2014 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.
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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
science-based 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.
Improve the ability of future generations to meet their needs
while advancing progress toward environmental, social, and
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
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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