Iowa Code 352.11 – Incentives for agricultural land preservation — payment of costs and fees in nuisance actions
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1.
Nuisance restriction.
a. A farm or farm operation located in an agricultural area shall not be found to be a nuisance regardless of the established date of operation or expansion of the agricultural activities of the farm or farm operation. This paragraph shall apply to a farm operation conducted within an agricultural area for six years following the exclusion of land within an agricultural area other than by withdrawal as provided in section 352.9.
b. Paragraph “a” does not apply to a nuisance which is the result of a farm operation determined to be in violation of a federal statute or regulation or state statute or rule. Paragraph “a” does not apply if the nuisance results from the negligent operation of the farm or farm operation. Paragraph “a” does not apply to actions or proceedings arising from injury or damage to a person or property caused by the farm or a farm operation before the creation of the agricultural area. Paragraph “a” does not affect or defeat the right of a person to recover damages for an injury or damage sustained by the person because of the pollution or change in condition of the waters of a stream, the overflowing of the person’s land, or excessive soil erosion onto another person’s land, unless the injury or damage is caused by an act of God.
c. A person shall not bring an action or proceeding based on a claim of nuisance arising from a farm operation unless the person proceeds with mediation as provided in chapter 654B.
d. If a defendant is a prevailing party in an action or proceeding based on a claim of nuisance and arising from a farm operation conducted on farmland within an agricultural area, the plaintiff shall pay court costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred by the defendant, if the court determines that the claim is frivolous.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 352.11
- Agricultural area: means an area meeting the qualifications of section 352. See Iowa Code 352.2
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Farm: means the land, buildings, and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products. See Iowa Code 352.2
- Farm operation: means a condition or activity which occurs on a farm in connection with the production of farm products and includes but is not limited to the raising, harvesting, drying, or storage of crops; the care or feeding of livestock; the handling or transportation of crops or livestock; the treatment or disposal of wastes resulting from livestock; the marketing of products at roadside stands or farm markets; the creation of noise, odor, dust, or fumes; the operation of machinery and irrigation pumps; ground and aerial seeding and spraying; the application of chemical fertilizers, conditioners, insecticides, pesticides, and herbicides; and the employment and use of labor. See Iowa Code 352.2
- Farmland: means those parcels of land suitable for the production of farm products. See Iowa Code 352.2
- following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Nuisance: means a public or private nuisance as defined either by statute, administrative rule, ordinance, or the common law. See Iowa Code 352.2
- Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, domestic or foreign corporation, company, association or joint stock association, trust, or other legal entity, and includes a trustee, receiver, assignee, or similar representative thereof, but does not include a governmental body. See Iowa Code 362.2
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
2.
Water priority.
In the application for a permit to divert, store, or withdraw water and in the allocation of available water resources under a water permit system, the department of natural resources shall give priority to the use of water resources by a farm or farm operation, exclusive of irrigation, located in an agricultural area over all other uses except the competing uses of water for ordinary household purposes.