In re Proposed Expansion of Daley Farms of Lewiston LLP et al.

In an unpublished opinion, the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA’s) determination that an environmental impact statement was not necessary for the proposed expansion of a dairy farm concentrated animal feeding operation. The court concluded that the MPCA should have considered greenhouse gas emissions—an issue raised by an environmental group during the comment period—even though the issue was not included on the alternative environmental assessment worksheet for animal feedlots used in the environmental review. The court noted that the MPCA did not dispute that large dairy farm operations emit methane and also that the MPCA indicated that it was considering changing its review for feedlots to include greenhouse gas emissions, implying that “the MPCA was aware of, but failed to consider the potential effects of the greenhouse-gas emissions.” The court rejected other objections to the MPCA’s determinations.