Field Office Compliance - Assistance

Assistance ID - 92410

Sparboe Farms (goodell) - 310355721

1212 Timber Dr Goodell, IA 50439

Hancock County

FO 2

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Attached Files/Reports

File Name	File Type	File Date	Note

Comments

Date	Comment	Commenter
3/13/2017	Mark called on 3/2 to ask what would be possible to consider the site as "active" but empty and would they still need to submit an MMP when due. I said they may be able to "mothball" the site but would need to do more research to find out what that requires. He would also soon be submitting a letter/email that the Humboldt and Clare Pullet sites are permanently closed. After researching the "mothball" requirements I determined they did not apply in this case. Mark sent me an email for the other 2 sites on 3/7 and asked if I had determined the "mothball" options. My email response is copied below with the possible options they have for the facility. Watterson, Daniel <daniel.watterson@dnr.iowa.gov> Mar 7 (6 days ago) to Mark.Kellen Hi Mark, I had to do a bit of research to figure out how/if mothballing applied in this situation and came to the conclusion that it does not. I went back to the law that it was based on and found it applies to facilities that remain in operation but have closed a barn or 2. Since the Goodell site is completely empty of animals, it would not qualify as being mothballed. That means you have a few options: You can keep paying the annual compliance fee on the entire site capacity and submitting a MMP to remain an "active" site. It looks like you won't be due for this again until June, so you have some more time to decide. I haven't found a limit on how long you could do this, but we would likely start questioning if it continued on for years since we know the barns are empty. You could keep a small number of animals in the barns and then claim to be a SAFO (small animal feeding operation) and then submit a yearly MMP form stating that you are a SAFO and if/when you decide to go back over 500 animal units, you could resume by submitting a full MMP. You would technically be a "discontinued operation" right now. That means you have removed all the animals and manure and have no immediate plans to restock. If you resumed operation within a year, no new construction permit would be needed but a new MMP and annual compliance fees would apply upon restarting. This may get you out of paying the annual fee again in June at least. Once you go beyond a year, it gets a bit odd on what applies. The Iowa rules require a new construction permit for a facility if it has been closed for 24 months. But a new AFO is defined as an operation that has also been discontinued for 1 year. So if you resume operations after 1 year, you may be subject to the separation distances currently in place to resume operation and get a new construction permit even if you don't build anything. Anything after 2 years, would automatically mean a new permit and meet applicable separation distances. I realize these are not the most clear options to decide from but it's what we could come up with for your situation. Let me know if you have any questions and I can try to get them answered. Like I said, it looks like your annual MMP update isn't due until June, so I can leave the facility in "active" status until then. Daniel	DANIEL WATTERSON

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