This bill amends Iowa's animal feeding operations regulations to include shellfish alongside existing categories of animals such as cattle, swine, and fish. Specifically, it updates the definition of "animal" to encompass shellfish and introduces new weight-based classifications for shellfish, assigning them equivalency factors for calculating animal units. Shellfish weighing 25 grams or more are assigned an equivalency of 0.001 animal units, while those weighing less than 25 grams are assigned 0.00006 animal units.

Additionally, the bill allows individuals who exclusively confine shellfish as part of a confinement feeding operation to opt for compliance with general water quality permitting requirements instead of the more stringent confinement feeding operation regulations. This change aims to streamline the regulatory process for shellfish operations while maintaining necessary environmental protections. The bill also outlines penalties for violations of air and water quality regulations, maintaining the existing civil penalty structure for non-compliance.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 459.102, 459.320