Idaho senator advances bill to expand feedlot testimony
Currently only property owners within one mile of proposed lot can testify on issue
By SIMON SHIFRIN
Associated Press
Friday, February 22, 2008 12:57 PM PST
BOISE — A bill that would expand the pool of those who may testify at public hearings on proposed feedlot operations advanced out of a Senate committee on Thursday.
The measure would give any adversely affected property owner the right to speak at a hearing on a proposed confined animal feeding operation. Current law grants that right only to property owners within a one-mile radius of a proposed feedlot, though counties can expand that area if they choose.
Supporters of the bill say the restriction is the only example in Idaho law where people’s right to speak before public officials is limited by a geographic boundary.
Senate Minority Leader Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, told lawmakers on the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee it’s clear that concerns about feedlots extend well beyond a mile. ‘‘This provision in my view has no place in an open, democratic process and serves nobody but a narrow special interest,’’ he said.
The same measure passed the Senate 30-4 last year but never received a hearing in the House.
The bill was largely inspired last year by a 13,000-dairy cow feedlot that was proposed for a Jerome County site about 11⁄2 miles from the Minidoka Internment National Monument, a World War II-era prison camp for Japanese Americans that has been preserved.
In October, county commissioners voted 2-1 against that project. The developers are now appealing the decision in court.
Dean Diamond, a neighbor of the proposed feedlot in Jerome County, told lawmakers on Thursday that county officials had used the state law to limit testimony from people outside the one-mile boundary.
For example, Diamond was allowed to testify, while his parents — who live on a farm just over a mile away — were not.
‘‘I think a person should be able to do what he wants on his property, but the moment he affects me I should at least have a say,’’ Diamond said. ‘‘If it’s that controversial of an issue, these people need to be heard.’’
Opponents of the bill noted that the law allows counties to disregard the one-mile boundary and accept comments from a wider audience.
They said the question of who speaks at hearings should remain a local decision.
Sen. Jeff Siddoway, R-Terreton, one of the opponents in the Senate last year, raised that concern again on Thursday.
‘‘If the Jerome County commissioners decide they’re only going to take testimony from people within a one-mile radius, I would assume the Jerome County commissioners would have the authority to make that determination,’’ he said.
The committee voted to send the bill to the Senate floor. Siddoway was the only dissenting vote.
Stennett told The Associated Press after the hearing that he’s optimistic the bill will at least get a hearing from the House this year.
‘‘We hope to put a little bit more effort and emphasis on that this year,’’ he said.
Not even the dairy industry spoke against the measure on Thursday. Bob Naerebout, a lobbyist with the Idaho Dairymen’s Association, said his group wasn’t opposed to the proposal.
He said, though, that it might be time to have the state regulate feedlots, which could help prevent debates over local control and complications from a patchwork of county ordinances.
