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InsIde:


News in Brief ............... 2 Around Indiana ............ 3 Communication ........... 7 Consumer Outreach .... 8


A PublicAtion for Voting MeMbers of indiAnA fArM bureAu


Farmers prevail in court decision on ePA livestock rules


— By the aFBF Pr teaM


In a major court vic- tory for the American Farm Bureau Federation and other farm organizations, a unanimous federal court of appeals has ruled that the Environmental Protec- tion Agency cannot require livestock farmers to apply for Clean Water Act permits unless their farms actually discharge manure into U.S. waters. The ruling was welcomed


by the AFBF, National Pork Producers Council and sev- eral other agriculture groups that filed suit against EPA in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. “For the second time, a U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that EPA’s authority is limited by the Clean Wa- ter Act to jurisdiction over only actual discharges to navigable waters, not poten- tial discharges,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “We are pleased that the federal courts have again reined in EPA’s unlawful regulation of livestock operations under the Clean Water Act. The court has affirmed that EPA, like other federal agencies,


can only regulate where it has been authorized by Con- gress to do so.”


In the ruling, issued


March 15, the Fifth Circuit concluded “The CWA pro- vides a comprehensive li- ability scheme and the EPA’s attempt to supplement this scheme is in excess of its statutory authority.” According to the ruling, non-discharging CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) do not need per- mit coverage. In addition, CAFOs cannot face separate liability for “failure to ap- ply” for permit coverage, as EPA’s rule provided. Instead, where a CAFO does not seek permit coverage, the Clean Water Act imposes liability only for discharges that oc- cur from the unpermitted CAFO.


AFBF legal analysts are continuing to review the rul- ing to determine how it will affect livestock farmers and ranchers, including those currently engaged in law- suits with EPA. It’s uncertain at this time what EPA’s next steps will be now that major provisions of its CAFO regu- lations issued in 2003 have been vacated by the court.


“We are pleased that the federal courts have again reined in


EPA’s unlawful regulation of live- stock operations under the Clean Water Act.”


Indiana Farm Bureau P.O. Box 1290


Indianapolis, IN 46206


Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage


P A I D Huntington, IN


Permit NO. 832


APRIL 4, 2011 Issue No. 009


Freshman legislators are an im- portant audience that need help coming up to speed on the ag issues facing their constituents. On March 9, the American Farm Bureau Federation held a special reception for new lawmakers in the House Ag Committee room. Indiana Farm Bureau officers Don Villwock, Randy Kron and Isabella Chism took the oppor- tunity to spend some quality face time with Indiana’s new members, including 8th


District


Rep. Larry Bucshon (pictured with Villwock). Indiana has four new representatives: Bucschon; Marlin Stutzman, 3rd Todd Young, 9th Rokita, 4th


District; District; and Todd District. Photo cour- tesy of AFBF


Budget hearings begin despite standoff in the House


—By Kathleen M. Dutro PuBlic relations teaM


Like almost everything


else having to do with the 2011 General Assembly, the House Democrats’ walkout is affecting the biennial bud- get process as well. In a normal budget year,


the House would pass a budget during the first half of the session and send it to the Senate where it would be as- signed to the Appropriations Committee. Appropriations would then use the House- passed bill as the basis of its deliberations on the budget, said Bob Kraft, IFB state gov- ernment relations director. But this year, explained


Katrina Hall, IFB tax and lo- cal government specialist, while the House Ways & Means Committee passed a bill, that’s as far as it got. With time slipping away and no House-passed budget to work with, Senate President pro tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, and Appropriations Committee Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, decid- ed to begin the process any- way. Kenley’s committee is using the budget bill that was passed out of House Ways & Means as its starting point. Adjustments can then


be made when the House Democrats return – as of The Hoosier Farmer’s March 28


press date, the walkout was expected to end that evening. Farm Bureau is closely fol-


lowing the status of several issues, including the school tuition support formula and local option income taxes. “The governor and the


General Assembly have talked about no more cuts to education funding after the cuts made last year,” Hall said. However, she ex- plained, proposed changes in the formula could result in funding changes for some schools. “Some rural schools are


losing a lot of money – some are not,” she said. To find out more about your particular district, go to the House Republican Caucus’ web- site, www.in.gov/legislative/ house_republicans/, and click on the link “2012 and 2013 School Formula Simu- lation” found in the box that runs along the right side of the page. According to the Indiana


Rural Schools Association, the 71 schools it represents would lose a total of $17 million over the biennium if the formula is altered as sug- gested. Local option income taxes


– commonly known as LOIT – will also be affected by the new budget, Hall said. Due to lag time between collec- tions and distributions to


counties, the state has since 2008 apparently given the counties $607 million more than they should have re- ceived. The question is how quickly the counties will be required to pay that back. The budget passed by Ways & Means calls for counties to pay back about $200 mil- lion per year for three years, which comes out to a 15 percent reduction in avail- able money, and that’s on top of the 15 percent reduc- tion the counties already experienced in 2011. “This doesn’t just affect


county government,” Hall explained. “It affects every other unit of government except schools,” on which it should have a negligible effect. Other legislative priori-


ties include funding for Pur- due Extension, the Indiana Board of Animal Health, the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Purdue, Clean Water Indiana and the Soil & Water Conservation District program, and for the state to continue to dedicate a por- tion of gaming taxes to the equine development fund. For Extension and re-


search, Hall said, the gover- nor’s budget had eliminated about $2 million in funding, but the Ways & Means bill had restored $1 million in funding.


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