The Iowa House Committee on Environmental Protection has introduced HSB 695, a bill that would limit the ability of the state to regulate the air quality of CAFOS, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. The bill restricts the ability of the state to create stricter standards than those of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and sets standards for ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and odor at standards that will not allow for any enforcement. Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide are two components of CAFO air pollution that can be quite dangerous. Both gases at levels of 20 ppb (parts per billion) can cause eye and respiratory system irritation and can be dangerous to persons with a weakened immune system. The levels that would trigger enforcement under HSB 695 are levels as high as 70 ppb of hydrogen sulfide for 14 consecutive days and 1700 ppb of ammonia for 14 consecutive days. Air emissions, including noxious odors, from CAFOs can be detected up to six miles away and have been shown to decrease neighboring property values and to decrease the quality of life for neighbors of CAFOs . Last year, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources handed down more stringent ambient air quality standards for both hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, which were quickly repealed by the legislature. This is clearly an attempt by owners of CAFOs to circumvent their responsibility for their less than stellar environmental practices. This smells similar to an amnesty agreement offered by the EPA, in June 2003, which let some of the largest CAFO owners avoid prosecution for current violations of the Clean Air Act in exchange for a self-run study to look into the issue. HSB 695 should be stopped before it is brought to the full legislature, and sensible standards, which protect the workers and neighbors of these environmental disasters, should be put in place.

Ran 3/8/2004