Section 161A.44. Rules by commissioners — scope.

  The commissioners of each soil and water conservation district shall, with approval of and within time limits set by administrative order of the state soil conservation committee, adopt reasonable regulations as are deemed necessary to establish a soil loss limit or limits for the district and provide for the implementation of the limit or limits, and may subsequently amend or repeal their regulations as they deem necessary. The committee shall review the soil loss limit regulations adopted by the soil and water conservation districts at least once every five years, and shall recommend changes in the regulations of a soil and water conservation district which the committee deems necessary to assure that the district’s soil loss limits are reasonable and attainable. The commissioners may:

  1.  Classify land in the district on the basis of topography, soil characteristics, current use, and other factors affecting propensity to soil erosion.

  2.  Establish different soil loss limits for different classes of land in the district if in their judgment and that of the state soil conservation committee a lower soil loss limit should be applied to some land than can reasonably be applied to other land in the district, it being the intent of the general assembly that no land in the state be assigned a soil loss limit that cannot reasonably be applied to such land.

  3.  Require the owners of real property in the district to employ either soil and water conservation practices or erosion control practices, and:

  a.  May not specify the particular practices to be employed so long as such owners voluntarily comply with the applicable soil loss limits established for the district.

  b.  May specify two or more approved soil and water conservation practices or erosion control practices, one of which shall be employed by the landowner to bring erosion from land under the landowner’s control within the applicable soil loss limit of the district when an administrative order is issued to the landowner.

  c.  In no case may the commissioners require:

  (1)  The employment of erosion control practices as defined in section 161A.42, subsection 4, on land used in good faith for agricultural or horticultural purposes only.

  (2)  The employment of soil and water conservation practices or erosion control practices on that portion of any public street, road or highway completed or under construction within the corporate limits of any city, which is or will become the traveled or surfaced portion of such street, road, or highway.

  (3)  That any owner or operator of agricultural land refrain from fall plowing of land on which the owner or operator intends to raise a crop during the next succeeding growing season, however on those lands which are prone to excessive wind erosion the commissioners may require that reasonable temporary measures be taken to minimize the likelihood of wind erosion so long as such measures do not unduly increase the cost of operation of the farm on which the land is located. However, fall plowing of soil which is commonly known as gumbo shall always be permitted.

  d.  May require that a person under an order to employ soil and water conservation practices or erosion control practices submit up to three bids to the commissioners for the work and provide an explanation to the commissioners if a bid other than the lowest bid has been selected by that person.

[C73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §467A.44]

83 Acts, ch 45, §1

;

86 Acts, ch 1245, §657

;

87 Acts, ch 23, §31

;

89 Acts, ch 106, §5

C93, §161A.44