1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the environment; requiring a study of 
  1.3             environmental justice; appropriating money. 
  1.4   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.5      Section 1.  [ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE STUDY.] 
  1.6      (a) The environmental quality board shall study the issue 
  1.7   of environmental justice, as the term is defined by the United 
  1.8   States Environmental Protection Agency and as described in 
  1.9   Executive Order No. 12898 issued February 11, 1994. 
  1.10     (b) As part of the study, the board must consult with the 
  1.11  Asian-Pacific Minnesotans council, the council on Black 
  1.12  Minnesotans, the Indian affairs council, the Spanish-speaking 
  1.13  affairs council, the legislative commission on the economic 
  1.14  status of women, the attorney general, the departments of human 
  1.15  rights, trade and economic development, health, and agriculture, 
  1.16  the pollution control agency, and appropriate business and labor 
  1.17  groups. 
  1.18     (c) By January 1, 1997, the board must report the study to 
  1.19  the house and senate environment and natural resources 
  1.20  committees, and make recommendations on: 
  1.21     (1) the need for an environmental justice task force to 
  1.22  advise the board; 
  1.23     (2) any statutory changes needed in Minnesota law to 
  1.24  reflect environmental justice concerns; and 
  2.1      (3) the possibility of receiving technical and financial 
  2.2   assistance grants for environmental justice concerns from public 
  2.3   and private sources. 
  2.4      Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.5      $20,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  2.6   director of the environmental quality board for the purposes of 
  2.7   section 1 to be available for the biennium ending June 30, 1997.