Sen. Sue Glick: CAFO bill likely headed to study committee for this year

In an email, Glick said she thinks the bill authored by Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, is going to end up finding its way to a summer study committee to give the issue more detailed consideration. There hasn’t been any activity on the bill since it was presented to the Senate Agriculture Committee on Jan. 12.

The bill would prevent county or other local officials from adopting any rules that go beyond what is required by state law regarding the construction of livestock structures, often known as concentrated animal feeding operations, in areas zoned for agricultural use.

“I anticipate Senator Leising’s bill will be amended into a study committee bill, but it has succeeded in bringing the parties into the discussion,” Glick said.

What the bill has done so far is bring attention to the fact that some counties are using local laws to ban livestock operations and rally support for local government control and the ability to legally farm in Indiana.

“Discussions are ongoing about the necessity of extensive study of what each of the 92 counties are doing in the area, of what is working and what has failed to address the issues on both sides,” Glick said. “Representatives of the industry, the soil and water experts, representatives of local government, members of the general public and the environmental groups need to be involved in this discussion.”

The bill has rallied environmental groups in northeast Indiana, which is home to the state’s largest concentration of natural lakes. Even the Steuben County Drainage Board has come out in opposition to the bill.

Pete Hippensteel, technical vice president of the Steuben County Lakes Council and a former longtime member of the state soil and water conservation board, said the bill would strip from local government the authority to protect schools and sensitive parts of the environment, such as the lakes of northeast Indiana.

“The land next to Angola High School, Ryan Park Elementary and Prairie Heights Schools is zoned agriculture. Senate Bill 249 would allow the landowners of these adjacent properties to build large livestock buildings creating air and water pollution problems for these schools. Current local zoning would protect the children in these schools from pollution impacts,” Hippensteel wrote in a letter to Glick, who represents LaGrange, Noble and Steuben counties and part of DeKalb County in the Indiana Senate.

Members of the Steuben County Environmental Consortium, which was formed in response to the proposed siting of a confined hog operation near Lake Gage, Crooked Lake and Pine Canyon Lake, have launched a campaign to oppose Leising’s legislation. The permit application for that hog farm is in mitigation before the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

The Senate Ag Committee, which Leising chairs, did not vote on the bill when it took it up two weeks ago.

“The committee did not vote on bill for a number of reasons, not the least of which was for the reason that it would take the final approval/decision away from local officials,” said Glick, who, as ranking member of the committee chaired the hearing while Leising presented her bill.

Leising said she authored the legislation because two counties have placed moratoriums on large livestock operations and others have enacted ordinances that are so restrictive they ban large livestock operations.

“My concerns are twofold: 1. That livestock production, which is a principal industry in Indiana, can continue to operate under reasonable restrictions, which will protect our environment — including water supplies, ground contamination, quality of life issues for surrounding countryside, as well as provide a humane system of livestock production; and, 2. That I am opposed to removing local control over land use in rural areas,” Glick said.

Glick’s Senate district covers numerous lake communities. There are more than 300 natural lakes in Glick’s district, according to data from local lake advocacy and tourism groups.

“The vitality of these communities is dependent on excellent air and water quality. These lake communities provide a major portion of each county’s land tax base. Without local control over zoning of large livestock buildings in these areas, a landowner of agriculturally zoned land could jeopardize the environment and economic foundation of these environmentally sensitive areas,” Hippensteel said.

A letter from the Steuben County Drainage Board, signed by Steuben County Commissioners Ron Smith, Jim Crowl and Lynne Liechty, said, in part: “We believe that Steuben County can have a balance of agriculture, economic development, good quality of life and protection of our natural resources without the state’s interference. … The Steuben County Drainage Board is not against CAFOs, it just comes down to the adage: location, location, location. We must be able to protect our lakes, streams and quality of life, and there are many suitable locations for a CAFO in Steuben County.”