HF 3783

1st Engrossment - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 04/11/2016 04:49pm

A bill for an act
relating to environment; providing for expedited environmental review billing
option; appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2015 Supplement,
section 116.07, subdivision 4d.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2015 Supplement, section 116.07, subdivision 4d,
is amended to read:

Subd. 4d.

Permit fees.

(a) The agency may collect permit fees in amounts not greater
than those necessary to cover the reasonable costs of developing, reviewing, and acting
upon applications for agency permits and implementing and enforcing the conditions of
the permits pursuant to agency rules. Permit fees shall not include the costs of litigation.
The fee schedule must reflect reasonable and routine direct and indirect costs associated
with permitting, implementation, and enforcement. The agency may impose an additional
enforcement fee to be collected for a period of up to two years to cover the reasonable costs
of implementing and enforcing the conditions of a permit under the rules of the agency.
Any money collected under this paragraph shall be deposited in the environmental fund.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the agency shall collect an annual fee from
the owner or operator of all stationary sources, emission facilities, emissions units, air
contaminant treatment facilities, treatment facilities, potential air contaminant storage
facilities, or storage facilities subject to a notification, permit, or license requirement
under this chapter, subchapters I and V of the federal Clean Air Act, United States Code,
title 42, section 7401 et seq., or rules adopted thereunder. The annual fee shall be used to
pay for all direct and indirect reasonable costs, including legal costs, required to develop
and administer the notification, permit, or license program requirements of this chapter,
subchapters I and V of the federal Clean Air Act, United States Code, title 42, section 7401
et seq., or rules adopted thereunder. Those costs include the reasonable costs of reviewing
and acting upon an application for a permit; implementing and enforcing statutes, rules,
and the terms and conditions of a permit; emissions, ambient, and deposition monitoring;
preparing generally applicable regulations; responding to federal guidance; modeling,
analyses, and demonstrations; preparing inventories and tracking emissions; and providing
information to the public about these activities.

(c) The agency shall set fees that:

(1) will result in the collection, in the aggregate, from the sources listed in paragraph
(b), of an amount not less than $25 per ton of each volatile organic compound; pollutant
regulated under United States Code, title 42, section 7411 or 7412 (section 111 or 112
of the federal Clean Air Act); and each pollutant, except carbon monoxide, for which a
national primary ambient air quality standard has been promulgated;

(2) may result in the collection, in the aggregate, from the sources listed in paragraph
(b), of an amount not less than $25 per ton of each pollutant not listed in clause (1) that is
regulated under this chapter or air quality rules adopted under this chapter; and

(3) shall collect, in the aggregate, from the sources listed in paragraph (b), the
amount needed to match grant funds received by the state under United States Code, title
42, section 7405 (section 105 of the federal Clean Air Act).

The agency must not include in the calculation of the aggregate amount to be collected
under clauses (1) and (2) any amount in excess of 4,000 tons per year of each air pollutant
from a source. The increase in air permit fees to match federal grant funds shall be a
surcharge on existing fees. The commissioner may not collect the surcharge after the grant
funds become unavailable. In addition, the commissioner shall use nonfee funds to the
extent practical to match the grant funds so that the fee surcharge is minimized.

(d) To cover the reasonable costs described in paragraph (b), the agency shall provide
in the rules promulgated under paragraph (c) for an increase in the fee collected in each year
by the percentage, if any, by which the Consumer Price Index for the most recent calendar
year ending before the beginning of the year the fee is collected exceeds the Consumer Price
Index for the calendar year 1989. For purposes of this paragraph the Consumer Price Index
for any calendar year is the average of the Consumer Price Index for all-urban consumers
published by the United States Department of Labor, as of the close of the 12-month period
ending on August 31 of each calendar year. The revision of the Consumer Price Index that
is most consistent with the Consumer Price Index for calendar year 1989 shall be used.

(e) Any money collected under paragraphs (b) to (d) must be deposited in the
environmental fund and must be used solely for the activities listed in paragraph (b).

(f) deleted text begin Permit applicants deleted text end new text begin Project proposers new text end who wish to construct, reconstruct, or modify
a deleted text begin facility deleted text end new text begin project new text end may offer to reimburse the agency for the new text begin reasonable new text end costs deleted text begin of staff
time or consultant services deleted text end needed to expedite the new text begin preapplication process and new text end permit
development process new text begin through the final decision on the permit new text end , including the analysis
of environmental review documents. The reimbursement shall be in addition to permit
application fees imposed by law. When the agency determines that it needs additional
resources to develop the permit application in an expedited manner, and that expediting
the development is consistent with permitting program priorities, the agency may accept
the reimbursement. new text begin The commissioner must give the proposer an estimate of costs to be
incurred by the commissioner. The estimate must include a brief description of the tasks
to be performed, a schedule for completing the tasks, and the estimated cost for each task.
The proposer and the commissioner shall enter into a written agreement to cover the
estimated costs to be incurred by the commissioner and recourse, including but not limited
to a reduction or withholding of fees, the project proposer may seek if the agency fails
to comply with the schedule. The agreement must also include the staff assigned to the
project and terms requiring the assigned staff to work preferentially on the project until the
permit is issued. The commissioner shall not issue a permit until the proposer has paid
all fees in full. The commissioner shall refund any unobligated balance of fees paid.
new text end Reimbursements accepted by the agency are appropriated to the agency for the purpose of
developing the permit or analyzing environmental review documents. Reimbursement by
a permit applicant shall precede and not be contingent upon issuance of a permit; shall
not affect the agency's decision on whether to issue or deny a permit, what conditions are
included in a permit, or the application of state and federal statutes and rules governing
permit determinations; and shall not affect final decisions regarding environmental review.

(g) The fees under this subdivision are exempt from section 16A.1285.