1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to metropolitan government; creating a 
  1.3             contaminated site cleanup loan program within the 
  1.4             metropolitan council; levying taxes; proposing coding 
  1.5             for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 473. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [473.250] [CONTAMINATED SITE CLEANUP LOAN 
  1.8   PROGRAM.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [LOAN PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.] The council may 
  1.10  make loans to counties, towns, statutory or home rule charter 
  1.11  cities, housing and redevelopment authorities, economic 
  1.12  development authorities, and port authorities within the 
  1.13  metropolitan area for the costs of environmental testing and 
  1.14  site investigation and the preparation and implementation of a 
  1.15  response action plan approved by the commissioner of the 
  1.16  pollution control agency for the cleanup of polluted or 
  1.17  contaminated real property.  The loans shall be made by the 
  1.18  council, with such terms and conditions as the council 
  1.19  determines appropriate, from the fund established pursuant to 
  1.20  this subdivision.  The loans shall bear no interest.  The 
  1.21  council shall make a loan only for those sites which qualify as 
  1.22  provided in subdivision 3.  The determination of whether to make 
  1.23  a loan is within the sole discretion of the council, subject to 
  1.24  the process provided by this section, and the available money in 
  1.25  the loan fund.  The council's loan decisions are not subject to 
  2.1   judicial review, except for abuse of discretion.  The proceeds 
  2.2   of any gifts, state or federal money appropriated or granted to 
  2.3   the loan program established in this section, that portion of 
  2.4   the proceeds of the council's solid waste bonds authorized by 
  2.5   section 3, the tax authorized by section 2, all money paid to 
  2.6   the council by recipients of loans, and all interest on the 
  2.7   proceeds and payments shall be maintained as a separate fund.  
  2.8   For administration of the loan program, the council may expend 
  2.9   from the fund each year an amount no greater than three percent 
  2.10  of the amount of the authorized levy for that year.  
  2.11     Subd. 2.  [APPLICATION PROCEDURE.] The council shall 
  2.12  solicit loan applications annually and prescribe and provide the 
  2.13  loan application form.  The application must include at least 
  2.14  the following information: 
  2.15     (1) identification of the site; 
  2.16     (2) the results of engineering and other tests showing the 
  2.17  nature and extent of the release or threatened release of 
  2.18  contaminants at the site; 
  2.19     (3) a detailed estimate, along with the necessary 
  2.20  supporting evidence, of the total cleanup costs for the site; 
  2.21     (4) an appraisal of the current market value of the 
  2.22  property, separately taking into account the effect of the 
  2.23  contaminants on the market value, prepared by a qualified 
  2.24  independent appraiser using accepted appraisal methodology; 
  2.25     (5) an assessment of the development potential or likely 
  2.26  use of the site after completion of the response action plan, 
  2.27  including any specific commitments from third parties to 
  2.28  construct improvements on the site; and 
  2.29     (6) any additional information or material that the council 
  2.30  requires. 
  2.31     Subd. 3.  [LOAN CRITERIA.] A site qualifies for a loan 
  2.32  under this section, if the following criteria are met: 
  2.33     (1) the site is not scheduled for funding during the 
  2.34  current or next fiscal year under the Comprehensive 
  2.35  Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, United 
  2.36  States Code, title 42, section 9601, et seq. or under the 
  3.1   environmental response and liability act under sections 115B.01 
  3.2   to 115B.24; 
  3.3      (2) the appraised value of the site after adjusting for the 
  3.4   effect on the value of the presence or possible presence of 
  3.5   contaminants using accepted appraisal methodology is less than 
  3.6   50 percent of the estimated cleanup costs for the site; and 
  3.7      (3) if the proposed cleanup is completed, it is expected 
  3.8   that the site will be improved with buildings or other 
  3.9   improvements and these improvements will provide a substantial 
  3.10  increase in the property tax base within a reasonable period of 
  3.11  time. 
  3.12     Subd. 4.  [PRIORITIES.] The legislature expects that 
  3.13  applications for loans will exceed the available money in the 
  3.14  fund and the council will be able to provide loans to only some 
  3.15  of the applicants.  If applications for loans exceed available 
  3.16  money in the fund, the council shall, after holding appropriate 
  3.17  public hearings, prioritize the loans to provide the highest 
  3.18  return in public benefits for the public costs incurred.  In 
  3.19  making this judgment, the council shall consider, at a minimum, 
  3.20  the following factors: 
  3.21     (1) the recommendations or ranking of projects by the 
  3.22  commissioner of the pollution control agency regarding the 
  3.23  potential threat to public health and the environment that would 
  3.24  be reduced or eliminated by removing pollutants or contaminants 
  3.25  from the site; 
  3.26     (2) the potential increase in the property tax base of the 
  3.27  local taxing jurisdictions, considered relative to the fiscal 
  3.28  needs of the jurisdictions, that will result from developments 
  3.29  that will occur because of cleanup of the site; 
  3.30     (3) the social value to the community of the cleanup and 
  3.31  redevelopment of the site, including the likelihood of creating 
  3.32  new jobs; 
  3.33     (4) the probability that each site will be cleaned up 
  3.34  without the use of federal or state money in the reasonably 
  3.35  foreseeable future; 
  3.36     (5) the amount of cleanup costs for the site; and 
  4.1      (6) the amount of the commitment of local resources to pay 
  4.2   for the cleanup costs. 
  4.3      Subd. 5.  [COST RECOVERY ACTION.] The council may bring an 
  4.4   action under section 115B.04 or any other law to recover all 
  4.5   reasonable and necessary environmental testing, site 
  4.6   investigation, and response costs paid by money from the loan 
  4.7   fund established in subdivision 1.  Recoverable costs include 
  4.8   administrative and legal costs relating to the environmental 
  4.9   testing, site investigation, and the development and 
  4.10  implementation of an approved response action plan.  Amounts 
  4.11  recovered from responsible persons under this subdivision shall 
  4.12  be paid into the fund established in subdivision 1. 
  4.13     Subd. 6.  [EFFECT OF ISSUANCE OF LOANS.] The issuance of a 
  4.14  contamination cleanup loan under this section has no effect on 
  4.15  the responsibility or the liability of the council under chapter 
  4.16  115B or any other law, in relation to the contamination at a 
  4.17  site or sites for which the loan is issued.  The issuance of a 
  4.18  loan neither implies any council responsibility for the 
  4.19  contamination nor imposes any obligation on the council to 
  4.20  participate in the cleanup of the contamination or in the 
  4.21  cleanup costs beyond the amount of the loan. 
  4.22     Sec. 2.  [473.251] [TAX LEVY.] 
  4.23     Subdivision 1.  [CONTAMINATED SITE CLEANUP LEVY.] For taxes 
  4.24  payable in 1997 and in subsequent years, the metropolitan 
  4.25  council may levy taxes on all taxable property in the 
  4.26  metropolitan area to provide funds for the purposes of section 
  4.27  1.  The tax levied by the council shall not exceed $10,000,000 
  4.28  annually and shall be levied and collected in the manner 
  4.29  provided in section 473.13, subdivision 2.  The tax authorized 
  4.30  by this section does not affect the amount or rate of taxes that 
  4.31  may be levied by the council for other purposes.  
  4.32     Subd. 2.  [SUNSET.] The tax authorized in subdivision 1 may 
  4.33  not be levied by the council for taxes payable in the year 2002 
  4.34  and in subsequent years without further legislative approval. 
  4.35     Sec. 3.  [BOND PROCEEDS.] 
  4.36     The council may use up to $1,000,000 of the proceeds of 
  5.1   solid waste bonds issued by the council under Minnesota 
  5.2   Statutes, section 473.831 before its repeal, for the 
  5.3   contaminated site cleanup loan program established in section 1. 
  5.4      Sec. 4.  [APPLICATION.] 
  5.5      Sections 1 and 2 apply in the counties of Anoka, Carver, 
  5.6   Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington.