South Carolina General Assembly
111th Session, 1995-1996

Bill 3446


                    Current Status

Bill Number:                    3446
Ratification Number:            533
Act Number:                     460
Type of Legislation:            General Bill GB
Introducing Body:               House
Introduced Date:                19950201
Primary Sponsor:                Sharpe 
All Sponsors:                   Sharpe 
Drafted Document Number:        pfm\7125bdw.95
Companion Bill Number:          460
Date Bill Passed both Bodies:   19960613
Date of Last Amendment:         19960613
Governor's Action:              S
Date of Governor's Action:      19960703
Subject:                        Agricultural facilities and
                                operations

History



Body    Date      Action Description                       Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  _______________________________________  _______ ____________

------  19960715  Act No. A460
------  19960703  Signed by Governor
------  19960626  Ratified R533
Senate  19960613  Ordered enrolled for ratification
Senate  19960613  Free Conference Committee Report         89 SFCC
                  adopted
Senate  19960613  Free Conference Powers granted,          89 SFCC Leventis
                  appointed Senators to Committee                  Martin
                  of Free Conference                               Lander
Senate  19960612  Conference powers granted,               88 SCC  Leventis
                  appointed Senators to Committee                  Martin
                  of Conference                                    Lander
House   19960612  Free Conference Committee Report         99 HFCC
                  adopted
House   19960612  Free Conference Powers granted,          99 HFCC Meacham
                  appointed Reps. to Committee of                  Trotter
                  Free Conference                                  Riser
House   19960612  Conference powers granted,               98 HCC  Meacham
                  appointed Reps. to Committee of                  Trotter
                  Conference                                       Riser
House   19960612  Insists upon amendment
Senate  19960530  Non-concurrence in House amendment
House   19960530  Senate amendments amended,
                  returned to Senate with amendment
House   19960529  Debate adjourned until
                  Thursday, 19960530
House   19960529  Reconsidered vote whereby
                  Senate amendments were amended
House   19960529  Senate amendments amended,
                  returned to Senate with amendment
House   19960528  Debate adjourned on Senate
                  amendments until Wednesday, 
                  19960529
House   19960528  Reconsidered vote whereby
                  the Bill was continued
House   19960523  Continued the Bill
Senate  19960516  Read third time, returned to House
                  with amendment
Senate  19960515  Unanimous consent for third
                  reading on Thursday, 19960516
Senate  19960515  Amended, read second time, 
                  ordered to third reading 
                  with notice of general amendments
Senate  19960306  Committee report: majority               01 SANR
                  favorable, with amendment,
                  minority unfavorable
Senate  19960110  Recommitted to Committee,                01 SANR
                  retaining its place on the Calendar
Senate  19950524  Recalled from Committee,                 01 SANR
                  placed on the Calendar
Senate  19950505  Introduced, read first time,             01 SANR
                  referred to Committee
House   19950504  Read third time, sent to Senate
House   19950503  Amended, read second time
House   19950426  Objection by Representative                      Elliott
                                                                   R. Smith
                                                                   Huff
                                                                   Meacham
                                                                   Harwell
                                                                   Askins
                                                                   Wilder
House   19950426  Objection withdrawn by Representative            Anderson
House   19950329  Objection by Representative                      Scott
                                                                   Neal
                                                                   Canty
                                                                   Rogers
                                                                   Howard
                                                                   Lloyd
                                                                   Shissias
                                                                   McMahand
                                                                   Anderson
House   19950328  Debate adjourned until
                  Wednesday, 19950329
House   19950322  Committee report: Favorable with         20 HANR
                  amendment
House   19950201  Introduced, read first time,             20 HANR
                  referred to Committee

View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A460, R533, H3446)

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 47, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO ANIMALS, LIVESTOCK, AND POULTRY, BY ADDING CHAPTER 20 SO AS TO ENACT PROVISIONS TO REGULATE CONFINED SWINE FEEDING OPERATIONS, INCLUDING PROVISIONS FOR, AMONG OTHER THINGS, FEES, PUNISHMENT FOR VIOLATIONS OF THIS CHAPTER, AND THE PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS; TO AMEND SECTION 46-45-30, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO NUISANCE SUITS RELATED TO AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT NO ESTABLISHED AGRICULTURAL FACILITY OR ANY AGRICULTURAL OPERATION AT AN ESTABLISHED AGRICULTURAL FACILITY IS OR MAY BECOME A NUISANCE, PRIVATE OR PUBLIC, BY ANY CHANGED CONDITIONS IN OR ABOUT THE LOCALITY OF THE FACILITY OR OPERATION, AND TO DELETE CERTAIN LANGUAGE; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL TO PROMULGATE REGULATIONS REGARDING CONFINED SWINE FEEDING OPERATIONS, WHICH ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS ARE SEPARATE AND DISTINCT FROM THE REGULATIONS PROMULGATED PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 20, TITLE 47; AND TO PROVIDE THAT WHEN THESE "SEPARATE AND DISTINCT" OR "ADDITIONAL" REGULATIONS ARE APPROVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, OR TAKE EFFECT WITHOUT ACTION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, VARIOUS PROVISIONS CONTAINED IN THIS ACT AND CERTAIN REGULATIONS ARE REPEALED.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Provisions enacted for feeding operations

SECTION 1. Title 47 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"CHAPTER 20

Confined Swine Feeding Operations

Section 47-20-10. As used in this chapter:

(1) `Agricultural facility' means a lot, building, or structure which is used for the commercial production of swine in an animal feeding operation.

(2) `Animal' means a domesticated animal belonging to the porcine species.

(3) `Animal feeding operation' means an agricultural facility where animals are confined and fed or maintained for a total of forty-five days or more in a twelve-month period and crops, vegetative, forage growth, or post-harvest residues are not sustained in the normal growing season over any portion of the lot or facility. Structures used for the storage of animal waste from animals in the operation also are part of the animal feeding operation. Two or more animal feeding operations under common ownership or management are considered to be a single animal feeding operation if they are adjacent or utilize a common system for animal waste storage.

(4) `Animal waste' means animal excreta or other commonly associated organic animal wastes including, but not limited to, bedding, litter, feed losses, or water mixed with the waste.

(5) `Annual pollutant loading rate' means the maximum amount of a pollutant that can be applied to a unit area of a waste utilization area during a three hundred sixty-five-day period.

(6) `Cumulative pollutant loading rate' means the maximum amount of a pollutant that can be applied to an area of land.

(7) `Department' means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

(8) `Ephemeral stream' means a stream that flows only in direct response to rainfall or snowmelt in which discrete periods of flow persist no more than twenty-nine consecutive days per event.

(9) `Intermittent stream' means a stream that generally has a defined natural water course which does not flow year-round but flows beyond periods of rainfall or snowmelt.

(10) `Lagoon' means an impoundment used in conjunction with an animal feeding operation, the primary function of which is to store or stabilize, or both, organic wastes, wastewater, and contaminated runoff.

(11) `Vector' means a carrier that is capable of transmitting a pathogen from one organism to another including, but not limited to, flies and other insects, rodents, birds, and vermin.

(12) `Waste storage pond' means a structure used for impounding or storing manure, wastewater, and contaminated runoff as a component of an agricultural waste management system. Waste is stored for a specified period of time, one year or less, and then the pond is emptied.

(13) `Waste utilization area' means land on which animal waste is spread as a fertilizer.

(14) `Watershed' means a drainage area contributing to a river, lake, or stream.

(15) `Waters of the State' means lakes, bays, sounds, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, artesian wells, rivers, perennial and navigable streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals, the Atlantic Ocean within the territorial limits of the State, and all other bodies of water, natural or artificial, public or private, inland or coastal, fresh or salt, which are wholly or partially within or bordering the State or within its jurisdiction. This definition does not include ephemeral or intermittent streams. This definition includes wetlands as defined in this section.

(16) `Wetlands' means lands that have a predominance of hydric soil, are inundated or saturated by water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, and, under normal circumstances, do support a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation. Normal circumstances refer to the soil and hydrologic conditions that are normally present without regard to whether the vegetation has been removed. Wetlands must be identified through the confirmation of the three wetlands criteria: hydric soil, hydrology, and hydrophytic vegetation. All three criteria must be met for an area to be identified as wetlands.

Section 47-20-20. (A) All siting requirements for animal feeding operations must be measured from property lines.

(B) After June 30, 1996, these setback limits for new or expanded animal feeding operations which utilize a lagoon or a waste storage pond, or both, apply:

(1) For an animal feeding operation with a capacity of 420,000 to 840,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight at any one time, the minimum separation distance required between a lagoon and a waste storage pond and real property owned by another person is 1,000 feet. The minimum separation distance required between an agricultural facility and real property owned by another person is 1000 feet.

(2) For an animal feeding operation with a capacity of 840,001 to 1,260,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight at any one time, the minimum separation distance required between a lagoon and a waste storage pond and real property owned by another person is 1,250 feet. The minimum separation distance required between an agricultural facility and real property owned by another person is 1000 feet.

(3) For an animal feeding operation with a capacity of 1,260,001 to 1,680,000 pounds of normal production live weight at any one time, the minimum separation distance required between a lagoon and a waste storage pond and real property owned by another person is 1,500 feet. The minimum separation distance required between an agricultural facility and real property owned by another person is 1000 feet.

(4) For animal feeding operations with a capacity of more than 1,680,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight at any one time, the minimum separation distance required between a lagoon and a waste storage pond and real property owned by another person is 1,750 feet. The minimum separation distance between an agricultural facility and real property owned by another person is 1000 feet.

(5) The minimum separation distance between a lagoon and a waste storage pond and a public or private drinking water well is 500 feet.

(6) The minimum separation distance required between a lagoon and a waste storage pond and waters of the State is 1,320 feet (1/4 mile). If the waters of the State are designated Outstanding Resource Waters, Critical Habitat Waters of federally endangered species, or Shellfish Harvesting Waters, the minimum separation distance required between a lagoon and a waste storage pond and waters of the State is 2,640 feet (1/2 mile). A minimum 100-foot vegetative buffer of plants and trees is required. However, if an owner or operator of an animal feeding operation has a Natural Resource Conservation Service employee or a state-certified engineer create a waste management plan design to control the discharge from a failed lagoon so that it will not enter waters of the State and certify that the plan has been implemented as specified, then the minimum separation distance between a lagoon and a waste storage pond and waters of the State is 500 feet.

(7) The minimum separation distance between a lagoon and a waste storage pond constructed of concrete to standards outlined in department regulations and waters of the State is 500 feet. If the waters are designated Outstanding Resource Waters, Critical Habitat Waters of federally endangered species, or Shellfish Harvesting Waters, the minimum separation distance required between a lagoon and a waste storage pond constructed of concrete to standards outlined in department regulations and waters of the State is 1,000 feet. A minimum 100-foot vegetative buffer of plants and trees is required.

(8) If a lagoon or waste storage pond, or both, breaches or fails in any way, the owner or operator of the animal feeding operation immediately must notify the department and the appropriate local government officials.

(C) The minimum separation distance in feet required between a ditch or swale which drains directly into waters of the State and all animal feeding operations is 100 feet.

(D) No new animal feeding operation or expansion of an established animal feeding operation may be located in the 100-year floodplain unless protected from flooding as provided for in regulations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Flood Insurance Program on Floodplain Management. Such construction or expansion must be certified by the department.

(E) Streams or rivers used as surface intake for potable water supply may not be used as a receiving stream outflow from animal feeding operations, and there may not be any direct water linkage or flood facility drainage linkage between the animal feeding operation and a stream or river utilized as a supply of drinking water unless waste is treated to drinking water quality standards.

(F) The setback limits are minimum siting requirements. The department shall promulgate regulations specifying factors that the department shall evaluate in determining whether additional separation distances are required under certain circumstances. These factors include, at a minimum:

(1) proximity to 100-year flood plain;

(2) soil type;

(3) location in watershed;

(4) nutrient sensitivity of receiving waters;

(5) proximity to a State Designated Focus Area; Outstanding Resource Water; Heritage Corridor; Historic Preservation District; state or national park or forest; state or federal research area; and privately-owned wildlife refuge, park, or trust property;

(6) proximity to other point and nonpoint sources; and

(7) slope of the land.

Section 47-20-30. A separation distance requirement as provided in Section 47-20-20(1)-(4) does not apply to an animal feeding operation which is constructed or expanded, if the titleholder of adjoining land to the animal feeding operation executes a written waiver with the title holder of the land where the animal feeding operation is established or proposed to be located, under terms and conditions that the parties negotiate. The written waiver becomes effective only upon the recording of the waiver in the office of the Register of Mesne Conveyances of the county in which the benefitted land is located. The filed waiver precludes enforcement by the State of Section 47-20-20(B)(1)-(4) as it relates to the animal feeding operation and to real property owned by another person.

Section 47-20-40. (A) The department shall promulgate regulations relating to land application rates for animal waste for animal feeding operations of a capacity for more than 420,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight at any one time. These rates must be based on the waste's impact on the environment, animals, and people living in the environment. In developing annual pollutant loading rates and cumulative pollutant loading rates, the department shall consider:

(1) soil type;

(2) type of vegetation growing in land-applied area;

(3) proximity to 100-year flood plain;

(4) location in watershed;

(5) nutrient sensitivity of receiving land and waters;

(6) soil and sediment tests of receiving land and waters;

(7) nutrient, heavy metal, and pollutant content of the waste being applied;

(8) proximity to a State Designated Focus Area; Outstanding Resource Water; Heritage Corridor; Historic Preservation District; state or national park or forest; state or federal research area; and privately-owned wildlife refuge, park, or trust property;

(9) proximity to other point and nonpoint sources;

(10) slope of land;

(11) distance to water table or ground-water aquifer;

(12) timing of waste application to coincide with vegetative cover growth cycle;

(13) timing of harvest of vegetative cover;

(14) hydraulic loading limitations; and

(15) soil assimilative capacity;

(16) type of vegetative cover and its nutrient uptake ability;

(17) method of land application.

(B) The department shall require calibration of spray irrigation equipment.

(C) Waste must not be applied to or discharged onto land surface when the vertical separation between the waste and the water table is less than 1 1/2 feet.

(D) The department shall ensure that owners or operators adhere to land application rates.

Section 47-20-50. The following application rates shall only apply to animal feeding operations with a capacity of more than 420,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight at any one time.

(A) The minimum separation distance in feet required between a waste utilization area and real property owned by another person on which a residence is located is 200 feet from property lines that are within 1,000 feet of the residence. The 200-foot setback is waived with the consent of the owner of the residence; however, the owner may not agree to less than 100 feet from the residence.

(B) The minimum separation distance in feet required between a waste utilization area and waters of the State, ditches, and swales that drain directly into waters of the State is 100 feet.

(C) The minimum separation distance in feet required between a waste utilization area and a public and private drinking water well is 200 feet.

Section 47-20-60. (A) The department shall promulgate regulations governing maximum lagoon size and minimum lagoon size, based on the permitted number of animal units to be maintained at the animal feeding operation. However, no single lagoon may exceed four acres.

(B) Lagoons and waste storage ponds for animal feeding operations with a capacity for more than 420,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight at any one time must be lined with a combination of natural and synthetic material which results in a permeability rating equal to or more protective than that required for human waste lagoons.

(C) The owner or operator of an animal feeding operation shall obtain certification from a licensed engineer or an appropriate Natural Resource Conservation Service employee that the operation's lagoon and waste storage pond were designed, constructed, and installed in accordance with regulatory specifications.

(D) Before the construction of a lagoon and a waste storage pond, the owner or operator shall remove all under-drains that exist from previous agricultural operations.

(E) Waste must not be placed directly in or allowed to come into contact with groundwater. Additionally, the minimum separation distance between the lowest point of the lagoon and a waste storage pond and the highest point of the water table beneath the lagoon is 2 feet, unless adequate provisions have been taken and meet the standards established in regulations promulgated by the department.

(F) The department shall conduct a study of alternative technologies for the treatment of animal waste from animal feeding operations and promulgate regulations governing the use of these alternative treatment technologies. Every five years the department shall review changing technologies relating to the treatment of animal waste and promulgate appropriate regulations as needed. The department shall determine which animal feeding operations are required to use aerobic lagoons or other treatment technology.

(G) The department shall consider the cumulative impacts including, but not limited to, impacts from evaporation, storm water, and other potential and actual point and nonpoint sources of pollution runoff, levels of nutrients or other elements in the soils and nearby waterways, ground-water or aquifer contamination, pathogens or other elements, and the pollution assimilative capacity of the receiving water body before permitting new or expanded animal feeding operations. The department may require alternative waste treatment in watersheds which are nutrient-sensitive.

(H) Disposal of animal carcasses or body parts into waste lagoons is prohibited.

Section 47-20-70. (A) No person may cause, allow, or permit emission into the ambient air of any substance or combination of substances in quantities that an undesirable level of odor is determined to result unless preventive measures of the type set out below are taken to abate or control the emission to the satisfaction of the department. When an odor problem comes to the attention of the department through field surveillance or specific complaints, the department shall determine if the odor is at an undesirable level by considering the character and degree of injury or interference to:

(1) the health or welfare of the people;

(2) plant, animal, or marine life;

(3) property;

(4) enjoyment of life or use of affected property.

(B) The department may require these abatement or control practices:

(1) removal or disposal of odorous materials;

(2) methods in handling and storage of odorous materials that minimize emissions;

(3) prescribed standards in the maintenance of premises to reduce odorous emissions;

(4) best available control technology to reduce odorous emissions.

(C) After determining an undesirable level of odor exists, the department shall require remediation of the undesirable level of odor.

(D) Nothing in this section prohibits an individual or group of persons from bringing a complaint against an animal feeding operation.

Section 47-20-80. (A) The department, in consultation with the State Veterinarian, shall promulgate regulations relating to the control of vectors.

(B) All animal feeding operations shall utilize Best Management Practices as appropriate for the control of vectors and department regulations in order to maximize vector control.

Section 47-20-90. (A) The department shall act on all permits to prevent, so far as reasonably possible considering relevant standards under state and federal laws, an increase in pollution of the waters and air of the State from any new or enlarged sources.

(B) The department also shall act on all permits so as to prevent degradation of water quality due to the cumulative and secondary effects of permit decisions. Cumulative and secondary effects are impacts attributable to the collective effects of a number of animal feeding operations in a defined area and include the effects of additional projects similar to the requested permit in areas available for development in the vicinity. All permit decisions shall ensure that the waste treatment and utilization alternative with the least adverse impact on the environment be utilized. Cumulative and secondary effects shall include, but are not limited to, runoff from land application of animal waste and an animal feeding operation, evaporation and atmospheric deposition of elements, ground-water or aquifer contamination, buildup of elements in the soil, and other potential and actual point and nonpoint sources of pollution in the vicinity.

Section 47-20-100. The department shall establish the amount of an application and annual operation fee in accordance with the Environmental Protection Fund Act, Section 48-2-10 of the 1976 Code, to cover, at a minimum, an annual inspection of all animal feeding operations in the State with a capacity for more than 420,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight at any one time. The annual inspection must include, but is not limited to, an on-site visit, review of the implementation of a waste management plan, review of results of monitoring analysis, annual pollutant loading rates, cumulative pollutant loading rates, and review of all records required by this chapter.

Section 47-20-110. (A) All animal feeding operations established after the effective date of this chapter which require the use of a lagoon and a waste storage pond and which have a capacity for more than 420,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight at any one time are required to install at least one up-gradient and two down-gradient monitoring wells at a depth which the department considers appropriate around the lagoon in order to monitor seepage of waste from the lagoon.

(B) Each monitoring well installed must be analyzed at least once annually. However, the department may conduct routine and random visits to the animal feeding operation to sample the monitoring wells.

(C) Records must be kept by the owner or operator of the animal feeding operation according to regulations promulgated by the department.

(D) If leakage is discovered beyond an acceptable level as determined by the department, the lagoon must be repaired at the owner or operator's expense.

Section 47-20-120. (A) No waste may be released from the premises of an animal feeding operation to waters of the State unless the waste is treated to drinking water quality standards.

(B) Water that is completely surrounded by land owned by the applicant and has no connection to other water is excluded from the setback requirements outlined in this chapter.

Section 47-20-130. (A) Clemson University, in conjunction with the South Carolina Department of Agriculture and the department, shall create a training and certification program for owners or operators of animal feeding operations which shall include, but is not limited to, understanding relevant regulations, issues, standards, principles, and practices regarding siting and management of an animal feeding operation and land application of animal waste; testing for toxic metals, organic materials, and other elements; use of antibiotics; implementing emergency procedures; and spill prevention protocols including testing and inspection of dikes.

(B) An operator of an animal feeding operation and waste utilization area must be certified on the operation of animal waste management under the program created in subsection (A).

Section 47-20-140. (A) For an animal feeding operation which has the capacity of more than 420,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight at any one time and is seeking to construct or expand an established animal feeding operation, the department shall publish a notice of intent to construct or to expand an established animal feeding operation governed by this chapter in a local newspaper of general circulation, notify persons residing on adjoining property, and notify the relevant county commission and water supply district at the expense of the animal feeding operation applicant. Proof of notification of neighboring land owners and residents must be supplied by the applicant. This notice shall contain instructions for public review and comment to the department on the proposed construction and operation of the facility. The notice shall allow for a minimum thirty-day comment period.

(B) The department shall conduct a public hearing and shall provide notice of the public hearing in accordance with the notice requirements provided for in subsection (A) in any case in which the department receives at least twenty letters requesting a public hearing.

Section 47-20-150. (A) Permits for animal feeding operations covered under this chapter must be renewed every seven years. However, subsequent to the issuance of a permit, if the animal feeding operation is not in operation or production for two consecutive years, the permit is not valid and a new permit must be obtained.

(B) The department shall determine the appropriate fee for permit renewals.

Section 47-20-160. (A) The department shall promulgate regulations for this chapter by January 1, 1998, and submit a report on its progress by January 1, 1997.

(B) The department shall promulgate regulations for siting and managing animal feeding operations with a capacity of 420,000 pounds of normal production of animal live weight or less at any one time, including land application of waste. The regulations must be at a minimum as protective as the department's current guidelines.

Section 47-20-170. Any violation of the provisions of this chapter is punishable as under the Pollution Control Act."

Established agricultural facility; etc.

SECTION 2. Section 46-45-30 of the 1976 Code, as amended by Act 442 of 1990, is further amended to read:

"Section 46-45-30. No established agricultural facility or any agricultural operation at an established agricultural facility is or may become a nuisance, private or public, by any changed conditions in or about the locality of the facility or operation. This section does not apply whenever a nuisance results from the negligent, improper, or illegal operation of an agricultural facility or operation."

Regulations, separate and distinct; etc.

SECTION 3. (A) In addition to any regulations authorized to be promulgated by Section 1 of this act, the Department of Health and Environmental Control shall promulgate regulations regarding confined swine feeding operations which are separate and distinct from the regulations promulgated pursuant to Section 1.

(B) The separate and distinct regulations shall not be proposed until after the regulations required to be promulgated pursuant to Section 1 take effect.

(C) The provisions of Sections 1 and 2 of this act are severable and enforceable irrespective of whether a particular regulation has been promulgated.

(D)(1) The separate and distinct regulations shall include, but are not limited to, including the following:

(a) definitions;

(b) setback requirements;

(c) land application rates for animal waste and waste storage ponds;

(d) lagoon construction and maintenance requirements;

(e) odor control;

(f) vector control;

(g) application and annual operation fees;

(h) monitoring wells;

(i) certification of owners or operators of confined animal feeding operations and waste management systems;

(j) public notice requirements; and

(k) permit renewals.

(2) In addition, the separate and distinct regulations shall be based upon an evaluation of the impact upon the interests of the environment and agribusiness.

(3) In promulgating the separate and distinct regulations, the department shall use the limits, distances, and other requirements provided in Section 1 of this act as the basis for the regulations. When the department submits the proposed regulations to the General Assembly for approval, in addition to the information which must be filed pursuant to Section 1-23-120 of the 1976 Code, the department shall include an explanation for each change proposed in the separate and distinct regulations from the requirements of Sections 1 and 2 of this act.

(E) When the regulations promulgated by the department pursuant to this section are approved by the General Assembly or take effect without action of the General Assembly, the provisions of Sections 1 and 2 of this act, and any regulations promulgated pursuant to authority granted in Section 1 of this act, are thereby repealed and shall no longer have the force and effect of law.

Time effective

SECTION 4. This act takes effect July 1, 1996.

Approved the 3rd day of July, 1996.