1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the environment; establishing an 
  1.3             environmental legal assistance pilot project; 
  1.4             appropriating money. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [FINDINGS.] 
  1.7      The legislature finds that: 
  1.8      (1) local governments play a major role in implementing 
  1.9   many important state and federal environmental programs; 
  1.10     (2) the growing number and importance of environmental 
  1.11  issues affecting local governments has placed increasing 
  1.12  pressure on the limited resources of local governments; 
  1.13     (3) a local government legal assistance program would allow 
  1.14  more efficient delivery of legal services on issues of statewide 
  1.15  application and importance; and 
  1.16     (4) a local government legal assistance program would 
  1.17  provide needed resources to help defend state environmental 
  1.18  policy implemented at the local level. 
  1.19     Sec. 2.  [PURPOSE.] 
  1.20     The purpose of the legal assistance pilot project is to 
  1.21  help local governments deal with legal issues that arise in the 
  1.22  course of implementing state or federal environmental programs, 
  1.23  and to assist local governments in the defense of selected 
  1.24  lawsuits challenging local government implementation of state 
  1.25  environmental policies and programs. 
  2.1      Sec. 3.  [REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE.] 
  2.2      Requests for legal assistance under this act may be made by 
  2.3   a county, city, or town attorney.  Before requesting legal 
  2.4   assistance, a city or town attorney shall consult with the 
  2.5   county attorney. 
  2.6      Sec. 4.  [AUTHORITY.] 
  2.7      At the request of a county, city, or town attorney, the 
  2.8   attorney general may provide legal representation to a local 
  2.9   government or may intervene in an action involving local 
  2.10  government implementation of state environmental policy if the 
  2.11  attorney general determines it is in the interest of the state 
  2.12  to do so. 
  2.13     Sec. 5.  [PRIORITIES.] 
  2.14     The attorney general must convene an advisory committee 
  2.15  representing the County Attorneys Association, the Association 
  2.16  of Minnesota Counties, the Association of Minnesota Counties 
  2.17  Insurance Trust, the League of Minnesota Cities, the League of 
  2.18  Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust, and the Minnesota Association 
  2.19  of Townships to develop criteria for the attorney general to use 
  2.20  in determining areas of legal assistance upon which the legal 
  2.21  assistance program will focus and in determining the cases in 
  2.22  which the legal assistance project will become involved. 
  2.23     Sec. 6.  [LITIGATION COSTS.] 
  2.24     The attorney general's office and any local government to 
  2.25  which litigation assistance will be provided must enter into an 
  2.26  agreement that clearly delineates on how litigation costs will 
  2.27  be paid. 
  2.28     Sec. 7.  [REPORT.] 
  2.29     The attorney general must submit a report to the senate 
  2.30  committee on environment and natural resources and the house 
  2.31  committee on environment and natural resources by January 1, 
  2.32  1997, summarizing the types of cases for which litigation 
  2.33  assistance was requested, the nature of legal assistance 
  2.34  provided, and the results of a survey of local governments 
  2.35  concerning the pilot program and the desirability of continuing 
  2.36  the program. 
  3.1      Sec. 8.  [REPEALER.] 
  3.2      This act is repealed effective June 30, 1997. 
  3.3      Sec. 9.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.4      $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.5   attorney general for the purposes of sections 1 to 7 to be 
  3.6   available for the biennium ending June 30, 1997.