Legislature expected to pass highly contested poultry bill Thursday
Now titled SB 1424, the Senate passed the poultry litter bill late Wednesday
A bill protecting the poultry industry from future lawsuits passed the Oklahoma Senate on a 31–13 vote Wednesday evening. It could pass the House in the last hours of the legislative session.
The Conference Committee version of Senate Bill 1424 includes the language of the highly contested House Bill 4118, which fell silent after it went to the Agriculture Conference Committee. SB 1424 previously contained only an adjustment to fines for poultry waste handling violations.
Public notice of the language change was evident only to those most closely involved over the past two weeks. In a two–minute audio meeting posted on the Oklahoma Legislature website Tuesday, committee chairman Dell Kerbs, R-Shawnee, said the bill’s new version contains “language agreed upon by the Senate, the industry, and the House.”
“This bill is intended to stop some of the frivolous lawsuits that are happening in the industry when they are playing by all the rules and doing everything that they’re supposed to be doing under law. So we want to make sure we help our industry folks out but our industry also knows that if they violate any of those rules or those policies that they can incur a $10,000 fine per day,” he said.
The bill addresses violations of the Oklahoma Registered Poultry Feeding Operations Act with a fee structure, including being found guilty of a misdemeanor and a fine not to exceed $1,000. Those who are found guilty of failing “to take such action as may be reasonable and necessary to avoid pollution” of waterbodies, except as otherwise provided by law, or violates rules set by the State Board of Agriculture to prevent pollution from poultry feeding operations would, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable for each violation by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $10,000, imprisonment for not more than six months or both.
The bill adds that the Ag Department “may take one or more of the following actions,” including fines for noncompliance with administrative actions such as late paperwork or a penalty of $10,000 per day for noncompliance with provisions of the nutrient management plan that led to the pollution of any water body.
The bill directs any fines collected to fund future enforcement efforts.
It also defines a 30-day period for producers and integrators to correct “flagrant” issues. Still, the Department of Agriculture can extend that period or give the producer 90 days before terminating their integrator-producer contract.
HB 4118 now in SB1424
The most contentious portion of the bill, previously housed in HB 4118 and protested by the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes, the City of Tulsa, several other municipalities, multiple conservation groups, and small-operation farmers, removes the industry from any civil or criminal reliability for poultry litter used as fertilizer under a current Nutrient Management Plan.
In discussing the bill on the Senate floor Wednesday, bill co-author Sen. Brent Howard, R-Altus, emphasized the legislation specifically states that anyone not in compliance with a nutrient management plan is not protected. He credited nutrient management plans with improving water quality over the past decade.
He characterized the bill as a “carrot and stick” approach that protects responsible operators and promises to punish those who fail to follow the rules.
Groups protesting the bill cite U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frizzell’s findings in the Oklahoma lawsuit against the poultry industry that nutrient management plans allow the application of phosphorus at a level far above what plants can use. This leads to high phosphorus concentrations collecting in the soil and increased pollution levels during high rain and flood events, which have become more frequent.
Opposing groups cite concerns about future water quality and the state forfeiting the ability of the Nations, municipalities, or the state to seek relief from the industry.
Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman, told Senate members Wednesday that she grew up around poultry operations and knew of water quality issues firsthand. She said maintaining a status quo in pollution management falls short when pollution measures should be improved. She cited the lawsuit pending in Frizzell’s court and echoed critics’ worries.
“People supporting this bill are the same people that were on the other side of a lawsuit, and just as we about to hold them accountable, they are using their political power to change the rules, and that makes me nervous,” she said.
