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Stop the Bill to Prevent Communities
from Banning Factory Farms
SB 1413 Moving Rapidly in Pa House
Sample Letter and Talking Points
SB 1413 Background
When
several massive factory farms set up shop in rural Pennsylvania, they
brought with them the usual problems for local people: foul odors, contamination
of groundwater, and dirty, noisy truck traffic. Nine Pennsylvania townships,
fearing they'd be the next to be targeted, passed local laws to protect
their communities from these factory farms. Sounds reasonable, right?
Not
to the agribusiness industry. They're pushing new legislation in Harrisburg,
SB 1413. This bill is purported to help family farmers, when in fact,
it would prevent communities from banning factory-farming operations.
So towns would be stuck with polluting, smelly factory farms, whether
they want them or not. Local protections against factory farms are described
by agribusiness as "frivolous". But this bill would threaten
the democratic right of communities everywhere to determine their own
future, rather than having it forced upon them by corporations.
What
this bill does is directly attack local government ability to enact
reasonable ordinances to address new threats to public health, water
supplies, property values and quality of life posed by industrial-scale
livestock operations. SB 1413 is an expansion of the discredited
SB 826, which sought to prevent elected township officials from protecting
family farmers and the public from destructive corporate factory
farming practices. The redrafted version, SB 1413 removes legal
protection against the spreading of toxic sludge as well.
Rural
communities understand and support agriculture, but they also know the
difference between traditional family farming and factory farms. 61
rural townships in 23 counties have enacted or are considering ordinances
to protect their residents and family farmers from the economic and
environmental problems caused by new and expanding factory farms.
Nothing
is more damaging to family farmers, food security and the very fabric
of our nation’s proud agricultural traditions than factory farming
operations controlled by large, usually absentee, corporate polluters.
Factory farming operations not only bankrupt family farmers, or relegate
them to “contract serfdom” status, but they also threaten
food security, public health and safety, and the environment on an unprecedented
scale. SB 1413 extends the damage to protection of environmentally destructive
and health threatening toxic sludge spreading practices.
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SB 1413 Moving Rapidly in Pa House
SB
1413 is moving rapidly in the Pennsylvania House. State senators, including
some who refused to support SB 826, have been misled into accepting
the lie that SB1413 is intended to help family farmers and the
lie that the bill has the support of the township supervisors
association.
The
bill was rushed through the senate by deception and is now being rushed
through the house utilizing the same tactic. Please take immediate
action to derail this attempt to destroy our proud farming heritage!
Friends
- SB 1413 was reported out of the House Ag Committee and received its
first consideration on Wednesday. That means the bill could receive
a final vote in the House this coming Tuesday! This bill is clearly
on a fast track. It is possible to derail this train - we’ve
done it before but it will take an all-out effort!
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Take Action Today
Call
today, email and fax your state representative in both his or
her Harrisburg office and district office and ask them to vote NO
on SB 1413. If any of you have been working with local supervisors -
especially if your township has enacted ordinances or has in place zoning
that addresses factory farming - it is imperative that you get supervisors
to call their representative. We should be able to do this. According
to CELDF - at least 61 townships in 23 counties have passed or are considering
some kind of ordinance that addresses factory farms. If we can get these
folks to weigh in and counter the fiction that the agribusiness lobby
is spreading that PSATS is OK with this bill, it might help turn the
tide.
Sample
Letter and Talking Points
Dear
Representative:
Please
oppose SB 1413. This bill is being mischaracterized by its proponents
who claim that it protects family farmers from the over-sensitive noses
of suburbanites who move into agricultural communities. That is untrue.
What this bill does is directly attack local government ability to enact
reasonable ordinances to address new threats to public health, water
supplies, property values and quality of life posed by industrial-scale
livestock operations. Rural communities understand and support agriculture,
but they also know the difference between traditional family farming
and factory farms. 61 rural townships in 23 counties have enacted or
are considering ordinances to protect their residents and family farmers
from the economic and environmental problems caused by new and expanding
factory farms.
Agribusiness
corporations building factory farms concede that they are vastly different
from traditional agriculture. SB 1413 is another attempt by agribusiness
to ensure that their effort to monopolize the swine market proceeds
despite the concerns of rural communities and without having to meet
reasonable local safeguards on the siting and operation of factory farms.
Proponents
of this bill also claim that it does not erode local government control,
but simply affirms provisions of current state law. Again, this claim
is untrue. For the first time, local governments would be exposed to
the expense of paying attorney’s fees for agri-business legal
challenges to properly enacted local ordinances. This is a clear attempt
to intimidate local governments and prevent them from carrying out their
duties to protect the health and property of their citizens.
Proponents
of this bill also claim that the Pennsylvania State Associations of
Township Supervisors agree to the provisions of SB 1413. Again, this
claim is untrue. The membership of PSATS voted no when asked
to support SB 1413. While the PSATS staff may be neutral, the membership
opposes SB 1413.
Industrial-scale
livestock operations pose significant challenges to local communities.
Please do not be fooled that SB 1413 protects family farmers and does
not weaken local governments. Vote no on SB 1413 and protect
rural communities and family farmers from this aggressive attempt by
agribusiness to eviscerate reasonable local government oversight of
industrial livestock operations.
