HF 2642 Iowa House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

A bill for an act relating to the use of water, including beneficial use in the context of water allocation and the disposal of wastewater from distillery operations.

HF 2642 (Iowa) creates new rules for disposing liquid waste from native distilleries and changes water permit processes. It requires the Department of Natural Resources to establish standards for land application of distillery waste, considering waste volume, disposal method, and per-acre daily rates. The bill removes a categorical definition of "beneficial use" for water permits and instead mandates case-by-case department reviews for permit approvals, with strict 90-day (new) and 30-day (renewal) processing deadlines. This directly affects Iowa distilleries holding class "A" native distilled spirits licenses. The law aims to standardize waste disposal while shifting water permit decisions from category-based rules to individual assessments.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 19, 2026 Last action Mar 18, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Reprinted · 5 edits
MODERATE
This bill was reprinted with significant substantive changes to the language regarding native distillery operations and wastewater disposal. The most important change is the addition of specific numerical thresholds for land application of wastewater (volume limits, application rates) and the expansion of disposal options to include publicly owned treatment works and subsurface absorption systems. The bill also clarifies that beneficial use determinations should not be based on categories of uses.
Scope change
The bill's scope expanded from a general statement about disposal standards to include specific technical requirements for wastewater disposal from on-site native distillery operations.
REQUIREMENT

Added specific numerical thresholds for land application of wastewater, including volume limits of less than 1,500 gallons per day and application rate limits of 30,000 gallons per acre per year or 1,500 gallons per acre per day.

Expanded disposal options to include publicly owned treatment works with owner permission, subsurface absorption systems, and systems discharging to water of the United States under NPDES permits.

Added detailed requirements for disposal systems including location on the same site, construction conformance with permits, and compliance with EPA regulations.

DEFINITION

Added a new definition for 'on-site native distillery operation' specifying it must be an operating distillery with a class 'A' native distilled spirits license.

Removed the previous definition of beneficial use that included language about waste or pollution of water, replacing it with a simpler definition focused on useful purpose.

Floor votes · House Mar 12, 2026

How they voted

891
Passed · 9 other
Total votes 99
Mar 12, 2026
D Democratic32
27 Yea 5
84% Yea
R Republican67
62 Yea 1 Nay 4
92% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
14
Key actions
5
Committee
3
Amendments
5
Mar 18, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Subcommittee recommends indefinite postponement. [].
legislature
Mar 17, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Subcommittee Meeting: 03/18/2026 8:30AM Room 315.
legislature
Mar 17, 2026
Upper · Passed
Subcommittee: Sweeney, Shipley, and Staed.
upper
Mar 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House, yeas 90, nays 1.
lower
Mar 12, 2026
Introduced
Amendments H-8039, H-8040 and H-8041 out of order.
lower
Mar 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Amendment H-8169 adopted.
lower
Mar 5, 2026
Introduced
Amendment H-8169 filed.
lower
Mar 4, 2026
Introduced
Amendment H-8143 filed.
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Introduced
Amendments H-8039, H-8040 and H-8041 filed.
lower
Feb 19, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, placed on calendar.
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.