St. Joseph County: Health Regulations Provide Different Approach to CAFO Limits
The “police powers” of the state give the state the authority to pass laws that promote the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the state. States then “pass” that authority down to local towns, cities and counties through “enabling acts” that permit these local government to pass ordinances within certain limits, that promote these interests.
This is where counties get their zoning authority. Most approaches to regulating CAFO’s occur in the zoning code. Another way to approach the issue is from the health code, and this appears to be the direction that St. Joseph County’s new CAFO regulations take. Last night, the County Board of Health unanimously approved the new ordinances:
The ordinance would also set up performance standards for CAFOs to prevent pollution, and would establish an appointed agricultural advisory board to review the measure and recommend changes as needed, Nelson said.
Link (South Bend Tribune).
One key difference here is that a change in the zoning code has no impact on existing operations, but a change in the health code, can restrict ongoing operations. So (at least according to the story) the setback limits would not effect ongoing operations, but the performance standards would.
December 9th, 2006 08:11
The proposed CAFO Ordinance for St. Joe County will take time to enact, leaving a gap through which IDEM could fast track their permitting process.Recent growth in CAFO applications reflect a knowledge of this fact. This situation will bear watching. The ordinance itself reflects degrees of interests of both pro- and anti-CAFO factions…a compromise….but this ounce of prevention may save a future pound of cure.