works will be forced to continue treating degraded source waters, and our customers will continue to pay for that extensive treatment in their rates,” he said.

The Des Moines Water Works is a cooperator member of the Iowa Environmental Council.  The Council has also been strongly critical of Iowa’s nutrient reduction strategy, arguing that it lacks clear timetables or standards for measuring success.

A survey of available water quality data by the Iowa Environmental Council Monday showed Des Moines is not the only place where high nitrate levels are being recorded.

At 3 p.m. Monday, nitrate levels were 26.8 mg/L on the Raccoon River near Jefferson, 28.18 mg/L on the Boone River near Webster City, and 17.8 mg/L on the Cedar River near Palo.  (Real-time nitrogen monitoring data is provided by the United States Geological Survey.)

The highest recorded nitrate concentration was 40.9 mg/L on Lyons Creek near Webster City.

The EPA’s safe drinking water standard for treated drinking water is 10 mg/L.

At mid-term, a time to assess progress in the legislature

Our supporters across Iowa consistently tell us that timely, accurate information about activity in Iowa’s legislature is one of the Council’s services they value most.

The Council provides a free weekly summary of current environmental legislation, the Legislative News Bulletin, via e-mail, which this year has reported information on more than 70 bills so far.  By reviewing that publication closely, many of the Council’s members and supporters have provided us valuable feedback to refine and focus our positions on issues.

The Council and our members devote considerable resources to monitoring and speaking out on environmental legislation.  Through our action alert system, you can speak out yourself by offering your thoughts on legislation to your elected officials when important decisions are being made.

We consider all the bills we track to be important, but below, we have summarized information about some of the bills of greatest concern to our members.

Bills related to spending on environmental programs

The Council is working to ensure Iowa’s investments in natural resources produce the results for clean water and a healthy environment that Iowans want.

SSB1245: Proposed Agriculture & Natural Resources Budget

The Senate’s proposed budget for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources contains significant advances for natural resource protection:

The proposal would

• provide necessary funding for additional livestock inspectors, restoring past cuts to the Department of Natural Resources’ inspections staff while helping protect Iowa’s waters from harmful manure spills. The Council believes more inspections are needed to protect Iowa’s waters from harmful manure spills and to fulfill Iowa’s responsibilities under the federal Clean Water Act.
• Provide full funding for Iowa’s Resource Enhancement and Protection Program to support projects that enhance Iowans’ quality of life all across the state. As a member of the Iowa REAP Alliance, the Council strongly supports the REAP Program.

The bill also includes additional funding for conservation action on Iowa farms following the release of Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy by Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and other state officials late last year. The Council and partners support additional funding to increase soil and water conservation on Iowa’s farms, yet have consistently called for more accountability and transparency, establishment of timelines and deadlines, and clearer goals in this pollution reduction effort.

HF92 (House)/SF268 (Senate): Legislation to increase the sales tax to fund conservation

Legislation has been introduced this year to raise Iowa’s sales tax by 3/8 of a cent to provide Iowa’s Natural Resource and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund more than $120 million annually to support clean water and natural resource conservation. Sponsors of this legislation are Rep. Chuck Isenhart (D-Dubuque) and Sen. Dick Dearden (D-Des Moines). The Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy coalition, of which the Council is a member, has additional information about this effort on its website.

More to come soon

Legislation to provide funding for public access and enjoyment of Iowa’s rivers as well as the state’s public lake restoration program has not yet been introduced. Appropriations bills that discuss these programs’ budgets are expected soon.

Environmental roll-back bills

These bills risk weakening existing environmental protections in Iowa. For two of them, beneficial amendments have reduced the Council’s concerns.

HF512 (House)/SF418 (Senate): Potential rollback of livestock manure storage standards

Manure spills can wreak havoc on aquatic ecosystems. According to the Council’s analysis, illegal manure spills killed more than 1.2 million fish in Iowa in the last ten years.

In the legislature, SF418/HF512 would allow certain livestock facilities to reclassify themselves as “small operations” by idling livestock production in one or more buildings. Once reclassified, an operation would be exempt from paying annual compliance fees and submitting regular manure management plans.

The House version of this bill passed the full House by a vote of 83-16 on April 1. Before passage, the House rejected a beneficial amendment by Rep. Chuck Isenhart (D-Dubuque) that would have would have barred livestock producers from storing manure in idled buildings “from a location outside the confinement feeding operation.”

The Council is concerned the bill would permit unregulated manure storage in supposedly idle buildings, which could raise the risk of a harmful spill. Several of the Council’s concerns could be addressed through an amendment to this bill that would limit manure storage in the idle building to “emergencies only” and require notification of the DNR when such actions take place. After House passage, that amendment would need to come from the Senate.

HF311: Reducing public notification for certain environmental permits, including for livestock facilities

HF311 would have eliminated a requirement that DNR provide public notice for certain stormwater permits in two local newspapers, but an amendment has reduced that risk. The public notifications in question are important because they are the only way for members of a local community to find out about potential development projects—including development of certain new animal feeding operations—that will disturb more than one acre of land and potentially have other environmental impacts. Rep. Jason Schultz (R-Schleswig) offered an amendment in the House that recognized the need for public notification by keeping the requirement but reducing it to publication in one local paper. The House also removed the potentially harmful automatic approval of DNR permits in the event application is not acted upon within 90 days. The Senate sub-committee appears to be supportive of the maintenance of a public notice requirement, and the Council is continuing to monitor the bill.

SF272: Eliminating a needed protection for Iowa wetlands

Restored wetland in Iowa. (Photo: Lynn Betts/NRCS)

Historically, Iowa had as many as 4-6 million acres of wetlands, more than 90% of which have been drained. Because Iowa’s remaining acres are so critical for habitat, filtering water, and holding back floods, the Council supports Iowa leadership for protecting what remains. Iowa law currently contains a wetland permitting program which includes protections for isolated wetlands that are not otherwise protected by the Clean Water Act and “Swampbuster” portions of the Farm Bill. The Council sees maintaining this state permit program as a way of keeping these wetlands from falling through the cracks between other programs; similar state-based protections exist in other states. The Iowa Senate’s version of the bill (SF272) originally proposed to eliminate the state permit program until the bill was amended by Sen. Chris Brase (D-Muscatine). The Council will continue to monitor the bill.

Advancing clean energy in Iowa

The following bills advance Iowa’s transition toward cleaner sources of energy, such as wind and solar.

SF372: Ensuring Iowa farmers and land owners receive a fair price for electricity they generate

An Iowa wind energy incentive (feed-in tariff) bill that recently passed the Iowa Senate Agriculture Committee has received national attention as a way to ensure Iowa farmers and rural landowners who install a wind turbine receive a fair price from utilities for electricity they generate. The bill faces stiff opposition from utilities, but the Council supports this policy as a way to continue to expand and diversify wind energy’s role in Iowa.

SSB1175/SSB1136/SF414: Tax incentives, grants and loans for wind and solar

Three bills are pending that would improve tax incentive programs and establish new grant and loan programs for wind and solar. Last year, the Iowa Legislature created a tax credit program for solar power in Iowa that could support a dramatic expansion of solar energy in Iowa. The Iowa Department of Revenue reported in January that in 2012, 64 solar projects have been granted the credit, including 50 projects by individuals and 14 by Iowa businesses. SSB 1175 would ensure that unused credits are reserved for future years and would allow businesses to install multiple projects and receive multiple credits in a single year. Both SSB 1136 and SF 414 provide incentives for wind projects in Iowa’s Small Wind Innovation Zones, which are local communities that adopt wind-friendly policies that the Council helped develop. SSB 1136 also extends Iowa’s wind energy tax incentives while SF 414 primarily establishes new grant and loan programs for wind and solar.

Want more legislative information?

The Iowa Environmental Council tracks dozens of environmental bills, and provides a weekly Legislative News Bulletin that summarizes our positions.  You can sign up to receive this e-mail on the Council’s website.

help spread the word

Use our social sharing buttons (below) to share this information with friends and colleagues using Facebook and Twitter, or by e-mail.

New analysis: Majority of Iowa farmers support additional conservation requirements

Former Iowa Environmental Council executive director Linda Appelgate captured this image of a corn field eroding into the Nishnabotna river in 2010. According to the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll, nearly 80% of Iowa farmers agree they need to do more to “reduce nutrient and sediment runoff into streams and lakes.”

Iowa farmers support expanding conservation requirements for soil erosion and the control of nitrogen and phosphorous runoff, according to a new analysis of Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll data from 2009 and 2010.

According to a new article by Iowa State University sociologist J. Gordon Arbuckle, nearly 80% of farmers agree they should “do more to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff into streams and lakes.”  A majority also agree farmer action on these environmental concerns should be required regardless of whether they participate in federal farm programs.

Arbuckle completed the analysis, published in the current issue of the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, to determine the degree to which farmers support Conservation Compliance, a federal policy intended to protect vulnerable soils from excessive erosion.

Under that policy, first adopted by Congress in 1985, farmers who grow crops on highly erodible soils without a conservation plan in place risk losing their eligibility for a variety of federal farm programs.  As Arbuckle points out, the policy has generated substantial conservation benefits by reducing federal farm subsidies for environmentally harmful practices.

As Congress attempted to write a new farm bill in 2012, many conservation groups called for expanding the current role of conservation compliance by connecting it to federally-subsidized crop insurance subsidies.

Congress’s failure to pass a new farm bill leaves that aspect of conservation compliance’s future in question, but according to Arbuckle, Iowa farmers support expanding the program and even applying it to farms not participating in federal farm programs.

In fact, 66% of Iowa farmers said they support extending conservation compliance requirements to all highly erodible soils whether or not the farmer is participating in federal farm programs.

And concerning nitrogen and phosphorous runoff—an area not currently covered by Conservation Compliance—62% of farmers agreed they should “be required to control nutrient runoff into ditches, streams, and other waterways regardless of participation in federal farm programs.”

Last November, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, together with officials from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Iowa State University released a state nutrient reduction strategy they say will help resolve this problem.

The Iowa Environmental Council and other environmental and conservation groups have criticized the plan because it continues existing all-voluntary conservation programs without additional goals or accountability for creating clean water results in Iowa.

According to the new analysis, Iowa farmers may be willing to consider mandatory options for controlling nitrogen and phosphorous pollution some state leaders—including Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey—have stated they wish to avoid.

The poll results showed an overwhelming majority of Iowa farmers (92%) agreed “a good farmer is one who minimizes soil erosion,” and more than 80% also agreed the health of streams running through or along their land is their responsibility.

Meeting clean water goals requires greater commitment to livestock facility inspections

Manure spills can wreak havoc on aquatic ecosystems. According to the Council’s analysis, illegal manure spills killed more than 1.2 million fish in Iowa in the last ten years.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is poised to take on a major EPA-mandated inspection effort to ensure thousands of Iowa livestock facilities are not discharging manure into Iowa’s waters.  But as DNR prepares for this new responsibility, it does so with far fewer staff than necessary, said Ralph Rosenberg, the Iowa Environmental Council’s executive director.

---

Take action on this issue by telling your state representatives Iowa needs enough livestock inspectors to adequately protect our rivers and lakes.

---

“Since 2009, Iowa has substantially reduced the number of livestock facility inspectors protecting the state’s rivers and lakes to the point where we are already concerned about inadequate oversight,” Rosenberg said.  “Now, with this much-awaited round of new inspections set to begin, the under-staffing at DNR demands urgent attention.”

---

The Council has prepared a new fact sheet on the need for more livestock inspectors, and we offer an interactive map of the impact harmful manure spills have had in your county in the last decade.

---

The new inspection effort is necessary after the federal Environmental Protection Agency identified numerous shortcomings in Iowa’s Clean Water Act oversight of livestock facilities last summer.  A draft agreement between the EPA and DNR calls on the state agency to complete enhanced inspections of about 8,000 facilities, reaching 20% of the operations—almost 1,600—each year for five years.

Rosenberg said 13 inspectors, a number that restores past staff reductions and more closely matches DNR’s own initial assessment of its need, would better align the agency’s resources with the size of its task.

“This is not an effort where DNR can drop everything, catch up quickly, then move on,” said Rosenberg.  “Completing the new inspections requires a multi-year commitment from the DNR which will put substantial pressure on the department’s resources.  Providing adequate staff is critical so the department can still meet its other responsibilities.”

Rosenberg explained the DNR originally indicated it would seek 13 additional staff members; after the Governor’s budget provided lesser funding, DNR has suggested it will attempt to re-focus its priorities to move forward with fewer staff.  Rosenberg said the Council and its partners are concerned that without the 13 additional staff, DNR could be forced to weaken its efforts in other areas, such as responding to livestock producer questions and citizen complaints, to complete its new task.

“Protecting water quality in Iowa’s rivers and lakes is the responsibility of state government,” Rosenberg said.  “We have to provide our state agencies the resources they need to enforce existing laws.”

According to previous analysis by the Iowa Environmental Council, manure spills killed more than 1.2 million fish in Iowa waters in the last decade, including 24 spills that killed more than 10,000 fish in a single incident.  Findings from that analysis are summarized on the Council’s website, iaenvironment.org.