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State Representative Jim Buchy
Consolidating
Manure Management will Cut Down on Bureaucratic Red Tape
Sometimes, government has a tendency of continuing to do things the
same way year after year. Enough years go by, and people stop asking
questions because, “That’s just the way it’s done.”
That is why I was happy to see House Bill 490 be introduced in the Ohio
House of Representatives. One component of House Bill 490 changes some
of the regulatory oversight practices of how manure is handled in Ohio.
Specifically, the bill transfers the oversight of manure control from
the Ohio Department of Natural Resources via the local Division of Soil
and Water Conservation to the Ohio Department of Agriculture except for
distressed watersheds such as, Grand Lake St. Marys. Why is that
important? As most people know, manure is a valuable asset for the
purpose of fertilizing fields. But for obvious reasons, it is critical
that it be applied and contained in a proper way, so as to not
infiltrate and affect our water supply.
This issue will strongly impact rural areas of the state like in
western Ohio. The 84th House District is the largest
agriculture-producing district in the state, including heavy livestock
and poultry production.
The largest agricultural operations—the permitted, concentrated
animal-feeding operations—obviously already have to have strict control
over the application of manure. This legislation recognizes the quality
management of manure production by the Ohio Department of Agriculture
in the Division of Livestock and Environmental Permitting as it relates
to large farms. Under the new law management of manure issues
will be transferred to the Ohio Department of Agriculture for farms of
all sizes with the exception of those located in a distressed watershed.
In western Ohio, we are very familiar with manure management because of
the impact it has had on area lakes. In the Grand Lake St. Marys
Watershed the local Division of Soil and Water Conservation has
developed a working relationship with the local agricultural community
and in this volatile watershed a decision was made to allow those
relationships to continue to work. For that reason every place in
Ohio except for the Grand Lake St. Marys Watershed in the future will
see all manure handling issues dealt with by the experts at the Ohio
Department of Agriculture.
Moving control of manure management in agriculture to the Ohio
Department of Agriculture will reduce bureaucracy by eliminating some
of the overlap that had previously existed in the system. Now, this
issue, with the exception of distressed watersheds, will be handled by
the people who have the utmost expertise and experience needed to make
sure manure management in the state of Ohio is run smoothly,
efficiently and safely.
To provide feedback on the issues of the day, please take an online
survey at tinyurl.com/buchymay2014
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