This text of Iowa § 459.305 (Master matrix) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
1.The department shall adopt rules for the development and use of a master matrix. The
purpose of the master matrix is to provide a comprehensive assessment mechanism in order
to produce a statistically verifiable basis for determining whether to approve or disapprove
an application for the construction, including expansion, of a confinement feeding operation
structure requiring a permit pursuant to section 459.303.
a.The master matrix shall be used to establish conditions for the construction of a
confinement feeding operation structure and for the implementation of manure management
practices, which conditions shall be included in the approval of the construction permit or
the original manure management plan as applicable. The master matrix shall be used to
determine all of the followi
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1. The department shall adopt rules for the development and use of a master matrix. The
purpose of the master matrix is to provide a comprehensive assessment mechanism in order
to produce a statistically verifiable basis for determining whether to approve or disapprove
an application for the construction, including expansion, of a confinement feeding operation
structure requiring a permit pursuant to section 459.303.
a. The master matrix shall be used to establish conditions for the construction of a
confinement feeding operation structure and for the implementation of manure management
practices, which conditions shall be included in the approval of the construction permit or
the original manure management plan as applicable. The master matrix shall be used to
determine all of the following:
(1) The appropriate location to construct a confinement feeding operation structure,
including the proximity and orientation of a proposed confinement feeding operation
structure to objects or locations for which separation distances are required pursuant to
sections 459.202 or 459.204 and 459.310.
(2) The appropriate type of a confinement feeding operation structure required to be
constructed, including the type and size of the manure storage structure, or the installation
of a related pollution-control device.
b. The master matrix shall be designed to produce quantifiable results based on the
scoring of objective criteria according to an established value scale. Each criterion shall be
assigned points corresponding to the value scale. The master matrix shall consider risks
and factors mitigating risks if the confinement feeding operation structure were constructed
according to the application.
c. The master matrix may be a computer model. However, the master matrix must be a
practical tool for use by persons when completing applications and by persons when scoring
applications. To every extent feasible, the master matrix shall include criteria presented in
the form of questions that may be readily scored according to ascertainable data and upon
which reasonable persons familiar with the location of a proposed construction site would
not ordinarily disagree.
2. The master matrix shall include criteria valuing environmental and community
impacts for use by county boards of supervisors and the department. The master matrix shall
include definite point selections for all criteria provided in the master matrix. The master
matrix shall provide only for scoring of positive points and shall not provide for deduction of
points. The master matrix shall provide for a minimum threshold score required to receive a
satisfactory rating. The master matrix shall be structured to ensure that it feasibly provides
for a satisfactory rating. Criteria valuing environmental impacts shall account for animal
agriculture’s relationship to quality of the environment and the conservation of natural
resources, and may include factors that refer to all of the following:
a. Topography.
b. Surface water drainage characteristics.
c. The suitability of the soils and the hydrology or hydrogeology of the site.
d. The proximity to public use areas and critical public areas.
e. The proximity to water sources, including high-quality water resources.