Committee debates requiring disclosure of past state investments on farm disaster-aid applications; Agency of Agriculture briefs on RAPs

Members of a legislative committee discussed adding a requirement that applicants for farm disaster aid disclose prior state grants or loans, and received a detailed briefing from the Agency of Agriculture on the agency's Accepted Agricultural Practices (RAPs) and how those rules intersect with municipal oversight, water quality, tile drainage and wetlands.

The most immediate issue was an amendment to S.60 proposing that the secretary have access to a list of prior state investments in a farm when deciding disaster-relief or emergency loan applications. Edie Granning of Jericho, speaking in support of a limited disclosure, said the change “makes perfect sense to limit that there” to grants or loans tied to the farming business. Committee members asked legislative counsel to add two or three words to limit any list to “purposes of the farm business” and agreed to revisit the amendment before the end of the day.

The committee then heard from Laura DiPietro, director of water quality at the Agency of Agriculture, who gave an overview of RAPs and how the agency implements them. DiPietro said the RAPs are a statewide set of nonpoint-source management rules and that, because compliance with RAPs can substitute for some municipal requirements, the agency sometimes issues variances to municipal setbacks. “The Agency of Agriculture can issue a variance to a municipal setback, essentially,” she said.

DiPietro outlined several areas where RAPs affect farm operations: setbacks from roads, property lines, houses and wells; manure handling and mortality disposal; winter spreading; streambank protection; and requirements tied to nutrient-management plans. She said the RAPs include both baseline requirements and authority to require additional measures where those baseline practices do not prevent harm: “If they're following the rules, but you can still see that there's a problem… then we can say they need to do more.”

On water and tile drainage, DiPietro explained that tile drainage can be treated as nonpoint-source flow when an operation follows an approved nutrient-management plan; if a farm fails to follow that plan and manure or nutrients leave through tile lines, the discharge can be treated as a point-source violation. She also described how wetlands are governed by overlapping federal and state rules and by the Army Corps and USDA definitions, and said farms that operate on historically farmed wetlands generally retain that use but that new conversions can trigger additional wetlands and drainage review.

Members and commenters raised concerns about how a list of past state investments might be used. Some committee members worried a farm that had previously received unrelated funding (for example, for cover crops or storage upgrades) could be disadvantaged when applying for disaster relief the next year. Others said such a list could help the state decide whether to continue funding operations that repeatedly face hazards in locations no longer suitable for farming.

Committee staff (legislative counsel) were asked to add limiting language to the amendment so the disclosure would apply to grants or loans “for the purposes of the farm business.” The committee did not adopt the amendment or hold a vote during the session; members planned to consider the revised language later in the day.

DiPietro also described routine enforcement and complaint processes under RAPs. She said many complaints are manure- or mortality-related and are often resolved by moving a pile or other straightforward fixes; in some neighbor-to-neighbor disputes the agency works with the Environmental Mediation Center to improve communication. She noted that larger farms subject to permit-based rules may have additional nuisance and permitting requirements for odor, flies, traffic and other conditions.

The committee scheduled follow-up testimony on related items, including tile drainage, and said it would return after lunch to hear additional witnesses.