2011 Kentucky Revised Statutes CHAPTER 413 LIMITATION OF ACTIONS 413.072 Relationship of agricultural and silvicultural operations to law of nuisance and trespass -- Preemption of local ordinances -- Sustainable agriculture and best management practices.
KY Rev Stat § 413.072 (1996 through Reg Sess) What's This?
413.072 Relationship of agricultural and silvicultural operations to law of nuisance
and trespass -- Preemption of local ordinances -- Sustainable agriculture and
best management practices.
(1)
(2)
(3)
It is the declared policy of the Commonwealth to conserve, protect, and encourage
the development and improvement of its agricultural land and silvicultural land for
the production of food, timber, and other agricultural and silvicultural products.
When nonagricultural land uses extend into agricultural and silvicultural areas,
agricultural and silvicultural operations often become the subject of nuisance suits
or legal actions restricting agricultural or silvicultural operations. As a result,
agricultural and silvicultural operations are sometimes either curtailed or forced to
cease operations. Investments in farm and timber improvements may be
discouraged. It is the purpose of this section to reduce the loss to the state of its
agricultural and silvicultural resources by clarifying the circumstances under which
agricultural and silvicultural operations may be deemed to be a nuisance or
interfered with by local ordinances or legal actions.
No agricultural or silvicultural operation or any of its appurtenances shall be or
become a nuisance or trespass, private or public, or be in violation of any zoning
ordinance, or be subject to any ordinance that would restrict the right of the operator
of the agricultural or silvicultural operation to utilize normal and accepted practices,
by any changed conditions in or about the locality thereof after the same has been in
operation for more than one (1) year, when the operation was not a nuisance at the
time the operation began. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply
whenever a nuisance, trespass, or zoning violation results from the negligent
operation of an agricultural or silvicultural operation or its appurtenances.
(a) For the purposes of this section, "agricultural operation" includes, but is not
limited to, any facility for the production of crops, livestock, equine, poultry,
livestock products, poultry products, horticultural products, and any generally
accepted, reasonable, and prudent method for the operation of a farm to obtain
a monetary profit that complies with applicable laws and administrative
regulations, and is performed in a reasonable and prudent manner customary
among farm operators. Agricultural practices protected by this section shall
include, but not be limited to, fertilizer application, the application of
pesticides or herbicides that have been approved by public authority, planting,
cultivating, mowing, harvesting, land clearing, and constructing farm
buildings, roads, lakes, and ponds associated with a farming operation.
(b) 1.
An agricultural operation may include the practice of sustainable
agriculture.
2.
For purposes of this section, "sustainable agriculture" includes sciencebased practices that:
a.
Are supported by research and the use of technology;
b.
Are demonstrated to lead to broad outcomes-based performance
improvements that meet the needs of the present; and
c.
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
Improve the ability of future generations to meet their needs while
advancing progress toward environmental, social, and economic
goals and the well-being of agricultural producers and rural
communities.
3.
Sustainable agriculture may use continuous improvement principles,
with goals that include:
a.
Increasing agricultural productivity;
b.
Improving human health through access to safe, nutritious, and
affordable food; and
c.
Enhancing agricultural and surrounding environments, including
water, soil, and air quality, biodiversity, and habitat preservation.
For the purposes of this section, "silvicultural operation" includes timber harvest,
site preparation, slash disposal including controlled burning, tree planting,
precommercial thinning, release, fertilization, animal damage control, reasonable
water resource management, insect and disease control in forest land, and any other
generally accepted, reasonable, and prudent practice normally employed in the
management of the timber resource for monetary profit. A silvicultural operation
inherently includes lengthy periods between harvests and shall be deemed
continuously operating so long as the property supports an actual or developing
forest.
An agricultural or silvicultural operation shall not lose its status by reason of a
change of ownership or a cessation of operation of no more than five (5) years or
one (1) year after the expiration of a state or national program contract, either in
whole or in part, nor shall it lose its status by reason of changes of crops or methods
of production due to the introduction and use of new and generally accepted
technologies which allow the operator to continue an existing agricultural or
silvicultural corporation, unless the operation is substantially changed.
The provisions of this section shall not affect the right of any person, firm, or
corporation to recover damages for any injuries or damages sustained by them on
account of pollution of the waters of any stream or ground water of the person, firm,
or corporation.
Any and all ordinances of any unit of local government now in effect or hereafter
adopted that would make an agricultural or silvicultural operation or its
appurtenances a nuisance per se, or providing for abatement thereof as a nuisance, a
trespass, or a zoning violation in the circumstance set forth in this section shall be
void. However, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply whenever a
nuisance results from the negligent operation of any such agricultural operation or
any of its appurtenances.
Any administrative regulation promulgated by any agency that establishes standards
for harvesting or producing agricultural crops in a sustainable manner shall be based
on the principles outlined in this section and shall allow the use of best management
practices developed under KRS 224.71-100 to 224.71-140.
Effective: July 15, 2010
History: Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 100, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2010. -- Amended
1996 Ky. Acts ch. 91, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1996. -- Created 1980 Ky. Acts
ch. 214, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1980.
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/15/2010). Under the authority of KRS
7.136(1), the Reviser of Statutes has inserted subparagraph and subdivision
designations into subsection (3)(b) of this statute during codification. The meaning of
the text was not changed.
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