1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the environment; modifying the transfer 
  1.3             station grant program; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.4             1996, section 115A.54, subdivision 2a. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 115A.54, 
  1.7   subdivision 2a, is amended to read: 
  1.8      Subd. 2a.  [SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS.] (a) The 
  1.9   director shall provide technical and financial assistance for 
  1.10  the acquisition and betterment of solid waste management 
  1.11  projects as provided in this subdivision and section 115A.52.  
  1.12  Money appropriated for the purposes of this subdivision must be 
  1.13  distributed as grants. 
  1.14     (b) Except as provided in paragraph (c), a project may 
  1.15  receive grant assistance up to 25 percent of the capital cost of 
  1.16  the project or $2,000,000, whichever is less, except that 
  1.17  projects constructed as a result of intercounty cooperative 
  1.18  agreements may receive (1) grant assistance up to 25 percent of 
  1.19  the capital cost of the project; or (2) $2,000,000 times the 
  1.20  number of participating counties, whichever is less.  
  1.21     (c) A recycling project or a project to compost or 
  1.22  cocompost waste may receive grant assistance up to 50 percent of 
  1.23  the capital cost of the project or $2,000,000, whichever is 
  1.24  less, except that projects completed as a result of intercounty 
  1.25  cooperative agreements may receive (1) grant assistance up to 50 
  2.1   percent of the capital cost of the project; or (2) $2,000,000 
  2.2   times the number of participating counties, whichever is less.  
  2.3   The following projects may also receive grant assistance in the 
  2.4   amounts specified in this paragraph: 
  2.5      (1) a project to improve control of or reduce air emissions 
  2.6   at an existing resource recovery facility; and 
  2.7      (2) a project to substantially increase the recovery of 
  2.8   materials or energy, substantially reduce the amount or toxicity 
  2.9   of waste processing residuals, or expand the capacity of an 
  2.10  existing resource recovery facility to meet the resource 
  2.11  recovery needs of an expanded region if each county from which 
  2.12  waste is or would be received has achieved a recycling rate in 
  2.13  excess of the goals in section 115A.551, and is implementing 
  2.14  aggressive waste reduction and household hazardous waste 
  2.15  management programs. 
  2.16     (d) Notwithstanding paragraph (e), the director may award 
  2.17  grants for transfer stations that will initially transfer waste 
  2.18  to landfills if the transfer stations are part of a planned 
  2.19  resource recovery project, the county where the planned resource 
  2.20  recovery facility will be located has a comprehensive solid 
  2.21  waste management plan approved by the director, and the solid 
  2.22  waste management plan proposes the development of the resource 
  2.23  recovery facility.  If the proposed resource recovery facility 
  2.24  is not in place and operating within eight 12 years of the date 
  2.25  of the grant award, the recipient shall repay the grant amount 
  2.26  to the state. 
  2.27     (e) Projects without resource recovery are not eligible for 
  2.28  assistance. 
  2.29     (f) In addition to any assistance received under paragraph 
  2.30  (b) or (c), a project may receive grant assistance for the cost 
  2.31  of tests necessary to determine the appropriate pollution 
  2.32  control equipment for the project or the environmental effects 
  2.33  of the use of any product or material produced by the project. 
  2.34     (g) In addition to the application requirements of section 
  2.35  115A.51, an application for a project serving eligible 
  2.36  jurisdictions in only a single county must demonstrate that 
  3.1   cooperation with jurisdictions in other counties to develop the 
  3.2   project is not needed or not feasible.  Each application must 
  3.3   also demonstrate that the project is not financially prudent 
  3.4   without the state assistance, because of the applicant's 
  3.5   financial capacity and the problems inherent in the waste 
  3.6   management situation in the area, particularly transportation 
  3.7   distances and limited waste supply and markets for resources 
  3.8   recovered.  
  3.9      (h) For the purposes of this subdivision, a "project" means 
  3.10  a processing facility, together with any transfer stations, 
  3.11  transmission facilities, and other related and appurtenant 
  3.12  facilities primarily serving the processing facility.  The 
  3.13  director shall adopt rules for the program by July 1, 1985. 
  3.14     (i) Notwithstanding anything in this subdivision to the 
  3.15  contrary, a project to construct a new mixed municipal solid 
  3.16  waste transfer station that has an enforceable commitment of at 
  3.17  least ten years, or of sufficient length to retire bonds sold 
  3.18  for the facility, to serve an existing resource recovery 
  3.19  facility may receive grant assistance up to 75 percent of the 
  3.20  capital cost of the project if addition of the transfer station 
  3.21  will increase substantially the geographical area served by the 
  3.22  resource recovery facility and the ability of the resource 
  3.23  recovery facility to operate more efficiently on a regional 
  3.24  basis and the facility meets the criteria in paragraph (c), the 
  3.25  second clause (2).  A transfer station eligible for assistance 
  3.26  under this paragraph is not eligible for assistance under any 
  3.27  other paragraph of this subdivision.