A three-judge panel unanimously dismissed a challenge to the North Carolina “Right to Farm” Act.

According to National Hog Farmer, the challenge was brought by the Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help, North Carolina Environmental Justice Community Action Network, and Waterkeeper Alliance in 2019. The ruling was similar to a decision made earlier this year by a special panel of three Superior Court Judges.

In 2017, North Carolina lawmakers passed legislation to clarify and strengthen the state’s Right to Farm laws to protect and ensure farming can continue in the state. The Act first got passed in 1979 and then further strengthened in 2013. Legislators added more clarification in 2017 and 2018 after a federal judge allowed nuisance lawsuits to get filed against swine farms in federal court.

This case got brought against the Right to Farm Act as a whole, so there is a possibility it could get challenged again in the future over a specific incident.

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