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by Lynn Snyder

The Ohio Department of Agriculture plans to file the draft rules of the Livestock Environmental Permitting Program later this month. Ohio Farm Bureau has been working with governmental leaders for the past six years to create a regulatory environment that is friendly to livestock producers and the environment. With the passage of Senate Bill 141 in 2000, steps were put in place to create a known set of consistent rules for livestock producers.

Senate Bill 141 transferred livestock permitting authority from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA). The bill also created the Livestock Environmental Permitting Program (LEPP), a new division of ODA, which is responsible for implementing these new rules to regulate the state's large-scale livestock, dairy and poultry farms.

LEPP will administer the new rules for livestock farms including construction standards for all new and existing large-scale operations; all aspects of manure storage, handling, transportation and land-application by these farms and the farms' insect and rodent control plans. Under the new system, Ohio EPA, U.S. EPA and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources also will remain involved in protecting the environment from potential mishaps.

According to Deborah Abbott, LEPP media relations manager, the division had hoped to file the new rules by March 8. Abbott said the delays in submitting the rules stem from areas that the rule making committee could not come to 100 percent agreement on, leaving decisions for ODA Director Fred L. Dailey to make. Also, before the rules can be submitted, they need to undergo internal legal review to make sure they conform to statute.

Once the rules are filed, Abbott said there will be a public hearing, where interested parties can present testimony, either in person or in writing. After the hearing, Abbott said the division also wants to conduct two informational meetings to answer questions and promote information about the draft rules. The next step is for the rules to go to the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review which reviews the rules to make sure they do not go beyond the scope of ODA's statutory authority; do not conflict with an existing ODA rule or another rule-making agency; do not conflict with the legislatures' intent in enacting the statute under which the rule is proposed; and, that ODA has prepared a complete and accurate rule summary and fiscal analysis.

Abbott said on the current schedule, the division is projecting an effective date of June 1, 2002. The draft rules will be posted on the LEPP Web site, which can be linked from the OFBF Web site, www.ofbf.org