Senate Advances Bill To Nullify Restrictions On Poultry Farms
SOUTH CAROLINA - S.C. counties could not keep chicken and turkey farms away from neighborhoods under a bill passed Thursday by the state Senate.That decision is significant because the Senate typically has stopped bills to strip counties of their control over animal farms. The Senate still must give the bill a final vote, but that is considered routine and unlikely to change.
After that, it goes to the House, which is considered more friendly to agricultural bills.
It is a victory for South Carolina’s $800 million poultry industry in a long quest to loosen regulation of industrial-style chicken and turkey farms.
The bill nullifies ordinances in at least eight counties that have adopted stricter poultry farm rules than the state’s. Those counties include Berkeley, Horry, Kershaw and Lancaster, according to the S.C. Coastal Conservation League.
Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, said the bill was an attempt by agribusinesses to expand the state’s booming poultry industry.
“We call this the right-to-farm bill — it has nothing to do with that,†Leventis said. “It has to do with usurping local government. It’s a liberal power grab by the people in Columbia.â€
Source: The State
7 April 2006
1 minute read
