State & Regional Interest	Friday, May 30, 2003
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Hog farm local regulation bill clears Senate Judiciary (Published May 27‚ 2003) COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to amend a House bill that would limit local government efforts to impose more restrictive regulation of hog farms Tuesday. The amendment basically allows local governments to regulate hog farms after the House bill said county ordinances can't be more restrictive than state standards for livestock and poultry. The Senate Judiciary committee version drops poultry operations from the restrictions. It says livestock operations can't be subject to more restrictive operations, but that doesn't include hog farms, said the amendment's author, Sen. Robert Waldrep, R-Anderson. Supporters of the House bill said counties are imposing tougher regulations than the state, creating a patchwork of rules from county to county. Opponents of the bill say county governments know what's best for their communities, and prohibiting counties from making their own rules violates the state's home-rule law. While the bill heads now to the Senate floor, it is unlikely to come up for debate before adjournment June 5 because Sen. Ralph Anderson, D-Greenville, objected to it. That move puts it at the back of a calendar an already clogged with contested bills.

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