Earlier this morning (Tuesday) the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) and Food and Water Watch delivered a formal rulemaking petition to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in an effort to strengthen the Master Matrix. Iowa CCI members say the Master Matrix, which is a scoring system included in factory farm applications, has failed to fulfill the promise of giving communities a greater voice in factory farm construction or more protection from factory farm pollution. The public remarks regarding any proposed changes to the Master Matrix were then presented at the monthly Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) at the Air Quality Building in Windsor Heights. Iowa CCI says the rulemaking petition they presented gives the EPC and DNR the opportunity to open factory farm rules and make meaningful changes to protect Iowa’s communities and environments. Unless the Petitioners agree to an extension, the DNR will have 60 days to act by either granting the petition and initiating a rulemaking or denying the petition. A denial by the DNR would be subject to review in state court. A link to the full petition can be found below.
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http://iowacci.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CCI-FWW-MM-rule-petition-1.pdf
