Relating to agriculture; requiring the commissioner of agriculture to develop in conjunction with the university of Minnesota extension service innovative educational and training programs addressing manure applicator concerns including water quality protection and the development of manure management plans, requiring the commissioner to appoint educational planning committees and authorizing the commissioner to approve programs from private industry and nonprofit organizations meeting minimum requirements for education, training and certification, requiring a commissioner report to the legislature by a certain date with recommendations for training, examination, certification and costs of a private applicator manure certification program; requiring the commissioner in conjunction with the university of Minnesota extension service to continually revise and update manure applicator training manuals and examinations; requiring and providing for private manure applicator certification after a certain date, fees, commercial animal waste technician exception, restricting the application of animal waste from registered feedlots to certified applicators; modifying certain feedlot permit provisions; defining and providing for the calculation of animal units; subjecting permits issued by the pollution control agency or counties to the time deadline for agency action; feedlot permit not to be required solely on the basis of a change in ownership of the buildings, grounds or feedlot; prohibiting the PCA from imposing additional conditions on feedlot permits after adoption of certain proposed rules, exceptions; restricting the authority of the PCA to require feedlot upgrades; modifying certain national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permitting requirements, specifying certain permit status transfer criteria development requirements of the commissioner in consultation with the feedlot and manure management advisory committee; exempting livestock production facilities from state ambient air quality standards during removal, specifying certain limits and notice requirements; applying ambient air quality standards at boundaries of farms containing livestock production facilities, exception for certain air quality easements; prohibiting the PCA from requiring air emission modeling for livestock systems with no hydrogen sulfide emission violations; making the feedlot administrative penalty order forgiveness option mandatory and proportional and expanding authorized uses of abated penalties; modifying the timeline for the prohibition on PCA or county issuance of permits for the construction of open air clay, earthen or flexible membrane line swine waste lagoons; requiring a PCA commissioner report to the legislature by a certain date on additional resources needed to accomplish timely response to animal feedlot permit applications under certain conditions; requiring the PCA to amend the proposed permanent rules relating to animal feedlots and storage, transportation and utilization of manure, requiring the removal of certain provisions, prohibiting certain requirements and requiring the inclusion of certain registration provisions and location restrictions; requiring the commissioner of agriculture in close collaboration with the commissioner of the PCA and in consultation with the commissioner of finance and a representative of the board of water and soil resources (BOWSR) to study the need for state financial assistance by operators of certain smaller feedlots and report to the legislature by a certain date, specifying certain study and report content requirements, placing a moratorium on upgrade requirements for small feedlots until enactment of the funding proposal; requiring the commissioner of the PCA to convene a workgroup to review and propose design standards for liquid manure storage facilities in areas susceptible to soil collapse and sinkhole formation, specifying certain membership representation requirements and requiring the commissioner to submit the findings and recommendations of the workgroup to the legislature by a certain date; requiring the commissioner of agriculture to study and develop a plan in conjunction with the university of Minnesota extension service for innovative educational and training programs addressing manure applicator concerns, requiring the appointment of educational planning committees and authorizing the commissioner to consider programs from private industry and nonprofit organizations meeting minimum requirements for education, training and certification (Ch. 435, 2000)