8 A Notice of Intent to Construct (NOITC) form must be filed with IDOA for any new farm or planned significant expansion. The NOITC provides information to IDOA about the project location, size, type and compliance with setback provisions. Farm owners planning to construct or expand must notify all landowners within the applicable setback distance, typically one-half mile. Under the LMFA, county government boards or a group of 75 residents may request a public informational meeting on proposed farms greater than 1,000 animal units. During the meeting, the operators of the planned farm must address the LMFA siting criteria. The county government board has the right to make a non-binding recommendation on the project to IDOA. IDOA thoroughly reviews the information submitted by the proposed farm and collected at public informational meetings to ensure compliance with the LMFA. It is important to note that, by the time farmers submit a NOITC to IDOA, they have gone through months of planning and already invested several thousands of dollars in engineering costs. In addition, not all farms are approved for construction by IDOA. Since 1997, 19 of all NOITCs filed were not approved by IDOA.8 Between 1997 and 2017, IDOA received and evaluated 2,286 NOITCs for proposed new or expanding livestock farms.9 (See fig. 1.) The overwhelming majority of these were not controversial. Many counties that have the opportunity to hold a public informational meeting often do not hold one due to the absence of concern by neighbors and community members. According to IDOA data, 168 livestock projects qualified for a public informational meeting, but only 62 meetings were requested between 1997 and 2016. (See fig. 2.) The county government boards did not oppose 65 percent of the farms that had informational meetings.10 0 30 60 90 120 150 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 81 114 39 63 124 119 96 98 137 144 138 122 61 62 103 137 116 149 125 134 124 YEAR NUMBER OF NOITCS REVIEWED Annual NOITCs Reviewed by IDOA fig. 1 0 5 10 15 20 NOITC proposals qualifying for possible meeting Meetings requested by County Board Calendar Year Number of NOITCs Received Livestock Project Proposals Qualifying for a Possible Public Informational Meeting & Meeting Requests Received from County Boards 0 0 0 0 5 4 4 20 12 3 8 3 6 2 8 3 11 6 2010 2010 0 0 3 2 6 15 5 15 3 14 7 2 8 2 10 3 9 5 10 6 7 3 1997 1997 2016 2016 2015 2015 2014 2014 2013 2013 2012 2012 2011 2011 2009 2009 2008 2008 2007 2007 2006 2006 2005 2005 2004 2004 2003 2003 2002 2002 2001 2001 2000 2000 1999 1999 1998 1998 fig. 2 fig. 1: IDOA, LMFA Program Summary (2017). fig. 2: IDOA, LMFA Program Summary (2016).