Attorney General Tom Corbett this week announced he has appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court two lawsuits that were filed in June, which challenged municipal ordinances in Berks and Chester counties, alleging that they unfairly and illegally restricted normal agriculture operations.

The lawsuits were filed on June 29 by the Attorney General's Office under Pennsylvania's Agricultural, Communities and Rural Environment (ACRE) law, which was enacted to help protect Pennsylvania agriculture from unauthorized municipal regulation.

The ACRE law took effect on July 6, 2005, giving farmers the right to ask the Attorney General's Office to review local ordinances that they feel unlawfully restrict normal agricultural operations or ownership. ACRE gives the Attorney General's Office the authority to file lawsuits in Commonwealth Court to challenge local ordinances that, in its judgment, violate state law.

Earlier this month, in the first decisions under ACRE, Commonwealth Court ruled that the Attorney General can challenge an ordinance adopted before ACRE was passed only if the municipality has acted to enforce the ordinance.

"I appealed the decisions," General Corbett explained, "because I believe that ACRE protects farmers just as much from old unlawful ordinances as from new ones."

General Corbett said that five lawsuits have been filed by the Attorney General's Office under the ACRE protection law since it took effect. The two lawsuits being appealed are against Heidelberg Township, North Heidelberg Township, Robesonia Borough and Womelsdorf Borough, Berks County and Lower Oxford Township, Chester County.

According to the Attorney General's lawsuit, Heidelberg Township adopted a joint zoning ordinance in January 2004 to define, regulate and place a series of restrictions on the "intensive raising of livestock or poultry."

The lawsuit against Lower Oxford Township states that in March 2004 the Lower Oxford Township Board of Supervisors adopted an ordinance that defines a "commercial composting processing operation," placing a series of restrictions on mushroom compost preparation.

General Corbett said that the lawsuit states that Lower Oxford Township has no legal authority to regulate mushroom compost preparation, which is a normal agricultural operation under state law.

Both lawsuits asked the Commonwealth Court to declare the township ordinances null and void and prevent the townships and boroughs from enforcing the illegal ordinance.

12/29/2006