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Iowa board reconsiders farm building inspections

Ag/Outdoor

July 19th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Electrical Examining Board is expected to decide Aug. 15 whether Iowa farm buildings must be inspected. The Des Moines Register says the board weighed conflicting opinions on the matter at a hearing Thursday. A judge had ordered the board to reconsider rules adopted after electrical regulatory legislation was passed by the Legislature in 2007. The judge said the board had gone too far in requiring the inspections.

Some farmers and their supporters object to the inspections as a power grab by the board. Other farmers and their supporters say the inspections are needed for safety.  State records say that since 1994, Iowa has had 15 farm deaths from electrocution.