House Agriculture Committee reviews S.118 "Food Security Act," debates manure injection, stormwater rules, farm housing and tax provisions

The House Agriculture committee heard a detailed briefing on S.118, the "Food Security Act," on provisions that would change manure application timing, stormwater permitting for farms, the definition and municipal preemption of farm structures, farm employee housing rules and short‑term rental use, accessory on‑farm business criteria, and certain income and property transfer tax provisions.

Michael O'Grady, deputy chief counsel in the Office of Legislative Counsel, told the committee that the bill's short title is the "Food Security Act" and walked members through individual sections. "Section 2 relates to the seasonal application of manure ... the prohibition shall not apply to land application of liquid manure directly injected to soils," O'Grady said, summarizing the proposal to treat underground injection as an exemption from the current seasonal ban.

Committee members were shown that the bill would preserve many existing limitations (for example: no application in established concentrated stormwater channels, not in non‑farmed wetlands, and maintaining a 50‑foot equivalent water‑supply buffer). O'Grady also summarized the baseline rule currently in statute: a ban on seasonal surface manure application between Dec. 15 and April 1, which the agency may shorten or extend by two weeks and for which emergency exemptions already exist. "If you're injecting, you can do it later than December 15, soil permitting — and you can do it all year round," he said in plain terms.

Committee members also discussed the bill's interaction with the state's 3‑acre stormwater requirement, a component of the 2015 Clean Water Initiative that requires properties with 3 acres or more of impervious surface to meet modern stormwater permitting. O'Grady said the bill includes…