Evaluate whether existing or proposed standards are: (1) protective of public health or safety; (2) practical and workable; (3) cost-effective; (4) objective; (5) based on scientific information; (6) designed to promote the growth and viability of animal agriculture; (7) designed to balance the economic viability of farm operations with natural resource protection and other community interests; and (8) usable by local officials.
Develop and update application materials and other submissions that livestock operators must provide when applying for local approval, to show that a new or expanding livestock facility will comply with the standards adopted by the Department.
Specify the information that a local government must include in its decision making record. A local decision must include findings of fact, and must be based on information in the record. This record will be important if an aggrieved party appeals the local government’s decision.Related Statutes and Rules
This rule is related to Wis. Stats. §§ 92.05 (3) (c) and (k), 92.14 (8), 92.15, 92.16, 281.16 (3), and ch. 283, and rules promulgated under these statutes including the nonpoint source pollution control rules, ATCP 50 and NR 151 (collectively referred to as the “nonpoint rules”). Plain Language Analysis
General Background
This rule:
Updates the water quality standards, including related Natural Resources Conservation Service (“NRCS”) technical standards, to ensure consistency with provisions in NR 151 and ATCP 50, including incorporation of the 2017 NRCS standard for waste storage structures, 2015 NRCS standard for nutrient management, the 2017 NRCS standard for waste treatment, and the 2016 NRCS standard for vegetated treatment areas.
Modifies standards (subch. II of ATCP 51) consistent with the requirements in Wis. Stat. § 93.90(2), based on the technical recommendations of the 2014 and 2018 Technical Expert Committees and stakeholder input. Key changes include modifications to setback and odor standards.
Modifies the procedures (subchs. I and III of ATCP 51) that local governments must follow in issuing a siting permit under a zoning or licensing ordinance including those used to determine completeness of siting applications, modifications to siting permits, the use of checklists to monitor facility compliance, and the fees local governments charge for permit modifications.
Modifies local permit application forms and worksheets to reflect changes in requirements and to ensure that they are clear, complete, and elicit information that documents compliance with applicable siting standards.
Makes other changes, clarifications and updates as necessary to improve implementation of the siting rule, consistent with the requirements in Wis. Stat. § 93.90(2).Contents of this Rule
The following is an analysis of the rule by topics.
Livestock Facilities, Structures, and other Definitions
This rule clarifies that a livestock facility includes the livestock, livestock structures, and parcels on land upon which livestock facility is located, except for pastures and winter grazing areas. Storage structures designed exclusively for process wastewater are excluded from the setback requirements that apply to manure storage structures.
This rule makes changes to definitions related to the prior odor standard, including elimination of the definition for affected neighbor and high use building, and modifications to the definition for waste storage structure to exclude solid manure from setback and odor requirements.
The definition of related facilities is expanded to cover process wastewater storage and transfer using or sharing the same structures, or same field for land application.
To achieve consistency with the nonpoint rules (ATCP 50 and NR 151), this rule adds or adjusts definitions of key terms such as manure, pasture, process wastewater, significant discharge, and waste transfer system.
Ordinances and Permits Filed with the Department
This rule will require local governments to electronically submit new or revised ordinances or permits to the Department whenever it incorporates standards from this rule in a local ordinance, enacts more stringent local ordinance standards, or takes official action on a permit application.
Duration of Local Approval
A livestock operator must begin constructing all new or expanded livestock housing or waste storage structures within two years after the local approval is granted, except where the construction of a proposed structure is required to control a discharge, in which the construction must be completed within six months of a permit approval.
Application for Local Approval
To obtain local approval, an operator must complete the application form and worksheets that are made part of this rule. The application materials have been modified to incorporate the changes described in this rule summary.
Key changes to the application materials include:
On the site map, the applicant must assign unique identifiers to show all existing and proposed livestock structures, and use these unique identifiers when referencing livestock structures in the application worksheets.
Odor Management Plans will be retooled and the application will contain new criteria for developing acceptable plans.
The applicant’s acknowledgement of other laws will be removed from the application.
Odor management standard (worksheet 2) will be modified to reflect the new system for managing odor.
Waste and nutrient management (worksheet 3) will change to reflect the method for estimating the amount of manure generated from a facility to better correspond with nutrient management planning, add cropland performance standards, and eliminate the nutrient management planning exemption for operations under 500 Animal Units (“AUs”).
Waste storage facilities (worksheet 4) will change requirements regarding closure of manure storage structures.
Runoff management (worksheet 5) will be revised to reflect changes in managing runoff related to animal lots, feed storage, and milking center wastewater.State and Local Standards
This rule clarifies that a local government may not grant a variance to exempt a livestock facility from complying with the state standards, except that it may reduce setback requirements.
Local governments are provided the authority to impose additional manure spreading restrictions consistent with applicable performance standards and prohibitions in ch. NR 151 without making the public health and safety findings for adoption of more stringent local standards but cannot use this authority to adopt a targeted standard that does not apply to the geographic area under the political subdivision’s jurisdiction. Property Line and Road Setbacks
Except for manure storage and certain types of housing, this rule retains property line and road setback requirements for livestock structures for facilities under 2,500 animal units and increases the maximum property line and road setback to 300 feet for facilities with 2,500 animal units or more.
This rule:
Establishes minimum property line setbacks for manure storage structures based on the size of the livestock facility.
Establishes minimum property line setbacks for certain types of livestock housing based on the size of the livestock facility.If a livestock facility is organized in one or more clusters (a grouping of livestock structures separated from another grouping by a 1,000 or more feet), the livestock facility may follow the setback requirements based on the AUs in each cluster. This option is not available if manure is comingled among clusters.
This rule retains provisions that allow limited expansion of manure storage and housing structures within setback areas, as long as the expansion is away from the property line or public road right-of-way to which the local setback applies. In addition, as noted below, this rule allows operators to reduce setbacks for new or expanded manure storage and certain types of housing structures through the implementation of odor control practices.
Odor Management; Livestock Structures
This rule provides for the phase out of the odor standard, originally adopted in 2006. In its place, this rule adopts a system of setbacks for high odor sources (manure storage and certain types of housing). Under the new system, operators will not be required to address odor from low odor sources such as animal lots and freestall barns. With its emphasis on setbacks, the new system is similar to odor management approaches in surrounding states, and it uses most of the odor control practices originally developed for the 2006 odor standard.
For livestock operations issued a permit prior to the effective date of this rule revision, they must continue to meet the requirements of the odor standard in their permits. When they are granted a new local approval, they are released from these requirements unless they have manure storage located within 600 feet of the facility’s property line or livestock housing located within 400 feet of the facility’s property line. In this case, they need to develop an odor management plan for these structures, and the plan should incorporate odor control practices which the operator agreed to implement as part of a local approval granted before the effective date of the rule change unless the operator provides a financial or other justification for discontinuation of the practice. Livestock facilities seeking local approval for the first time after adoption of this rule revision will not need to complete an odor management plan for existing manure storage and livestock housing, unless these structures are located within the separation distances discussed above.
For new or expanded manure storage structures and certain types of livestock housing, the new odor standard requires that operators meet setbacks distances determined using OFFSET. Livestock operators may earn credit for odor control practices in the form of reductions to setback requirements, allowing construction within the setback areas. The rule no longer supports certain low credit odor control practices that are not reliable, difficult to document or have uncertain effectiveness including diet manipulation, windbreaks (includes manmade berms), and chemical or biological additives. Worksheet 2 has been modified to enable operators to document odor control practices and calculate the reduced setbacks based on installation and maintenance of these practices. Worksheet 2 includes revised specifications for the odor control practices that the operator must meet to claim a credit.
Waste and Nutrient Management
To achieve maximum consistency with nonpoint rules, this rule requires operators to have and follow a nutrient management plan that complies with ATCP 50. The 2015 NRCS 590 Standard is now the basis for nutrient management plans. In addition, this rule adds requirements that livestock operators comply with NR 151 cropland performance standards related to soil erosion, a tillage setback, and the phosphorus index.
Regarding nutrient management plans, this rule clarifies that a plan must account for all land applications of manure and related waste generated by the maximum number of animal units authorized by a permit or other local approval. For the purposes of determining waste generation, this rule and related Worksheet 3 now use the Wisconsin Conservation Planning Technical Note WI-1 (February, 2016) to estimate quantities of manure.
Worksheet 3 will require that operators attach map(s) showing the land where waste will be applied and any restrictions limiting the application of waste to that land. Additional documentation may be required by the local government to verify that rental land is available.
A new nutrient management checklist is incorporated to document compliance with the 2015 NRCS 590 Standard.
