Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Animal Industry Rules topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
State veterinarian presents multiple animal‑industry rule updates; committee adopts package including CWD clarifications
Summary
Dr. Scott Lively of the Idaho State Department of Agriculture summarized negotiated rule changes to several animal‑industry rules (animal industries, Grade A milk, beef cattle feeding, and domestic cervid rules tied to House Bill 591). The committee adopted the dockets; public testimony flagged chronic wasting disease monitoring concerns.
Dr. Scott Lively, administrator of the Division of Animal Industries and Idaho state veterinarian, presented a series of rulemaking dockets that reorganize and update the Department of Agriculture's animal‑industry rules, including electronic health‑certificate standards, incorporation‑by‑reference updates to Grade A milk standards, reorganization of nutrient/environmental management language for livestock byproducts, and updates to captive cervid (elk/deer) disease testing and quarantine language consistent with House Bill 591.
On electronic health certificates (CVI), Lively explained that multiple electronic platforms exist and that the department provides a free database funded by a 2018 appropriation for licensed and accredited veterinarians. "If you have an electronic CVI, you don't need to print it out. You can have it on your tablet or on your phone," he said, describing how an electronic submission transmits data to origin and destination states and gives regulators an earlier opportunity to intervene if necessary.
The committee adopted these dockets by motion during the session. The most substantive discussion and public comment focused on the captive cervid rules and chronic wasting disease (CWD). Lively said the rule text was modified to reflect testing standards that require both the OBEX (brain stem) and the retropharyngeal lymph nodes for a valid CWD test; that testing goals remain no less than 10% of harvested animals and 100% of nonharvest mortalities; and that the rule was amended to align with House Bill 591 by removing a prior automatic double‑perimeter fence requirement and allowing movement between facilities under common ownership subject to quarantine and department oversight.
Jonathan Oppenheimer, government relations director for the Idaho Conservation League, testified in support of the rules generally but urged more aggressive monitoring and flagged recent detections at two elk farms. "Chronic wasting disease is a disease that affects the brains of elk and deer and can last indefinitely in the soil and is a real concern for our wild deer and elk," Oppenheimer said, noting the organization's concern that monitoring and some rule changes may create gaps in protections for wild herds.
Lively said the department expects Idaho will soon have a National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) laboratory approved to perform in‑state testing that has previously been done out of state. He also said the department no longer requires submission of a separate tissue‑waiver form for decay‑affected carcasses; rather, he said the department reviews facility testing rates over time and pursues enforcement when facilities fail to meet testing requirements repeatedly.
The committee adopted each docket by voice vote. Committee members asked clarifying questions about electronic CVI implementation, the rationale for removing redundant language incorporated elsewhere in statute, and how the department will manage CWD sampling and enforcement going forward.
The adopted dockets reorganize and update multiple parts of the animal industry rules and make several procedural and technical clarifications: (1) transition and requirements for electronic health certificates, (2) incorporation‑by‑reference updates to Grade A milk and laboratory standards, (3) movement of common nutrient‑management language into a single environmental management rule, and (4) CWD sample‑and‑quarantine clarifications consistent with House Bill 591.
