State House Passes Bill Limiting Winter Manure Applications

After much lobbying from environmental groups, the Iowa House passed new legislation limiting the spread of liquid manure during the winter months according to  Blog for Iowa and Radio Iowa. An improved SF 432 makes it illegal to spread liquid manure on snow-covered crop fields between December 21 and April 1 and on frozen ground between February 1 and April 1.

For the past year, the Environmental Protection Commission worked on a rulemaking process to restrict applying manure to frozen ground to protect Iowa's waterways. In the process, they took extensive input from environmental and agricultural commodity groups, as well as community members and farmers, to fine-tune their rule.

Lawmakers felt an elected body rather than an appointed commission should make the regulation change, however, and crafted their own version.

An early version of SF 432 originally passed in March, but the bill undercut and greatly weakened the EPC's draft. A companion bill in the House provided loopholes that would have enabled manure to be spread in "emergency situations."

Thousands of Iowans put pressure on House members to improve the legislation. The final bill, signed by Governor Culver, extended the period of the ban, closed major loopholes, and also provided guidelines for dry manure. The DNR must also provide progress reports on the state of Iowa's water quality to various legislative committees.