County conservationist previews Chapter 49 amendments to streamline manure rules, drop winter‑spreading permit

Amy Piaget, Dane County conservationist, told the Lakes and Watershed Commission on Aug. 5 that staff will soon propose amendments to Chapter 49, the county's agricultural performance standards and manure management ordinance, aimed at clarifying implementation and reducing duplicative permitting requirements.

Piaget summarized implementation metrics since Chapter 49 was created in 2019: "we've issued 59 permits under our manure storage ordinance," including 19 new constructions, one substantial alteration and 39 closures; staff have identified 356 manure storages required to have certificates of use and have issued 235 certificates to date. She said enforcement since 2019 included "about a 105 complaints" leading to 25 notices of noncompliance, 14 notices of violation, two stop‑work orders, three citations and one referral to corporation counsel.

Staff presented several concrete proposals. Piaget said the county will reorganize the ordinance language to separate cropland performance standards from livestock standards and to embed technical standards that landowners can use to meet performance requirements. "So one of our proposals is to update to that new state deadline," she said, describing a plan to change the nutrient management plan submittal deadline from June 1 to the statewide recommended April 15 to reduce confusion for agronomists who work across county lines.

Piaget also told the commission the county plans to discontinue its separate winter‑spreading permit program because winter spreading plans are now part of nutrient management plans and the separate permit is redundant. "It doesn't mean we're not following winter spreading requirements," she said. Instead, staff propose that producers supply a nutrient management plan that includes a winter spreading plan and that the county rely on that submittal rather than a distinct county permit. For producers who cannot meet winter‑spreading standards, Piaget described an alternative headland‑stacking approach: "instead of spreading your solid manure out in the farm field, we find appropriate places to stack it and wait until spring or when times are less risky to spread it."

Piaget said staff have posted draft language on the county website, held an informational meeting in June and accepted comments through June 30 (she reported no website comments posted). She said staff have presented the draft to producer‑led watershed groups and plan to introduce an ordinance amendment to the county board in September with committee review in September or October and anticipated approval and publication in October–November, aiming to have changes before the next winter cycle.

The presentation closed with procedural clarifications for implementation: Piaget said staff are adding rules for approvals, conditional approvals and renewals for certificates of use and will provide clearer procedural language for staff and landowners. She offered to provide the draft text to commission staff for the minutes and follow‑up.

The commission asked technical questions about definitions, fee changes and auditing of plans; Piaget said no new fees are proposed (the winter‑spreading permit fee would be eliminated but often was waived when plans were submitted electronically) and explained the county performs status reviews for farmland preservation participants (about 1,000 participants) with roughly 250 reviews per year.