Kansas Legislature Amends State Right-to-Farm Laws to Limit Compensatory Damages for Nuisance Claims

On July 1, 2013, the Kansas legislature enacted SB 168 which amends the state’s right-to-farm laws. Kansas right-to-farm laws have traditionally protected agricultural operations from burdensome nuisance claims. The new law reinforces the protections offered by the right-to-farm laws by differentiating between permanent and temporary nuisance claims, further protecting the expansion of agricultural activities, and ensuring that property assigned, sold or inherited remains under the protection of right-to-farm laws.

Permanent and temporary nuisances will be considered separately, allowing for a fair market value allocation of compensatory damages for permanent nuisances, and for temporary nuisances, the lesser of:

      ·         the diminution in fair rental value of the claimant’s property,

·         the value of the loss of enjoyment of the claimant’s property,

·         or the reasonable cost to repair or mitigate any injury to the claimant can be awarded to the claimant.

In addition, farmland owners can now reasonably expand the scope of their agricultural activities without forfeiting protections under the right-to-farm laws. The law also stated that an agricultural operation that is consistent with good agricultural practices and that was established prior to surrounding agricultural or non-agricultural activities is presumed reasonable and would not constitute a nuisance. Furthermore, the law amends the definition of “agricultural activity” to include the handling, storage, and transportation of agricultural commodities.

For the more information, please see the Kansas Legislature’s website on SB 168.

Written by Sarah Doyle - Research Assistant
The Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center
@PSUAgLawCenter
July 16, 2013

“Death Tax Repeal Act of 2013” Introduced in House and Senate

On June 19, 2013, legislation known as the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2013 was introduced in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate that would permanently repeal the estate tax. The legislation would also maintain stepped-up basis, and make permanent a 35 percent gift tax rate and $5 million lifetime gift tax exemption indexed for inflation. The American Farm Bureau Federation supports the legislation, noting the crippling effects the estate tax can have on family agribusinesses and surrounding communities when the tax exceeds cash and liquid assets possessed by surviving family partners.

The full text of the bills (S 1183 and HR 2429) is not yet available on the Library of Congress website.

Written By Sarah Doyle – Research Assistant

The Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center
June 21, 2013

House Passes Bill Aimed at Preserving Agricultural Child Labor Exemption

On July 24, 2012, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Preserving America’s Family Farms Act.” Currently, the farming industry receives a number or agricultural child labor exemptions. However, on September 2, 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a rule which would have narrowed the agriculutural child labor exemptions.   DOL’s action was met with opposition, and on May 29, 2012, the new rule request was withdrawn.  In an effort to prevent DOL from proposing similar changes to the agricultural child labor exemption in the future, Congress passed H.R. 4157 which specifically prevents the Secretary of Labor from putting forward any new rule that is “substantially the same as” the regulations proposed on September 2, 2011.  With passage of H.R. 4157, on July 25, 2012, the Act was referred to the Senate. 

To read the entire “Preserving America’s Family Farms Act,” please click the link below:

112 H.R. 4157

Written by M. Sean High, Research Assistant
Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center