1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to agriculture; modifying provisions relating 
  1.3             to feedlots; providing for a level 1 feedlot 
  1.4             inventory; providing that the department of 
  1.5             agriculture must provide certain inspection services 
  1.6             on dairy farms; requiring cooperation between the 
  1.7             pollution control agency and the department of 
  1.8             agriculture; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.9             Statutes, chapter 116. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  [116.0712] [FEEDLOT PERMIT CONDITIONS.] 
  1.12     (a) The agency shall not require feedlot permittees to 
  1.13  prepare an air emission plan when the permittee has not violated 
  1.14  state ambient air quality standards or state health risk values. 
  1.15     (b) The agency shall not require feedlot permittees to 
  1.16  maintain records as to rainfall or snowfall as a condition of a 
  1.17  general feedlot permit. 
  1.18     (c) A feedlot permittee shall give notice to the agency 
  1.19  when the permittee proposes to transfer ownership or control of 
  1.20  the feedlot to a new party.  Agency approval of a proposed 
  1.21  transfer of ownership or control is required only when the new 
  1.22  owner or operator has a history of noncompliance with federal or 
  1.23  state environmental laws. 
  1.24     (d) Two or more feedlot projects shall be considered part 
  1.25  of a phased action as defined in Minnesota Rules, part 
  1.26  4410.0200, subpart 60, only when the feedlots are developed on 
  1.27  contiguous parcels of land. 
  2.1      (e) If the owner of an animal feedlot requests an extension 
  2.2   for an application for a National Pollutant Discharge 
  2.3   Elimination permit or state disposal system permit by June 1, 
  2.4   2001, then the agency shall grant an extension for the 
  2.5   application to September 1, 2001. 
  2.6      (f) An animal feedlot in shoreland that has been unused may 
  2.7   resume operation after obtaining a permit from the agency or 
  2.8   county, regardless of the number of years that the feedlot was 
  2.9   unused. 
  2.10     Sec. 2.  [LEVEL ONE FEEDLOT INVENTORY.] 
  2.11     (a) Not later than August 1, 2001, the commissioner of the 
  2.12  pollution control agency shall initiate procedures to amend 
  2.13  Minnesota Rules, sections 7020.0100 to 7020.2225, to provide 
  2.14  that a county that has not as of that date conducted a level 2 
  2.15  or a level 3 inventory of feedlot facilities in the county may 
  2.16  conduct a level 1 inventory or certify a level 1 inventory 
  2.17  conducted within the preceding 24 months.  
  2.18     (b) Operators of feedlots in a county that has conducted a 
  2.19  level 1, level 2, or level 3 feedlot inventory are not required 
  2.20  to register individual feedlot facilities with the pollution 
  2.21  control agency or with a county feedlot officer. 
  2.22     (c) A county has accomplished a level 1 feedlot inventory 
  2.23  when the county board determines, by resolution, that a 
  2.24  good-faith effort has been made to identify the aggregate number 
  2.25  of animal units, by animal type and recognized watershed or 
  2.26  watershed district, located in the county.  The inventory must 
  2.27  have been accomplished by an appropriate county officer or 
  2.28  employee, or an appropriate and qualified person under contract 
  2.29  to the county, including an officer or employee of a contiguous 
  2.30  county, an employee of another governmental unit, or an employee 
  2.31  of an institution of higher education.  A level 1 feedlot 
  2.32  inventory approved by a county board is deemed reasonable and 
  2.33  accurate without further audit or substantiation. 
  2.34     Sec. 3.  [LEGISLATIVE DIRECTIVE.] 
  2.35     Subdivision 1.  [TRANSFER OF CERTAIN RESPONSIBILITIES.] By 
  2.36  July 1, 2005, the commissioners of agriculture and the pollution 
  3.1   control agency shall have finalized arrangements by which the 
  3.2   department of agriculture will assume primary responsibility for 
  3.3   monitoring and enforcing Minnesota air and water quality 
  3.4   standards, feedlot rules, and other environmental laws 
  3.5   applicable to all dairy farms that are facilities with less than 
  3.6   1,000 animal units.  The arrangements must assure effective, 
  3.7   ongoing communication between the department and the agency and 
  3.8   must be in compliance with federal laws and regulations of the 
  3.9   United States Environmental Protection Agency. 
  3.10     Subd. 2.  [TRANSITION PERIOD; COMMUNICATION; 
  3.11  TRAINING.] Between July 1, 2001, and the date of full 
  3.12  implementation of final arrangements for transferring 
  3.13  responsibility for dairy inspections, the commissioners of 
  3.14  agriculture and the pollution control agency, in consultation 
  3.15  with appropriate representatives of dairy producers, dairy 
  3.16  processors, county feedlot staff in delegated counties, agency 
  3.17  staff administering the feedlot program in nondelegated 
  3.18  counties, environmental organizations, and the United States 
  3.19  Environmental Protection Agency shall coordinate a program of 
  3.20  communication, training, and performance standards to facilitate 
  3.21  the transition of authority and responsibility. 
  3.22     Subd. 3.  [SHARED, COORDINATED RESPONSIBILITIES FOR CERTAIN 
  3.23  DAIRIES.] Staff of the department and the agency must develop 
  3.24  mutually agreeable joint inspection schedules as appropriate for 
  3.25  dairy facilities having more than 1,000 animal units. 
  3.26     Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.27     Sections 1 to 3 are effective the day following final 
  3.28  enactment.