HF 1827

as introduced - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the environment; expanding the pollution 
  1.3             control agency's authority to expedite permits; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 116.07, 
  1.5             subdivision 4d. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 116.07, 
  1.8   subdivision 4d, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 4d.  [PERMIT FEES.] (a) The agency may collect permit 
  1.10  fees in amounts not greater than those necessary to cover the 
  1.11  reasonable costs of reviewing and acting upon applications for 
  1.12  agency permits and implementing and enforcing the conditions of 
  1.13  the permits pursuant to agency rules.  Permit fees shall not 
  1.14  include the costs of litigation.  The fee schedule must reflect 
  1.15  reasonable and routine permitting, implementation, and 
  1.16  enforcement costs.  The agency may impose an additional 
  1.17  enforcement fee to be collected for a period of up to two years 
  1.18  to cover the reasonable costs of implementing and enforcing the 
  1.19  conditions of a permit under the rules of the agency.  Any money 
  1.20  collected under this paragraph shall be deposited in the 
  1.21  environmental fund. 
  1.22     (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), and section 16A.1285, 
  1.23  subdivision 2, the agency shall collect an annual fee from the 
  1.24  owner or operator of all stationary sources, emission 
  1.25  facilities, emissions units, air contaminant treatment 
  2.1   facilities, treatment facilities, potential air contaminant 
  2.2   storage facilities, or storage facilities subject to the 
  2.3   requirement to obtain a permit under subchapter V of the federal 
  2.4   Clean Air Act, United States Code, title 42, section 7401 et 
  2.5   seq., or section 116.081.  The annual fee shall be used to pay 
  2.6   for all direct and indirect reasonable costs, including attorney 
  2.7   general costs, required to develop and administer the permit 
  2.8   program requirements of subchapter V of the federal Clean Air 
  2.9   Act, United States Code, title 42, section 7401 et seq., and 
  2.10  sections of this chapter and the rules adopted under this 
  2.11  chapter related to air contamination and noise.  Those costs 
  2.12  include the reasonable costs of reviewing and acting upon an 
  2.13  application for a permit; implementing and enforcing statutes, 
  2.14  rules, and the terms and conditions of a permit; emissions, 
  2.15  ambient, and deposition monitoring; preparing generally 
  2.16  applicable regulations; responding to federal guidance; 
  2.17  modeling, analyses, and demonstrations; preparing inventories 
  2.18  and tracking emissions; and providing information to the public 
  2.19  about these activities. 
  2.20     (c) The agency shall set fees that: 
  2.21     (1) will result in the collection, in the aggregate, from 
  2.22  the sources listed in paragraph (b), of an amount not less than 
  2.23  $25 per ton of each volatile organic compound; pollutant 
  2.24  regulated under United States Code, title 42, section 7411 or 
  2.25  7412 (section 111 or 112 of the federal Clean Air Act); and each 
  2.26  pollutant, except carbon monoxide, for which a national primary 
  2.27  ambient air quality standard has been promulgated; 
  2.28     (2) may result in the collection, in the aggregate, from 
  2.29  the sources listed in paragraph (b), of an amount not less than 
  2.30  $25 per ton of each pollutant not listed in clause (1) that is 
  2.31  regulated under this chapter or air quality rules adopted under 
  2.32  this chapter; and 
  2.33     (3) shall collect, in the aggregate, from the sources 
  2.34  listed in paragraph (b), the amount needed to match grant funds 
  2.35  received by the state under United States Code, title 42, 
  2.36  section 7405 (section 105 of the federal Clean Air Act). 
  3.1   The agency must not include in the calculation of the aggregate 
  3.2   amount to be collected under clauses (1) and (2) any amount in 
  3.3   excess of 4,000 tons per year of each air pollutant from a 
  3.4   source.  The increase in air permit fees to match federal grant 
  3.5   funds shall be a surcharge on existing fees.  The commissioner 
  3.6   may not collect the surcharge after the grant funds become 
  3.7   unavailable.  In addition, the commissioner shall use nonfee 
  3.8   funds to the extent practical to match the grant funds so that 
  3.9   the fee surcharge is minimized. 
  3.10     (d) To cover the reasonable costs described in paragraph 
  3.11  (b), the agency shall provide in the rules promulgated under 
  3.12  paragraph (c) for an increase in the fee collected in each year 
  3.13  by the percentage, if any, by which the Consumer Price Index for 
  3.14  the most recent calendar year ending before the beginning of the 
  3.15  year the fee is collected exceeds the Consumer Price Index for 
  3.16  the calendar year 1989.  For purposes of this paragraph the 
  3.17  Consumer Price Index for any calendar year is the average of the 
  3.18  Consumer Price Index for all-urban consumers published by the 
  3.19  United States Department of Labor, as of the close of the 
  3.20  12-month period ending on August 31 of each calendar year.  The 
  3.21  revision of the Consumer Price Index that is most consistent 
  3.22  with the Consumer Price Index for calendar year 1989 shall be 
  3.23  used. 
  3.24     (e) Any money collected under paragraphs (b) to (d) must be 
  3.25  deposited in an air quality account in the environmental fund 
  3.26  and must be used solely for the activities listed in paragraph 
  3.27  (b).  
  3.28     (f) Persons who wish to construct or expand an air emission 
  3.29  a facility may offer to reimburse the agency for the costs of 
  3.30  staff overtime or consultant services needed to expedite permit 
  3.31  review.  The reimbursement shall be in addition to fees imposed 
  3.32  by paragraphs (a) to (d) law.  When the agency determines that 
  3.33  it needs additional resources to review the permit application 
  3.34  in an expedited manner, and that expediting the review would not 
  3.35  disrupt air permitting program priorities, the agency may accept 
  3.36  the reimbursement.  Reimbursements accepted by the agency are 
  4.1   appropriated to the agency for the purpose of reviewing the 
  4.2   permit application.  Reimbursement by a permit applicant shall 
  4.3   precede and not be contingent upon issuance of a permit and 
  4.4   shall not affect the agency's decision on whether to issue or 
  4.5   deny a permit, what conditions are included in a permit, or the 
  4.6   application of state and federal statutes and rules governing 
  4.7   permit determinations.