1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to natural resources; clarifying ownership of 
  1.3             and authorizing the sale of stockpiled metallic 
  1.4             minerals material; providing for the taxation of 
  1.5             stockpiled metallic minerals material; amending 
  1.6             Minnesota Statutes 1996, sections 93.41; 282.01, 
  1.7             subdivision 8; and 282.04, subdivision 1; proposing 
  1.8             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 273. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 93.41, is 
  1.11  amended to read: 
  1.12     93.41 [STATE-OWNED IRON-BEARING MATERIALS.] 
  1.13     Subdivision 1.  [USE FOR ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND OTHER 
  1.14  PURPOSES.] In case the commissioner of natural resources shall 
  1.15  determine that any paint rock, taconite, or other iron-bearing 
  1.16  material belonging to the state and containing not more than 45 
  1.17  percent dried iron by analysis is needed and suitable for use in 
  1.18  the construction or maintenance of any road, tailings basin, 
  1.19  settling basin, dike, dam, bank fill, or other works on public 
  1.20  or private property, and that such use would be in the best 
  1.21  interests of the public, the commissioner may authorize the 
  1.22  disposal of such material therefor as hereinafter provided.  
  1.23     Subd. 2.  [MATERIALS SUBJECT TO STATE IRON ORE MINING 
  1.24  LEASE.] If such material is subject to an existing state iron 
  1.25  ore mining lease or located on property subject to an existing 
  1.26  state iron ore mining lease, the commissioner, by written 
  1.27  agreement with the holder of the lease, may authorize the use of 
  2.1   the material for any purpose specified in subdivision 1 that 
  2.2   will facilitate the mining and disposal of the iron ore therein 
  2.3   on such terms as the commissioner may prescribe consistent with 
  2.4   the interests of the state, or may authorize the holder of the 
  2.5   lease to dispose of the material otherwise for any purpose 
  2.6   specified in subdivision 1 upon payment of an amount therefor 
  2.7   equivalent to the royalty that would be payable under the terms 
  2.8   of the lease if the material were shipped or otherwise disposed 
  2.9   of as iron ore, but not less than the applicable minimum rate 
  2.10  prescribed by section 93.20.  
  2.11     Subd. 3.  [ISSUANCE OF LEASES, ROYALTIES.] If such 
  2.12  material, whether in the ground or in stockpile, is not subject 
  2.13  to an existing lease, the commissioner may issue leases for the 
  2.14  taking and removal thereof for the purposes specified in 
  2.15  subdivision 1 in like manner as provided by section 92.50 for 
  2.16  leases for the taking and removal of sand, gravel, and other 
  2.17  materials specified in said section, and subject to all the 
  2.18  provisions thereof, so far as applicable; provided, that the 
  2.19  amount payable for such material shall be at least equivalent to 
  2.20  the minimum royalty that would be payable therefor under the 
  2.21  provisions of section 93.20.  
  2.22     Subd. 4.  [SALE OF STOCKPILED IRON-BEARING MATERIAL IN 
  2.23  PLACE.] If such material is in stockpile and is not subject to 
  2.24  an existing lease, the commissioner may sell stockpiled 
  2.25  iron-bearing material in place.  The sale must be to a person 
  2.26  holding an interest in the surface of the property upon which 
  2.27  the stockpile is located or to a person holding an interest in 
  2.28  publicly or privately owned stockpiled iron-bearing material 
  2.29  located in the same stockpile.  
  2.30     Sec. 2.  [273.1651] [TAXATION AND FORFEITURE OF STOCKPILED 
  2.31  METALLIC MINERALS MATERIAL.] 
  2.32     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITION.] "Stockpiled metallic minerals 
  2.33  material" for purposes of this section, means surface 
  2.34  overburden, rock, lean ore, tailings, or other material that has 
  2.35  been removed from the ground and deposited elsewhere on the 
  2.36  surface in the process of iron ore, taconite, or other metallic 
  3.1   minerals mining, or in the process of beneficiation.  Stockpiled 
  3.2   metallic minerals material does not include processed metallic 
  3.3   minerals concentrates in the form of pellets, chips, briquettes, 
  3.4   fines, or other form which have been prepared for or are in the 
  3.5   process of shipment. 
  3.6      Subd. 2.  [PURPOSE.] The purpose of this section is to 
  3.7   clarify the ownership of stockpiled metallic minerals material 
  3.8   in this state.  Depending on the intent of the person who 
  3.9   extracted the material from the ground, stockpiled metallic 
  3.10  minerals material may or may not be owned separately and apart 
  3.11  from the fee title to the surface of the real property.  The 
  3.12  legislature finds that the uncertainty of ownership of 
  3.13  stockpiled metallic minerals material located on real property 
  3.14  that becomes tax forfeited has created a burden on the public 
  3.15  owner of the surface of the real property and an impediment to 
  3.16  productive management or use of a public resource. 
  3.17     Subd. 3.  [TAXATION AND FORFEITURE.] From and after the 
  3.18  effective date of this section, for purposes of taxation, the 
  3.19  definition of "real property," as contained in section 272.03, 
  3.20  subdivision 1, includes stockpiled metallic minerals material.  
  3.21  Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to subject 
  3.22  stockpiled metallic minerals material to the general property 
  3.23  tax when the stockpiled metallic minerals material is exempt 
  3.24  from the general property tax pursuant to section 298.015 or 
  3.25  298.25.  If the surface of the real property forfeits for 
  3.26  delinquent taxes, stockpiled metallic minerals material located 
  3.27  on the real property forfeits with the surface of the property. 
  3.28     Subd. 4.  [PRIOR FORFEITURE.] Stockpiled metallic minerals 
  3.29  material located on real property that forfeited prior to the 
  3.30  effective date of this section or forfeits due to a judgment for 
  3.31  delinquent taxes issued prior to the effective date of this 
  3.32  section shall be assessed and taxed as real property.  The tax 
  3.33  applies only to stockpiled metallic minerals material located on 
  3.34  real property that remains in the ownership of the state or a 
  3.35  political subdivision of the state.  The tax shall be based on 
  3.36  the market value of the rental of the property for storage of 
  4.1   stockpiled metallic minerals material. 
  4.2      Subd. 5.  [EXCEPTIONS; TAX LAWS.] (a) The tax imposed 
  4.3   pursuant to this section shall not be imposed on the following: 
  4.4      (1) stockpiled metallic minerals material valued and taxed 
  4.5   under other laws relating to the taxation of minerals, gas, 
  4.6   coal, oil, or other similar interests; 
  4.7      (2) stockpiled metallic minerals material that is exempt 
  4.8   from taxation pursuant to constitutional or related statutory 
  4.9   provisions; or 
  4.10     (3) stockpiled metallic minerals material that is owned by 
  4.11  the state.  
  4.12     (b) All laws for the enforcement of taxes on real property 
  4.13  shall apply to the tax imposed pursuant to this section on 
  4.14  stockpiled metallic minerals material. 
  4.15     Subd. 6.  [FEE OWNER.] For purposes of section 276.041, the 
  4.16  owner of stockpiled metallic minerals material is a fee owner. 
  4.17     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 282.01, 
  4.18  subdivision 8, is amended to read: 
  4.19     Subd. 8.  [MINERALS IN TAX-FORFEITED LAND AND TAX-FORFEITED 
  4.20  STOCKPILED METALLIC MINERALS MATERIAL SUBJECT TO MINING; 
  4.21  PROCEDURES.] In case the commissioner of natural resources shall 
  4.22  notify the county auditor of any county in writing that the 
  4.23  minerals in any tax-forfeited land or tax-forfeited stockpiled 
  4.24  metallic minerals material located on tax-forfeited land in such 
  4.25  county have been designated as a mining unit as provided by law, 
  4.26  or that such minerals or tax-forfeited stockpiled metallic 
  4.27  minerals material are subject to a mining permit or lease issued 
  4.28  therefor as provided by law, the surface of such tax-forfeited 
  4.29  land shall be subject to disposal and use for mining purposes 
  4.30  pursuant to such designation, permit, or lease, and shall be 
  4.31  withheld from sale or lease by the county auditor until the 
  4.32  commissioner shall notify the county auditor that such land has 
  4.33  been removed from the list of mining units or that any mining 
  4.34  permit or lease theretofore issued thereon is no longer in 
  4.35  force; provided, that the surface of such tax-forfeited land may 
  4.36  be leased by the county auditor as provided by law, with the 
  5.1   written approval of the commissioner, subject to disposal and 
  5.2   use for mining purposes as herein provided and to any special 
  5.3   conditions relating thereto that the commissioner may prescribe, 
  5.4   also subject to cancellation for mining purposes on three months 
  5.5   written notice from the commissioner to the county auditor. 
  5.6      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 282.04, 
  5.7   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  5.8      Subdivision 1.  [TIMBER SALES; LAND LEASES AND USES.] (a) 
  5.9   The county auditor may sell timber upon any tract that may be 
  5.10  approved by the natural resources commissioner.  Such sale of 
  5.11  timber shall be made for cash at not less than the appraised 
  5.12  value determined by the county board to the highest bidder after 
  5.13  not less than one week's published notice in an official paper 
  5.14  within the county.  Any timber offered at such public sale and 
  5.15  not sold may thereafter be sold at private sale by the county 
  5.16  auditor at not less than the appraised value thereof, until such 
  5.17  time as the county board may withdraw such timber from sale.  
  5.18  The appraised value of the timber and the forestry practices to 
  5.19  be followed in the cutting of said timber shall be approved by 
  5.20  the commissioner of natural resources.  
  5.21     (b) Payment of the full sale price of all timber sold on 
  5.22  tax-forfeited lands shall be made in cash at the time of the 
  5.23  timber sale, except in the case of oral or sealed bid auction 
  5.24  sales, the down payment shall be no less than 15 percent of the 
  5.25  appraised value, and the balance shall be paid prior to entry.  
  5.26  In the case of auction sales that are partitioned and sold as a 
  5.27  single sale with predetermined cutting blocks, the down payment 
  5.28  shall be no less than 15 percent of the appraised price of the 
  5.29  entire timber sale which may be held until the satisfactory 
  5.30  completion of the sale or applied in whole or in part to the 
  5.31  final cutting block.  The value of each separate block must be 
  5.32  paid in full before any cutting may begin in that block.  With 
  5.33  the permission of the county administrator the purchaser may 
  5.34  enter unpaid blocks and cut necessary timber incidental to 
  5.35  developing logging roads as may be needed to log other blocks 
  5.36  provided that no timber may be removed from an unpaid block 
  6.1   until separately scaled and paid for.  
  6.2      (c) The county board may require final settlement on the 
  6.3   basis of a scale of cut products.  Any parcels of land from 
  6.4   which timber is to be sold by scale of cut products shall be so 
  6.5   designated in the published notice of sale above mentioned, in 
  6.6   which case the notice shall contain a description of such 
  6.7   parcels, a statement of the estimated quantity of each species 
  6.8   of timber thereon and the appraised price of each specie of 
  6.9   timber for 1,000 feet, per cord or per piece, as the case may 
  6.10  be.  In such cases any bids offered over and above the appraised 
  6.11  prices shall be by percentage, the percent bid to be added to 
  6.12  the appraised price of each of the different species of timber 
  6.13  advertised on the land.  The purchaser of timber from such 
  6.14  parcels shall pay in cash at the time of sale at the rate bid 
  6.15  for all of the timber shown in the notice of sale as estimated 
  6.16  to be standing on the land, and in addition shall pay at the 
  6.17  same rate for any additional amounts which the final scale shows 
  6.18  to have been cut or was available for cutting on the land at the 
  6.19  time of sale under the terms of such sale.  Where the final 
  6.20  scale of cut products shows that less timber was cut or was 
  6.21  available for cutting under terms of such sale than was 
  6.22  originally paid for, the excess payment shall be refunded from 
  6.23  the forfeited tax sale fund upon the claim of the purchaser, to 
  6.24  be audited and allowed by the county board as in case of other 
  6.25  claims against the county.  No timber, except hardwood pulpwood, 
  6.26  may be removed from such parcels of land or other designated 
  6.27  landings until scaled by a person or persons designated by the 
  6.28  county board and approved by the commissioner of natural 
  6.29  resources.  Landings other than the parcel of land from which 
  6.30  timber is cut may be designated for scaling by the county board 
  6.31  by written agreement with the purchaser of the timber.  The 
  6.32  county board may, by written agreement with the purchaser and 
  6.33  with a consumer designated by the purchaser when the timber is 
  6.34  sold by the county auditor, and with the approval of the 
  6.35  commissioner of natural resources, accept the consumer's scale 
  6.36  of cut products delivered at the consumer's landing.  No timber 
  7.1   shall be removed until fully paid for in cash.  Small amounts of 
  7.2   timber not exceeding $3,000 in appraised valuation may be sold 
  7.3   for not less than the full appraised value at private sale to 
  7.4   individual persons without first publishing notice of sale or 
  7.5   calling for bids, provided that in case of such sale involving a 
  7.6   total appraised value of more than $200 the sale shall be made 
  7.7   subject to final settlement on the basis of a scale of cut 
  7.8   products in the manner above provided and not more than two such 
  7.9   sales, directly or indirectly to any individual shall be in 
  7.10  effect at one time. 
  7.11     (d) As directed by the county board, the county auditor may 
  7.12  lease tax-forfeited land to individuals, corporations or 
  7.13  organized subdivisions of the state at public or private vendue, 
  7.14  and at such prices and under such terms as the county board may 
  7.15  prescribe, for use as cottage and camp sites and for 
  7.16  agricultural purposes and for the purpose of taking and removing 
  7.17  of hay, stumpage, sand, gravel, clay, rock, marl, and black dirt 
  7.18  therefrom, and for garden sites and other temporary uses 
  7.19  provided that no leases shall be for a period to exceed ten 
  7.20  years; provided, further that any leases involving a 
  7.21  consideration of more than $1,500 per year, except to an 
  7.22  organized subdivision of the state shall first be offered at 
  7.23  public sale in the manner provided herein for sale of timber.  
  7.24  Upon the sale of any such leased land, it shall remain subject 
  7.25  to the lease for not to exceed one year from the beginning of 
  7.26  the term of the lease.  Any rent paid by the lessee for the 
  7.27  portion of the term cut off by such cancellation shall be 
  7.28  refunded from the forfeited tax sale fund upon the claim of the 
  7.29  lessee, to be audited and allowed by the county board as in case 
  7.30  of other claims against the county. 
  7.31     (e) As directed by the county board, the county auditor may 
  7.32  lease tax-forfeited land to individuals, corporations, or 
  7.33  organized subdivisions of the state at public or private vendue, 
  7.34  at such prices and under such terms as the county board may 
  7.35  prescribe, for the purpose of taking and removing for use for 
  7.36  road construction and other purposes tax-forfeited stockpiled 
  8.1   iron-bearing material.  The county auditor must determine that 
  8.2   the material is needed and suitable for use in the construction 
  8.3   or maintenance of a road, tailings basin, settling basin, dike, 
  8.4   dam, bank fill, or other works on public or private property, 
  8.5   and that the use would be in the best interests of the public.  
  8.6   No lease shall exceed ten years.  The use of a stockpile for 
  8.7   these purposes must first be approved by the commissioner of 
  8.8   natural resources.  The request shall be deemed approved unless 
  8.9   the requesting county is notified to the contrary by the 
  8.10  commissioner of natural resources within six months after 
  8.11  receipt of a request for approval for use of a stockpile.  Once 
  8.12  use of a stockpile has been approved, the county may continue to 
  8.13  lease it for these purposes until approval is withdrawn by the 
  8.14  commissioner of natural resources. 
  8.15     (f) The county auditor, with the approval of the county 
  8.16  board is authorized to grant permits, licenses, and leases to 
  8.17  tax-forfeited lands for the depositing of stripping, lean ores, 
  8.18  tailings, or waste products from mines or ore milling plants, 
  8.19  upon such conditions and for such consideration and for such 
  8.20  period of time, not exceeding 15 years, as the county board may 
  8.21  determine; said permits, licenses, or leases to be subject to 
  8.22  approval by the commissioner of natural resources. 
  8.23     (g) Any person who removes any timber from tax-forfeited 
  8.24  land before said timber has been scaled and fully paid for as 
  8.25  provided in this subdivision is guilty of a misdemeanor. 
  8.26     (h) The county auditor may, with the approval of the county 
  8.27  board, and without first offering at public sale, grant leases, 
  8.28  for a term not exceeding 25 years, for the removal of peat from 
  8.29  tax-forfeited lands upon such terms and conditions as the county 
  8.30  board may prescribe.  Any lease for the removal of peat from 
  8.31  tax-forfeited lands must first be reviewed and approved by the 
  8.32  commissioner of natural resources if the lease covers 320 or 
  8.33  more acres.  No lease for the removal of peat shall be made by 
  8.34  the county auditor pursuant to this section without first 
  8.35  holding a public hearing on the auditor's intention to lease.  
  8.36  One printed notice in a legal newspaper in the county at least 
  9.1   ten days before the hearing, and posted notice in the courthouse 
  9.2   at least 20 days before the hearing shall be given of the 
  9.3   hearing.