(a) The Legislature finds and declares that a diversity of dairy methane management practices, including anaerobic digesters and nondigester dairy methane management strategies, can effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Nondigester dairy methane management strategies include, but are not limited to, scrape conversion, open solar drying and composting of manure onsite, conversion of dairy operations to pasture-based management, and solid separation technologies.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Conversion of dairy operations to pasture-based management” means dairying systems where the dairy cows spend a portion of their time grazing on fields in which some or all of the manure is deposited and left in the field and decomposes aerobically, which avoids methane emissions.
(2) “Open solar drying and composting of manure onsite” means the collection, storage, and drying of dairy manure in a nonliquid environment.
(3) “Scrape conversion” means the conversion of flush water lagoon systems to solid-scrape or dry manure management practices, including vacuum technologies for manure management.
(4) “Solid separation technologies” means technologies designed to separate liquid components of manure from minerals and organic components, for the purposes of reducing methane emissions.
(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 368, Sec. 2. (SB 859) Effective September 14, 2016.)