FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 25, 2010
Contact: Forrest Peterson, 320-441-6972
St. Paul, Minn. — Several southern Minnesota counties are hosting information meetings for large livestock producers who have until Aug. 1 to apply for a new general operating permit. About 1,200 livestock facilities in Minnesota operate under a five-year federal/state general National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The new permit covers Feb. 1, 2011, through Jan. 31, 2016.
In west central Minnesota, Renville County is hosting a meeting 9 a.m.-noon, Wednesday, March 3, in room 116 of the Renville County government services center in Olivia. In the southeast, feedlot officers of Dodge, Freeborn, Goodhue, Mower, Rice and Steele counties will host an information meeting at 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 24, at the community center in Blooming Prairie.
MPCA regional staff from the Rochester and Marshall offices will be present to review the new permit and answer questions on the process. The Rochester feedlot staff also plans an information meeting for 1 p.m., March 25, at the Rochester MPCA office, 18 Wood Lake Dr. SE.
"As counties we don't handle the NPDES permits, but we can help to get the word out," says Scott Refsland, Renville County feedlot officer. Invitation letters were sent to about 125 livestock producers with NPDES permits in Renville, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Chippewa, Redwood and Yellow Medicine counties. Others are welcome to attend.
"This will offer the opportunity for producers to review the changes and provide adequate time to gather the necessary information needed to meet the Aug. 1, 2010, application deadline," says Dan Vermilyea, Steele County feedlot officer.
The NPDES program regulates the discharge of pollutants from point sources to U.S. surface waters. The federal Clean Water Act defines Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) as point sources. In Minnesota, the large majority are located in the southern half of the state.
The 2011-16 general permit is a combination of the federal requirements for large CAFOs and Minnesota rules and statutes. It prohibits the discharge of pollutants from livestock production areas, and restricts the amount of pollutants entering waters of the state as a result of land application of manure. It is intended to protect surface and groundwater quality around feedlot facilities and to minimize any pollution impacts caused by pathogens and nutrients, primarily from manure.
A significant change in the new permit moves the issuance date up to Feb. 1, 2011 (previously May 31) to better align with spring construction. This also moves the application deadline ahead to Aug. 1, 2010. Application packets will be available sometime after Feb. 26.
Other changes include:
• Manure management plans required to cover the five-year permitting period.
• Annual reports (due March 1) must include the specific manure application records.
• Thirty-day public notice of application for permit coverage, or substantial manure management plan changes.
• Increased restrictions for liquid manure application to frozen and snow-covered soils.
The 2011-2016 general NPDES permit for feedlots is on the Web at: www.pca.state.mn.us/hot/feedlot-forms.html#newnpdes.
