1. Except as provided in subsections 3 and 4, the following shall apply:

 a. A confinement feeding operation structure shall not be constructed closer than five hundred feet away from the surface intake of an agricultural drainage well. A confinement feeding operation structure shall not be constructed closer than one thousand feet from a wellhead, cistern of an agricultural drainage well, or known sinkhole. However, the department may adopt rules requiring an increased separation distance under this paragraph in order to protect the integrity of a water of the state. The increased separation distance shall not be more than two thousand feet. If the department exercises its discretion to increase the separation distance requirement, the department shall not approve an application for the construction of a confinement feeding operation structure within that separation distance as provided in section 459.303.
 b. A confinement feeding operation structure shall not be constructed if the confinement feeding operation structure as constructed is closer than any of the following:

 (1) Five hundred feet away from a water source other than a major water source.
 (2) One thousand feet away from a major water source.
 (3) Two thousand five hundred feet away from a designated wetland.
 c. (1) A water source, other than a major water source, shall not be constructed, expanded, or diverted, if the water source as constructed, expanded, or diverted is closer than five hundred feet away from a confinement feeding operation structure.

 (2) A major water source shall not be constructed, expanded, or diverted, if the major water source as constructed, expanded, or diverted is closer than one thousand feet from a confinement feeding operation structure.
 (3) A designated wetland shall not be established, if the designated wetland is closer than two thousand five hundred feet away from a confinement feeding operation structure.
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Terms Used In Iowa Code 459.310

  • Animal: means cattle, swine, horses, sheep, chickens, turkeys, or fish. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • Animal unit: means a unit of measurement based upon the product of multiplying the number of animals of each category by a special equivalency factor as follows:
     a. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • Confinement feeding operation: means an animal feeding operation in which animals are confined to areas which are totally roofed. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • Confinement feeding operation structure: means an animal feeding operation structure that is part of a confinement feeding operation. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • Department: means the department of natural resources. See Iowa Code 462A.2
  • Department: means the department of natural resources created pursuant to section 455A. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • Designated wetland: means land designated as a protected wetland by the United States department of the interior or the department of natural resources, including but not limited to a protected wetland as defined in section 456B. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • Egg washwater storage structure: means an aerobic or anaerobic structure used to store the wastewater resulting from the washing and in-shell packaging of eggs. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • Farm pond: means a body of water wholly on the lands of a single owner, or a group of joint owners, which does not have any connection with any public waters and which is less than ten surface acres. See Iowa Code 462A.2
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Formed manure storage structure: means a covered or uncovered impoundment used to store manure from an animal feeding operation, which has walls and a floor constructed of concrete, concrete block, wood, steel, or similar materials. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • Major water source: means a water source that is a lake, reservoir, river, or stream located within the territorial limits of the state, or any marginal river area adjacent to the state, if the water source is capable of supporting a floating vessel capable of carrying one or more persons during a total of a six-month period in one out of ten years, excluding periods of flooding, which has been identified by rules adopted by the commission. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • Manure: means animal excreta or other commonly associated wastes of animals, including but not limited to bedding, litter, or feed losses. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • Manure storage structure: means a formed manure storage structure or an unformed manure storage structure. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • One hundred year floodplain: means the land adjacent to a major water source, if there is at least a one percent chance that the land will be inundated in any one year, according to calculations adopted by rules adopted pursuant to section 459. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • Person: means an individual, partnership, firm, corporation, or association. See Iowa Code 462A.2
  • Privately owned lake: means any lake, located within the boundaries of this state and not subject to federal control covering navigation owned by an individual, group of individuals, or a nonprofit corporation and which is not open to the use of the general public but is used exclusively by the owners and their personal guests. See Iowa Code 462A.2
  • Unformed manure storage structure: means a covered or uncovered impoundment used to store manure, other than a formed manure storage structure, which includes an anaerobic lagoon, aerobic structure, or earthen manure storage basin. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • Use: means to operate, navigate, or employ a vessel. See Iowa Code 462A.2
  • Water of the state: means the same as defined in section 455B. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • Water source: means a lake, river, reservoir, creek, stream, ditch, or other body of water or channel having definite banks and a bed with water flow, except lakes or ponds without outlet to which only one landowner is riparian. See Iowa Code 459.102
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. Except as provided in subsection 4, a confinement feeding operation structure shall not be constructed on land that is part of a one hundred year floodplain as designated by rules adopted by the department pursuant to section 459.301.
 3. A separation distance required in subsection 1 shall not apply to any of the following:

 a. A location or object and a farm pond or privately owned lake, as defined in section 462A.2.
 b. A confinement feeding operation building, an egg washwater storage structure, or a manure storage structure constructed with a secondary containment barrier. The department shall adopt rules providing for the construction and use of a secondary containment barrier, including construction design standards.
 4. A separation distance required in subsection 1 or the prohibition against construction of a confinement feeding operation structure on a one hundred year floodplain as provided in subsection 2 shall not apply to a confinement feeding operation that includes a confinement feeding operation structure that was constructed prior to March 1, 2003, if any of the following apply:

 a. One or more unformed manure storage structures that are part of the confinement feeding operation are replaced with one or more formed manure storage structures on or after April 28, 2003, and all of the following apply:

 (1) The animal weight capacity or animal unit capacity, whichever is applicable, is not increased for that portion of the confinement feeding operation that utilizes all replacement formed manure storage structures.
 (2) The use of each replaced unformed manure storage structure is discontinued within one year after the construction of the replacement formed manure storage structure.
 (3) The capacity of all replacement formed manure storage structures does not exceed the amount required to store manure produced by that portion of the confinement feeding operation utilizing the formed manure storage structures during any eighteen-month period.
 (4) No portion of the replacement formed manure storage structure is closer to the location or object from which separation is required under subsection 1 than any other confinement feeding operation structure which is part of the operation.
 (5) The formed manure storage structure meets or exceeds the requirements of section 459.307.
 b. (1) A formed manure storage structure that is part of the confinement feeding operation is constructed on or after April 28, 2003, pursuant to a variance granted by the department. In granting the variance, the department shall make a finding of all of the following:

 (a) The replacement formed manure storage structure replaces the confinement feeding operation’s existing manure storage and handling facilities.
 (b) The replacement formed manure storage structure complies with standards adopted pursuant to section 459.307.
 (c) The replacement formed manure storage structure more likely than not provides a higher degree of environmental protection than the confinement feeding operation’s existing manure storage and handling facilities.
 (2) If the formed manure storage structure will replace any existing manure storage structure, the department shall, as a condition of granting the variance, require that the replaced manure storage structure be properly closed.
 5. A person shall not construct or expand an unformed manure storage structure within an agricultural drainage well area as provided in section 460.205.
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