1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to agriculture; establishing a moratorium on 
  1.3             the construction of certain large livestock feedlots. 
  1.4   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.5      Section 1.  [ANIMAL FEEDLOT MORATORIUM.] 
  1.6      Subdivision 1.  [DURATION.] The pollution control agency 
  1.7   and the counties exercising authority to permit animal feedlots 
  1.8   shall not grant permits for the construction or operation of any 
  1.9   new animal feedlot with a design capacity of 750 animal units or 
  1.10  more, for the expansion of an existing animal feedlot to a 
  1.11  design capacity of 750 animal units or more, or for the 
  1.12  construction or expansion of an open-air manure storage 
  1.13  structure until after July 1, 2000, and until the provisions of 
  1.14  subdivisions 2 and 3 have been accomplished. 
  1.15     Subd. 2.  [ACTIONS BY THE POLLUTION CONTROL AGENCY.] The 
  1.16  moratorium on granting permits for new or expanded animal 
  1.17  feedlots under subdivision 1 does not expire until after the 
  1.18  pollution control agency has adopted:  
  1.19     (1) revisions to the state feedlot rules; 
  1.20     (2) a program for the issuance of individual "national 
  1.21  pollutant discharge elimination system" permits for "confined 
  1.22  animal feeding operations" having a capacity of 750 animal units 
  1.23  or more.  Permits must include any requirements to ensure 
  1.24  compliance with federal and state environmental standards and a 
  2.1   plan for monitoring compliance; and 
  2.2      (3) a program for the inspection, monitoring, and 
  2.3   enforcement of feedlot violations of air and water quality 
  2.4   standards.  The program must include plans for timely on-site 
  2.5   response to citizen complaints and the maintenance of a publicly 
  2.6   accessible database of complaints. 
  2.7      Subd. 3.  [ACTIONS BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY BOARD.] The 
  2.8   moratorium on granting permits for new or expanded animal 
  2.9   feedlots under subdivision 1 does not expire until after the 
  2.10  environmental quality board has completed and delivered to the 
  2.11  legislature a report addressing the timeline and cost for 
  2.12  completing a generic environmental impact study on the 
  2.13  environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the expansion of 
  2.14  large-scale livestock production in Minnesota. 
  2.15     Subd. 4.  [EXCEPTIONS TO THE MORATORIUM.] The moratorium on 
  2.16  granting permits for new or expanded animal feedlots under 
  2.17  subdivision 1 does not prohibit:  
  2.18     (1) construction activities to repair or replace a 
  2.19  component of an existing open-air manure storage facility if the 
  2.20  repair or replacement does not result in an increase in the 
  2.21  animal unit design capacity of the animal feedlot; 
  2.22     (2) construction or expansion of an animal feedlot or 
  2.23  open-air manure storage facility if the person undertaking the 
  2.24  construction or expansion had been issued all necessary permits 
  2.25  for the construction or expansion prior to the effective date of 
  2.26  the moratorium; or 
  2.27     (3) the construction of basins that are intended to control 
  2.28  runoff from existing feedlots provided that it does not result 
  2.29  in an increase in the animal unit design capacity of the animal 
  2.30  feedlot. 
  2.31     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.32     Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment.