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updated January 2023

Every four years, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) is required to appoint a committee to review the Livestock Facility Siting Law, a law that governs the regulation of large livestock farms known as confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The latest review began in December 2022 and is currently underway.

Case Summary

What is the Livestock Facility Siting Law?

The Livestock Facility Siting Law (Wis. Stat. § 93.90) was enacted in 2004 to regulate local government approval of new or expanding livestock facilities in Wisconsin. In 2016, DATCP developed an administrative rule (ATCP 51) to implement the law.

What does the law do?

• Establishes uniform state standards to be used by local governments to make siting decisions for new or expanding livestock operations. If a local government wishes to enact more stringent standards, it must demonstrate that those standards are grounded in science and necessary to protect public health and safety.
• Provides for an application and approval process that must be used by those local governments who choose to license livestock operations
• Restricts the ability of local governments to direct the location of new livestock facilities through zoning ordinances.

What environmental standards were created by the law?

ATCP 51 standards regulate:

• the location of livestock facilities
• odor and air emissions
• nutrient management (mainly phosphorus and nitrates)
• liquid manure storage facilities
• runoff management

Why does the law need to be revised?

Although it was promoted as a way to streamline local approvals and standards for farm permits, the law has made it more difficult to ensure that local land use is consistent with preserving a community’s quality of life.

This one-size-fits-all approach to siting livestock facilities isn’t working for rural communities, especially those facing real health threats of decreasing air quality, contamination of drinking wells, degraded streams from manure runoff, and increased truck traffic hauling manure to fields.

Local governments must be able to protect public health and safety by enacting ordinances that respond to the unique needs and geographical characteristics of their communities.

When was the livestock siting law last updated?

The law has not been updated since it went into effect in 2006.

What happened during the last review in 2019?

In 2019, a technical committee appointed by DATCP recommended updates to the law that would have improved odor management, increased setbacks from neighbors, and incorporated the most recent technical standards for manure storage and runoff management. DATCP’s Livestock Facility Siting Board subsequently approved the committee's proposed revisions. Changes were made to the final draft rule in response to public comments received by the Department. Unfortunately, pressure from agriculture groups ultimately caused DATCP to abandon the process at the eleventh hour.

Where are we in the current review process?

DATCP's 2022-23 technical expert committee held its first meeting in December 2022. A PowerPoint presentation from that meeting is available here. The committee will meet monthly through May 2023 and will formulate recommendations to be included in a final report. There will be opportunities for public input later this year.