Generic Environmental Impact Statement on Animal Agriculture PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT August, 15 2001 Revision Minnesota Environmental Quality Board August 10, 2001 Public Comments on Draft GEIS The Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) on Animal Agriculture is being released for public comment on August 10, 2001. Eight public meetings will be held in the State of Minnesota from August 24 to September 10, 2001 to seek recommendations and comments on the issues. All comments are due to the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) by September 14, 2001. Comments and EQB responses will be included in a summary form as an appendix to the Final GEIS document. This GEIS will be presented to the EQB Board in December 2001. Further technical information and exact meeting locations can be found at Minnesota Planning’s site http://www.mnplan.state.mn.us/eqb/geis/index.html Send written comments to : Minnesota Planning Animal Agriculture GEIS 658 Cedar St., Room 300 St. Paul, MN 55155 or submit by fax: 651-296-3698 email: [email protected] After the public has reviewed the draft GEIS during the later summer of 2001, the CAC will review the comments, discuss appropriate responses, and recommend any changes or additional policy recommendations for the final GEIS document. A summary of comments and responses document will be prepared. According to the GEIS schedule, by December 2001 the document will be in final form and will be approved by the EQB. The Environmental Quality Board and the citizen advisory committee encourage the public to attend meetings and provide comments to improve the final GEIS document. Thursday, August 23 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. St. Paul, State Office Building, Tuesday, August 28 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Marshall, Southwest State University Wednesday, August 29 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Fergus Falls, Community College Thursday, August 30 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Thief River Falls, Best Western Tuesday, September 4 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Rochester, Holiday Inn South Wednesday, September 5 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Mankato, Holiday Inn Downtown Thursday, September 6 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. St. Cloud, Holiday Inn Suites Monday, September 10 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. St. Paul, Earle Brown Center If you have additional questions about these meetings or the GEIS, feel free to contact: George Johnson at 651-296-2888 or Gregg Downing at 651-205-4660 i Executive Summary The GEIS is a statewide study funded by the 1998 Minnesota Legislature. EQB was directed to “…examine the long-term effects of the livestock industry as it exists and as it is changing on the economy, environment, and way of life of Minnesota and its citizens”. The GEIS process was seen as a way to provide a full public examination of the critical environmental, economic and social factors of animal agriculture through a thorough, open stakeholder-guided process, to develop policy recommendations for the future and objective information that all decision-makers could use and rely on. The need for this study grew out of the controversy surrounding feedlots in Minnesota in the 1990's. During the decade there was ever-increasing controversy over new and expanding large-scale confinement-type animal production facilities. The same issues were continually raised about potential contamination of the air, surface waters and groundwater, and the economic and social impacts of the expansion of feedlot operations. All GEIS study phases involved input from a Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) and the general public. The EQB appointed a 25-member CAC, representing groups involved in the animal agriculture issue. CAC developed the recommendations approved by EQB for all matters involving the scope and content of the GEIS, and the policy recommendations in the GEIS document. CAC developed a list of key topics and a number of study questions under each topic. These topics and the study questions became the primary basis of the Scoping Document, which was used to guide all further GEIS investigation and documentation. The Scoping Document topics were: A. Social/Community B. Land Use C. Role of Government D. Industry Structure and Competitiveness E. Profitability and Economic Viability F. External Benefits and Costs G. Water H. Air Quality and Odor I. Soils J. Manure and Crop Nutrients K. Human Health L. Animal Health ii The first phase of work consisted of an extensive review of published literature on the twelve topics in the scope. Findings were presented in 1999 in a 1500-page document referred to as the Literature Summary for the GEIS. Many of the questions CAC asked were only partially answered by the Literature Summary. In order to try and answer the most critical questions with the time and money available, CAC and EQB staff developed the Study Work Plan. For each topic addressed consultants contracted were to perform a variety of analyses. These results were compiled together into a final report termed a Technical Work Paper (TWP). The Ten TWP’s that were produced totaled approximately 2,000 pages of text and data. There are several areas where there was insufficient time, money or information available to complete the assigned tasks. Two TWPs were to provide information and data of more universal applicability. One was a TWP written to describe what animal agriculture is like and how it got that way over the last several decades. This is called the Description of Animal Agriculture TWP. The other general TWP is a description and summary of efforts to inventory and locate to a specific geographical location information on the species and number of animal at all feedlots in each county across Minnesota. Geographical Information System (GIS) mapping techniques will be used to investigate geographical relationships between feedlots and other spatial factors. This draft GEIS document was prepared by the EQB staff by extracting the most relevant information from the TWPs and the Literature Summary. As a general rule, the chapters are organized according to the scoping study questions. However, in a few cases, a different organizational scheme has been followed. The GEIS is a generic or general document. It supplies broad information that can be used on a number of projects of the same general type. This Animal Agriculture GEIS does not in any way replace the need for a site-specific EAW or EIS on any individual project. Minnesota has unique aspects to our animal agriculture, but many of the challenges and opportunities we experience are common to other US States and Canadian provinces. As the world economy expands, local problems take on global aspects. The GEIS will help provide a better understanding of transboundary issues which are increasing in importance. The success of the final GEIS on Animal Agriculture will be measured by how well it informs government officials, project proposers and the public on animal agriculture and the extent to which the information is used in future decisions and policies made or enacted by Minnesota state and local governments. iii Table of Contents Sections Executive Summary i 1. Table of Contents …………………………….………………………………….…. 1 2. Introduction to Animal Agriculture GEIS ….……..…………………………… 3 3. CAC Consensus Policy Recommendations ………………………………. ….. 18 4. Description of Animal Agriculture in Minnesota…….………………………..…..27 5. Social/Community Issues ……..………………………...…………………………..39 6. Land Use Conflicts and Regulation ………………………………………………. 51 7. Role of Government ………………………………………………………………. 71 8. Economic Topics……………………………………………………………………..95 9. Water Quality…………………………………………………………….. …….….113 10. Air Quality & Odor ……….…………………………………………….. …….….129 11. Soils and Manure ……….…………………………………………….. …….….141 12. Human Health ……….…………………………………………….. …….….157 13. Animal Health and Well-Being …….…………………………….. ……. ….175 Appendices A. Glossary ……………………………..…………………………….. ……. ….187 B. Maps and Geographic Information System Information C. Public Comments to Draft GEIS and EQB Responses 1 2 Introduction to Animal Agriculture GEIS The Generic Environmental Impact Statement or “GEIS” on Animal Agriculture is a statewide study authorized and funded by the 1998 Minnesota Legislature and ordered by the Environmental Quality Board. The Legislation directs the EQB to “…examine the long-term effects of the livestock industry as it exists and as it is changing on the economy, environment, and way of life of Minnesota and its citizens”. Need for the GEIS The need for this study grew out of the controversy surrounding feedlots in Minnesota in the 1990's. During the decade there was ever-increasing controversy especially over new and expanding large-scale confinement-type animal production facilities. Issues were continually raised about potential contamination of the air, surface waters and groundwater as well as concerns over economic and social impacts of the expansion of large-scale feedlot operations. These issues were often raised in the context of decisions on individual permits at both the state and county level or in petitions for EAW’s, yet these broad issues were outside the scope of individual permit review and outside the authority and expertise of any unit of government. The same issues were being raised in the context of legislative discussions on a variety of bills related to feedlots, some promoting feedlot expansions, some seeking to restrict them. The public was raising important questions to which no one had answers. Often even the nature of the issue was obscure; often the only certainty seemed to be that there was controversy. One thing that could be agreed on was that there was the need for a workable forum for addressing the various issues surrounding feedlots. A means was needed to disentangle the various concerns issues that were being raised and identify the legitimate issues, and to provide all Minnesotans with objective, scientific information. The forum chosen was the Generic Environmental Impact Statement, a process provided for in the Environmental Review rules of the EQB. This statewide study will provide Minnesotans with objective, scientific information and give them the opportunity to express their opinions and weigh future policy options.