1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to courts; setting standards for expert witnesses in certain procedures;
1.3 	amending Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 595.02, by adding a subdivision.
1.4 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.5 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 595.02, is amended by adding a 
1.6 	subdivision to read:
1.7 		Subd. 1b.Expert witness; qualifications. In any hearing or trial brought against a 
1.8 	utility selling electricity at retail in which it is alleged that electric currents in the earth 
1.9 	from the utility's grounded electric distribution system impact the health and production of 
1.10 	dairy animals, a witness testifying to the mechanism by which earth currents may interact 
1.11 	with dairy animals may not be offered as an expert witness unless the witness has been 
1.12 	awarded an undergraduate or graduate degree in electrical engineering from an accredited 
1.13 	college or university and is licensed under sections 326.02 to 326.15 as a professional 
1.14 	engineer or possesses an equivalent license from another state.

1.15 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment 
1.16 	and applies to proceedings commenced on or after that date.