A bill making it easier for livestock feeding operations to expand has lost the support of the Missouri Farm Bureau, which cites a possible conflict with a recent federal court ruling.
Under the Senate-passed bill which was considered by a House committee Tuesday, owners of concentrated animal feeding operations would no longer have to give notice to neighbors about plans to either move into an area or expand. Under the bill, only the largest farms would have to notify nearby property owners and county officials before building or expanding.
The measure would also prevent counties from adopting local ordinances stricter than state requirements. Supporters have characterized the bill as a way to protect farmers' property rights from what they refer to as "radical environmental groups" stirring up opposition to big livestock farms.
But rural Missourians who have fought large corporate hog farms say the change would remove hard-fought-for protections. Opponents say the big farms threaten the environment and public health by generating tons of animal waste and worry about plummeting property values near such farms.
The farm bureau dropped its support for the bill Tuesday. Leslie Holloway, a lobbyist for the group, pointed to a federal court ruling in February that said some of the Environmental Protection Agency's rules about commercial animal farms violate the Clean Water Act. The Missouri legislation is modeled after those federal rules.
Holloway suggested holding off, noting that if the bill passes and the EPA rules must be redrafted, then state rules likely would have to be redone as well.
A sponsor of the bill, Sen. John Cauthorn, R-Mexico, called the Farm Bureau officials "fair-weather friends," but also said legal experts he has consulted say the court ruling doesn't threaten his measure.
"We don't want the farm bureau controlling everything just because they are wishy-washy," Cauthorn said.
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Livestock bill is SB187.
On the Net:
Legislature: http://www.moga.state.mo.us
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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.comAssociated Press
