Iowa House Panel OKs Bills on Shellfish Farms, Greenhouse Gas Lawsuits, and Diesel Repair

By Cami Koons

Iowa House lawmakers heard public comments on and voted to advance bills Tuesday that would create regulations for shellfish farms, prohibit lawsuits related to greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture operations and would allow farmers to repair equipment with diesel engines. 

House Study Bill 693 would limit the ability to sue farmers for an “alleged actual or potential effect” on the climate due to greenhouse gas emissions. 

Rep. Derek Wulf, R-Hudson, said the bill would protect farmers from being sued for “things like cow farts.” 

“I believe that the American farmer is in a pivotal time right now, that we need to do everything we can to make sure they can do what they do best, which is farm, and not have to worry about trivial lawsuits coming at them,” Wulf said.

The bill was supported by Iowa agriculture commodity groups including Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Pork Producers Association, and Iowa Cattlemen’s Association. 

Lisa Davis-Cook, speaking at the subcommittee Tuesday morning on behalf of the Iowa Association for Justice, questioned if the bill was “putting the cart before the horse” if there are not any previous cases on the subject in the state. The association is currently registered undecided on the bill. 

“If we aren’t seeing a problem with this, I don’t understand why we’re limiting the liability,” Davis-Cook said. “And in the same token, if someone is truly harmed and they can prove that they were truly harmed, we don’t believe that they should be withheld access to the court.” 

The bill defines greenhouse gas as a gas derived from human activity, like the production, storage or processing of a farm animal or crop, a renewable fuel source, or a naturally occurring gas like carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons, methane, nitrogen trifluoride, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride and perfluorocarbons. The bill was amended in committee to also include agricultural retailers in the definition. 

Rep. Megan Srinivas, D-Des Moines, said during subcommittee she worried if the bill would remove liability from “large bad actors” in the state and pass the cost of mitigation efforts onto taxpayers.

The bill advanced from the committee with a vote of 20-3, with Rep. Monica Kurth, Rep. Jeff Cooling and Rep. Angel Ramirez dissenting. 

Diesel Engine Repairs

House Study Bill 684 would require diesel engine manufacturers to provide tools, updates and parts to farmers seeking to repair sections of their equipment pertaining to diesel exhaust fluid systems. 

Most on-road and off-road diesel engines are equipped with diesel exhaust fluid and related systems to help the engines comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emission standards. When diesel engine operators run out of diesel exhaust fuel, the engines will “de-rate” or slow down to limit emissions of nitrogen oxides. 

The bill provides that when farm equipment has a breakdown related to the diesel exhaust fluid system, equipment manufacturers must provide the same tools and equipment to farmers as it does to authorized repair dealers. 

This would allow farmers to repair their own equipment, or take it to local mechanics, rather than only getting service at authorized dealers. 

Cordt Holub, a Tama County farmer, testified in favor of the bill during a subcommittee meeting Tuesday and said that during harvest, or planting season, farmers are already up against a clock. 

“We feed the world here in Iowa, and if you have a tractor that’s in the middle of the field, de-rates, and you can’t go, you’re limping along, and you need to either fix something or wait for a service mechanic … it can screw up a whole day, it can screw up a week,” Holub said.

Stacey Pellett, speaking on behalf of Deere & Company, said the company worried the bill would be preempted by federal law and said it would put manufacturers in competition with their own dealerships. 

Deere & Company, which registered against the bill, recently received guidelines from EPA about the company’s ability to allow farmers to temporarily disable their diesel exhaust fluid systems, for the purpose of repairs, without having to go to a licensed dealer. 

Pellett said that if a machine de-rates in the field, “the ability and the tools are available” for the customer or an independent repair shop to do the repairs, “without waiting on a technician to come out from the local dealership.” 

“And because federal action is actively underway in this issue … that federal guidance would preempt state law, we would ask that you give this guidance a chance to be implemented and see where we may have gaps, post guidance,” Pellett said.

She also said dealers pay for parts, tools and training themselves and if a manufacturer were to provide those tools directly to customers, it would put dealers at a “significant disadvantage.” 

“It would have really serious unintended consequences, I believe, for the local businesses in these rural communities, as well as for the businesses themselves,” Pellett said. 

During committee, Wulf described the bill as a “right to repair” bill.

“At a time in agriculture, when … commodity prices are extremely low, and our farmers are being continually pushed to find new efficiencies, they need to have the ability to take off or change burdensome emission systems that create additional expense and additional hassle for their businesses,” Wulf said. 

Rep. Kenan Judge, D-Waukee, said he understands the intent of the bill and “gets the frustration” farmers have with these systems, but he said if the intent of the bill is to permit farmers to take off the DEF systems, there is “further work to do” on the bill. 

Judge suggested the committee “take a pause” and work on the bill before sending it to the floor. 

Wulf responded that farmers have been the “greatest innovators” in agriculture “since the beginning of time.” 

“The greatest innovation has come when we put the power to fix or change or create different systems, different ways of doing things and equipment changes into their hands,” Wulf said. “This bill simply does that.”

The bill narrowly advanced with a vote of 12-11.

Shellfish

House Study Bill 662, which passed unanimously from the committee, would add shellfish as a separate category to the state definition of animal feeding operations. 

Rep. Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, said while the current language includes fish, “shellfish do not fall in the same category.” 

Windschitl explained that without a set definition in the code, there is “a lack of understanding of where regulation comes from.” 

The committee voted to amend the bill with language brought to the Senate version of the bill, that would ensure discharge water from a shellfish operation is treated the same as a fishing operation in the state. 

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