1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to agriculture; providing a waiver from 
  1.3             liability for certain landowners; allowing certain 
  1.4             alternative disposal methods; modifying feedlot 
  1.5             provisions; providing for a level 1 feedlot inventory; 
  1.6             amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 116.07, by 
  1.7             adding a subdivision; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.8             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 116. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 116.07, is 
  1.11  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 7d.  [EXEMPTION.] Notwithstanding subdivision 7 or 
  1.13  other law or rule to the contrary, and notwithstanding the 
  1.14  proximity to public or private waters, an owner or resident of 
  1.15  agricultural land on which livestock have been allowed to 
  1.16  pasture at any time during the ten-year period beginning January 
  1.17  1, 1990, is permanently exempt from requirements related to 
  1.18  feedlot or manure management on that land for so long as the 
  1.19  property remains in pasture. 
  1.20     Sec. 2.  [116.0712] [FEEDLOT PERMIT CONDITIONS.] 
  1.21     (a) The agency shall not require feedlot permittees to 
  1.22  prepare an air emission plan when the permittee has not violated 
  1.23  state ambient air quality standards or state health risk values. 
  1.24     (b) The agency shall not require feedlot permittees to 
  1.25  maintain records as to rainfall or snowfall as a condition of a 
  1.26  general feedlot permit. 
  1.27     (c) A feedlot permittee shall give notice to the agency 
  2.1   when the permittee proposes to transfer ownership or control of 
  2.2   the feedlot to a new party.  Agency approval of a proposed 
  2.3   transfer of ownership or control is required only when the new 
  2.4   owner or operator has a history of noncompliance with federal or 
  2.5   state environmental laws. 
  2.6      (d) Two or more feedlot projects shall be considered part 
  2.7   of a phased action as defined in Minnesota Rules, part 
  2.8   4410.0200, subpart 60, only when the feedlots are developed on 
  2.9   contiguous parcels of land. 
  2.10     (e) If the owner of an animal feedlot requests an extension 
  2.11  for an application for a National Pollutant Discharge 
  2.12  Elimination permit or state disposal system permit by June 1, 
  2.13  2001, then the agency shall grant an extension for the 
  2.14  application to September 1, 2001. 
  2.15     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective the day 
  2.16  following final enactment. 
  2.17     Sec. 3.  [LEVEL ONE FEEDLOT INVENTORY.] 
  2.18     (a) Not later than August 1, 2001, the commissioner of the 
  2.19  pollution control agency shall allow a county that has not as of 
  2.20  that date conducted a level 2 or a level 3 inventory of feedlot 
  2.21  facilities in the county may conduct a level 1 inventory or 
  2.22  certify a level 1 inventory conducted within the preceding 24 
  2.23  months.  
  2.24     (b) Operators of feedlots in a county that has conducted a 
  2.25  level 1, level 2, or level 3 feedlot inventory are not required 
  2.26  to register individual feedlot facilities with the pollution 
  2.27  control agency or with a county feedlot officer. 
  2.28     (c) A county has accomplished a level 1 feedlot inventory 
  2.29  when the county board determines, by resolution, that a 
  2.30  good-faith effort has been made to identify the aggregate number 
  2.31  of animal units, by animal type and recognized watershed or 
  2.32  watershed district, located in the county.  The inventory must 
  2.33  have been accomplished by an appropriate county officer or 
  2.34  employee, or an appropriate and qualified person under contract 
  2.35  to the county, including an officer or employee of a contiguous 
  2.36  county, an employee of another governmental unit, or an employee 
  3.1   of an institution of higher education.  A level 1 feedlot 
  3.2   inventory approved by a county board is deemed reasonable and 
  3.3   accurate without further audit or substantiation. 
  3.4      Sec. 4.  [REQUIRED RULE CHANGE; WASTEWATER FROM MILKHOUSES 
  3.5   ON SMALL DAIRIES.] 
  3.6      Not later than August 1, 2001, the commissioner of the 
  3.7   pollution control agency shall allow alternative methods for 
  3.8   disposal of milkhouse process wastewaters by a dairy operation 
  3.9   having 300 animal units or fewer.  The intent of this section is 
  3.10  to provide reasonable alternative means for small dairy 
  3.11  producers to dispose of milkhouse process wastewaters.  
  3.12  Allowable alternatives must include, among others, surface 
  3.13  discharge of process wastewaters onto agricultural land as 
  3.14  defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 103G.005, subdivision 2a, 
  3.15  except discharge into type 4, 5, 6, or 7 wetlands as defined in 
  3.16  Minnesota Statutes, section 103G.005, subdivision 17b. 
  3.17     Sec. 5.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.18     Section 3 is effective the day following final enactment.