§ 459.102 — Definitions

Iowa § 459.102

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title XI: NATURAL RESOURCES
• Ch. 459: ANIMAL AGRICULTURE COMPLIANCE ACT

Text

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. “Aerobic structure” means an animal feeding operation structure other than an egg
washwater storage structure which employs bacterial action which is maintained by the
utilization of air or oxygen and which includes aeration equipment.
2. “Anaerobic digester system” means a manure storage structure that is covered, if
the primary function of the manure storage structure is to process manure by employing
environmental conditions including bacteria to break down organic matter in the absence of
oxygen, and is used for producing, collecting, and utilizing a biogas.
3. “Anaerobic lagoon” means an unformed manure storage structure, if the primary
function of the structure is to store and stabilize manure, the structure is designed to receive
manure on a regular basis, and the structure’s design waste loading rates provide that the
predominant biological activity is anaerobic. An anaerobic lagoon does not include any of
the following:
a. A settled open feedlot effluent basin as defined in section 459A.102.
b. An anaerobic treatment system that includes collection and treatment facilities for all
off gases.
4. “Animal” means cattle, swine, horses, sheep, chickens, turkeys, or fish.
5. “Animal feeding operation” means a lot, yard, corral, building, or other area in which
animals are confined and fed and maintained for forty-five days or more in any twelve-month
period, and all structures used for the storage of manure from animals in the operation.
Except as required for a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit required
pursuant to the federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. ch. 26, as amended, an animal
feeding operation does not include a livestock market.
6. “Animal feeding operation structure” means a confinement building, manure storage

structure,drybeddedconfinementfeedingoperationstructureasdefinedinsection459B.102,
or egg washwater storage structure.
7. “Animal unit” means a unit of measurement based upon the product of multiplying the
number of animals of each category by a special equivalency factor as follows:
a. Slaughter or feeder cattle ........................................... 1.000
b. Immature dairy cattle .................................................. 1.000
c. Mature dairy cattle ....................................................... 1.400
d. Butcher or breeding swine weighing
more than fifty-five pounds ................................................... 0.400
e. Swine weighing fifteen pounds or more
but not more than fifty-five pounds ...................................... 0.100
f. Sheep or lambs ............................................................. 0.100
g. Horses ........................................................................... 2.000
h. Turkeys weighing one hundred twelve
ounces or more ...................................................................... 0.018
i. Turkeys weighing less than one hundred
twelve ounces ......................................................................... 0.0085
j. Chickens weighing forty-eight ounces or
more ........................................................................................ 0.010
k. Chickens weighing less than forty-eight
ounces ..................................................................................... 0.0025
l. Fish weighing twenty-five
grams or more......................................................................... 0.001
m. Fish weighing less
than twenty-five grams........................................................... 0.00006
8. “Animal unit capacity” means a measurement used to determine the maximum number
of animal units that may be maintained as part of an animal feeding operation at any one
time, including as provided in sections 459.201 and 459.301.
9. “Animal weight capacity” means the product of multiplying the maximum number of
animals which the owner or operator confines in an animal feeding operation at any one time
by the average weight during a production cycle.
10. “Cemetery” means a space held for the purpose of permanent burial, entombment, or
interment of human remains that is owned or managed by a political subdivision or private
entity, or a cemetery regulated pursuant to chapter 523I. However, “cemetery” does not
include a pioneer cemetery as defined in section 331.325.
11. “Commercial enterprise” means a building which is used as a part of a business that
manufactures goods, delivers services, or sells goods or services, which is customarily and
regularly used by the general public during the entire calendar year and which is connected
to electric, water, and sewer systems. A commercial enterprise does not include a farm
operation.
12. “Commercial manure service” means a sole proprietor or business association as
defined in section 202B.102, engaged in the business of transporting, handling, storing, or
applying manure for a fee.
13. “Commercialmanureservicerepresentative”meansanaturalpersonwhoisanyofthe
following:
a. A manager of a commercial manure service. As used in this paragraph a “manager” is
a person who is actively involved in the operation of a commercial manure service and takes
an important part in making management decisions substantially contributing to or affecting
the success of the commercial manure service.
b. An employee, agent, or contractor of a commercial manure service, if the person is
engaged in transporting, handling, storing, or applying manure on behalf of the commercial
manure service.
14. “Commission” means the environmental protection commission created pursuant to
section 455A.6.
15. “Confinement feeding operation” means an animal feeding operation in which animals
are confined to areas which are totally roofed.

16. “Confinement feeding operation building” or “confinement building” means a building
used in conjunction with a confinement feeding operation to house animals.
17. “Confinement feeding operation structure” means an animal feeding operation
structure that is part of a confinement feeding operation.
18. “Confinement site manure applicator” means a person, other than a commercial
manure service or a commercial manure service representative, who applies manure on land
if the manure originates from a manure storage structure.
19. “Covered” means organic or inorganic material placed upon an animal feeding
operation structure used to store manure as provided by rules adopted by the department
after receiving recommendations which shall be submitted to the department by the college
of agriculture and life sciences at Iowa state university of science and technology.
20. “Critical public area” means land as designated by the department pursuant to rules
adopted pursuant to chapter 17A, if all of the following apply:
a. The land is part of a public park, preserve, or recreation area that is owned or managed
by the federal government; by the department, including under chapter 461A or 465C; or by
a political subdivision.
b. Thelandhasauniquescenic,cultural,archaeological,scientific,orhistoricsignificance
or contains a rare or valuable ecological system.
21. “Department” means the department of natural resources created pursuant to section
455A.2.
22. “Designated area” means a known sinkhole, a cistern, an abandoned well, an
unplugged agricultural drainage well, an agricultural drainage well surface inlet, a drinking
water well, a designated wetland, or a water source. However, “designated area” does not
include a terrace tile inlet or a surface tile inlet other than an agricultural drainage well
surface tile inlet.
23. “Designated wetland” means land designated as a protected wetland by the United
States department of the interior or the department of natural resources, including but not
limited to a protected wetland as defined in section 456B.1, if the land is owned and managed
by the federal government or the department of natural resources. However, a designated
wetland does not include land where an agricultural drainage well has been plugged causing
a temporary wetland or land within a drainage district or levee district.
24. “Director” means the director of the department of natural resources.
25. “Document” means any form required to be processed by the department under this
chapter regulating animal feeding operations, including but not limited to applications or
related materials for permits as provided in section 459.303, manure management plans
as provided in section 459.312, comment or evaluation by a county board of supervisors
considering an application for a construction permit, the department’s analysis of the
application including using and responding to a master matrix pursuant to section 459.304,
and notices required under those sections.
26. “Dry manure” means manure which meets all of the following conditions:
a. The manure does not flow perceptibly under pressure.
b. The manure is not capable of being transported through a mechanical pumping device
designed to move a liquid.
c. The constituent molecules of the manure do not flow freely among themselves but may
show a tendency to separate under stress.
27. “Earthenmanurestoragebasin”meansanearthencavity,eithercoveredoruncovered,
which, on a regular basis, receives waste discharges from a confinement feeding operation if
accumulated wastes from the basin are completely removed at least once each year.
28. “Educational institution” means a building in which an organized course of study or
training is offered to students enrolled in kindergarten through grade twelve and served by
local school districts, accredited or approved nonpublic schools, area education agencies,
community colleges, institutions of higher education under the control of the state board of
regents, and accredited independent colleges and universities.
29. “Egg washwater storage structure” means an aerobic or anaerobic structure used to
store the wastewater resulting from the washing and in-shell packaging of eggs.

30. “Family member” means a person related to another person as parent, grandparent,
child, grandchild, sibling, or a spouse of such a related person.
31. “Formedmanurestoragestructure”meansacoveredoruncoveredimpoundmentused
to store manure from an animal feeding operation, which has walls and a floor constructed
of concrete, concrete block, wood, steel, or similar materials.
32. “Frozen ground” means soil that is impenetrable due to frozen soil moisture but does
not include soil that is only frozen to a depth of two inches or less.
33. “High-quality water resource” means that part of a water source or wetland that the
department has designated as any of the following:
a. A high-quality water (Class “HQ”) or a high-quality resource water (Class “HQR”)
according to 567 IAC ch. 61, in effect on January 1, 2001.
b. A protected water area system, according to a state plan adopted by the department in
effect on January 1, 2001.
34. “Indemnity fee” means a fee provided in section 459.502 or 459.503.
35. “Karst terrain” means land having karst formations that exhibit surface and
subterranean features of a type produced by the dissolution of limestone, dolomite, or other
soluble rock and characterized by closed depressions, sinkholes, or caves.
36. “Liquid manure” means manure that meets all of the following requirements:
a. It flows perceptibly under pressure.
b. It is capable of being transported through a mechanical pumping device designated to
move a liquid.
c. Its constituent molecules flow freely among themselves and show the tendency to
separate under stress.
37. “Livestock market” means any place where animals are assembled from two or more
sources for public auction, private sale, or on a commission basis, which is under state or
federal supervision, including a livestock sale barn or auction market, if such animals are
kept for ten days or less.
38. “Long-term stockpile location” means an area where a person stockpiles manure for
more than six months in any two-year period.
39. “Major water source” means a water source that is a lake, reservoir, river, or stream
located within the territorial limits of the state, or any marginal river area adjacent to the
state, if the water source is capable of supporting a floating vessel capable of carrying one or
more persons during a total of a six-month period in one out of ten years, excluding periods
of flooding, which has been identified by rules adopted by the commission.
40. “Manure” means animal excreta or other commonly associated wastes of animals,
including but not limited to bedding, litter, or feed losses.
41. “Manure storage structure” means a formed manure storage structure or an unformed
manure storage structure.
a. A manure storage structure includes a dry bedded manure storage structure as defined
in section 459B.102.
b. A manure storage structure does not include an egg washwater storage structure.
42. “One hundred year floodplain” means the land adjacent to a major water source,
if there is at least a one percent chance that the land will be inundated in any one year,
according to calculations adopted by rules adopted pursuant to section 459.103. In making
the calculations, the department shall consider available maps or data compiled by the
federal emergency management agency.
43. “Permittee” means a person who, pursuant to section 459.303, obtains a permit for the
construction of a manure storage structure, or a confinement feeding operation, if a manure
storage structure is connected to the confinement feeding operation.
44. “Professional engineer” means a person engaged in the practice of engineering as
defined in section 542B.2 who is issued a certificate of licensure as a professional engineer
pursuant to section 542B.17.
45. “Publicthoroughfare”meansaroad, street, orbridgethatisconstructedormaintained
by the state or a political subdivision.
46. “Public use area” means any of the following:
a. A portion of land owned by the United States, the state, or a political subdivision with

facilities which attract the public to congregate and remain in the area for significant periods
of time, as provided by rules which shall be adopted by the department pursuant to chapter
17A.
b. A cemetery.
47. “Qualified confinement feeding operation” means a confinement feeding operation
having an animal unit capacity of any of the following:
a. For a confinement feeding operation maintaining animals other than swine as part of
a farrowing and gestating operation or farrow-to-finish operation or cattle as part of a cattle
operation, five thousand three hundred thirty-three or more animal units.
b. (1) For a confinement feeding operation maintaining swine as part of a farrowing and
gestating operation, two thousand five hundred or more animal units.
(2) In calculating the animal unit capacity of a confinement feeding operation under
subparagraph (1), an animal unit does not include replacement breeding swine, if all of the
following apply:
(a) The replacement breeding swine are raised at the confinement feeding operation.
(b) The replacement breeding swine are used in the farrowing and gestating operation.
(3) The method of calculating animal units under subparagraph (2) shall only be used for
purposes of determining whether a confinement feeding operation is a qualified confinement
feeding operation subject to section 459.206.
c. For a confinement feeding operation maintaining swine as part of a swine
farrow-to-finish operation, five thousand four hundred or more animal units.
d. For a confinement feeding operation maintaining cattle, eight thousand five hundred
or more animal units.
48. “Qualified stockpile cover” means a barrier impermeable to precipitation that is used
to protect a stockpile from precipitation.
49. “Qualified stockpile structure” means any of the following:
a. A building.
b. A roofed structure other than a building that is all of the following:
(1) Impermeable to precipitation.
(2) Constructed using wood, steel, aluminum, vinyl, plastic, or other similar materials.
(3) Constructedwithwallsorothermeanstopreventprecipitation-inducedsurfacerunoff
from contacting the stockpile.
50. “Religious institution” means a building in which an active congregation is devoted to
worship.
51. “Restricted spray irrigation equipment” means spray irrigation equipment which
disperses manure through an orifice at a maximum pressure of eighty pounds per square
inch or more.
52. “Small animal feeding operation” means an animal feeding operation which has an
animal unit capacity of five hundred or fewer animal units.
53. “Snowcoveredground”meanssoilcoveredbyoneinchormoreofsnoworsoilcovered
by one-half inch or more of ice.
54. “Spray irrigation equipment” means mechanical equipment used for the aerial
application of manure, if the equipment receives manure from a manure storage structure
during application via a pipe or hose connected to the structure, and includes a type of
equipment customarily used for the aerial application of water to aid the growing of general
farm crops.
55. “Stockpile” means dry manure originating from a confinement feeding operation that
is stored at a particular location outside a manure storage structure.
56. “Stockpile dry manure” means to create or add to a stockpile.
57. “Surfacewaterdraintileintake” means an opening to a drain tile which allows surface
water to enter the drain tile without filtration through the soil profile.
58. “Swine farrow-to-finish operation” means a confinement feeding operation in which
porcine animals are produced and in which a primary portion of the phases of the production
cycle are conducted at one confinement feeding operation. Phases of the production cycle
include but are not limited to gestation, farrowing, growing, and finishing.
59. “Unformed manure storage structure” means a covered or uncovered impoundment

used to store manure, other than a formed manure storage structure, which includes an
anaerobic lagoon, aerobic structure, or earthen manure storage basin.
60. “Water of the state” means the same as defined in section 455B.171.
61. “Water source” means a lake, river, reservoir, creek, stream, ditch, or other body of
water or channel having definite banks and a bed with water flow, except lakes or ponds
without outlet to which only one landowner is riparian.