The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is revising the general operating permit for about 1,200 large feedlots covering Feb. 1, 2021 through Jan. 31, 2026.

Virtual information meetings about the permit are scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon on March 31 and April 2. Login information and updates will be posted on the MPCA feedlot permit webpage. You can also contact Forrest Peterson at [email protected] or by calling 320-979-1776.

Meetings that had been scheduled for March 17 at Rochester and March 19 at Mankato have been cancelled.

Following the Minnesota Department of Health’s guidance regarding COVD-19, MPCA will not be conducting in-person public meetings until after April 30. A formal 30-day public comment period for the permit will be announced in late spring or early summer.

The permit combines Minnesota rules and statutes with federal regulations of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. It’s designed to protect water quality, primarily from the storage and land application of manure. A general permit covers facilities whose operations are similar.

Under proposed changes, waters will be more protected from nitrogen leaching and runoff from land application of manure, while feedlot owners will benefit from improved forms and online services.

Although substantially similar to the current general permit, the proposed permit includes measures to limit nitrates leaching from manure land-application and a more streamlined record-keeping, permit format and application process.

Specific to manure, the proposed change would:

The prohibition of application of liquid manure at any point during the winter would remain.

MPCA recognizes that manure storage or short-term stockpiling can be a problem for some farmers. Accordingly, the permit includes language that would allow establishment of a temporary stockpile at the facility without the need to modify permit coverage.

MPCA says there will be requirements that the stockpile site would need to meet (similar to the current short-term stockpile requirements) and the temporary stockpile would need to be removed from the site as soon as field conditions allow.

Source: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all of its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.