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Under the recently adopted livestock facility siting law, local governments must use state standards if they want to regulate the siting or expansion of livestock operations. In most cases, local governments may only apply the state siting standards when making a decision about a local siting application. In some instances, however, local governments may be able to adopt more stringent standards if the more stringent standard is necessary to protect public health and safety.

In order to adopt a more stringent standard, a local government is required to develop scientifically defensible findings of fact to show that the standard is necessary to protect public health and safety. Such findings might include a county specific study or a report showing the need for the more stringent standard. The standard must be adopted by local ordinance and subsequent decisions must be supported by facts on a case-by-case basis. When deciding whether to pursue the adoption of a more stringent standard, local governments should work closely with their corporation counsel.

One situation in which a more stringent standard was thought to be necessary to protect public health or safety was identified in a legal opinion on this topic prepared for the Wisconsin Counties Association. In this example, increased landspreading precautions to protect private and public drinking water wells were supported by scientifically defensible findings of fact based on local soil and geologic conditions. Other situations where local governments commonly consider more stringent requirements include locally-specific nutrient management requirements, such as winter spreading restrictions, or more stringent standards for overlay zones.

Any standards that are more stringent than the state standards must be adopted into the local ordinance prior to receiving a siting application that must meet the more stringent standard. If a more stringent standard is adopted into local ordinance, it becomes part of the siting application. If an applicant does not meet the standard, the application can be denied. The applicant retains the right to appeal the decision to the Livestock Facility Siting Review Board. The Board has the authority to determine if the more stringent standard was adopted properly and for defensible reasons by the local government, and has the right to uphold or overturn the disapproval decision.

The issue of protecting public health and safety is an important consideration under the siting law. As discussed in this article, a local government must be able to show, through scientifically defensible findings of fact, that a more stringent standard is necessary to protect public health or safety. Additionally, if a local government wishes to prohibit or exclude livestock operations of a certain size in an agricultural zone, it must be able to show a public health or safety reason.

For more information on prohibitions or exclusions within an agricultural zone and public health or safety, see http://livestocksiting.wi.gov. For more information on the issue of adopting more stringent standards based upon public health or safety, county officials should contact the Wisconsin Counties Association and town officials should contact the Wisconsin Towns Association.

For more information contact:
Richard Castelnuovo, Section Chief
WI Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
(608) 224-4625

Or visit DATCP�s Livestock Facility Siting website