1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to environmental quality; urban development; 
  1.3             directing the environmental quality board to establish 
  1.4             the urban development environmental steering 
  1.5             committee; providing for a generic environmental 
  1.6             impact statement on urban development; appropriating 
  1.7             money. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  [URBAN DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENTAL STEERING 
  1.10  COMMITTEE.] 
  1.11     Subdivision 1.  [COMMITTEE; DEFINITION.] (a) The 
  1.12  environmental quality board shall establish an urban development 
  1.13  environmental steering committee consisting of representatives 
  1.14  of developers, environmental interests, agricultural landowners, 
  1.15  and other stakeholders.  The urban development environmental 
  1.16  steering committee shall advise the environmental quality board 
  1.17  on the scope and content of the generic environmental impact 
  1.18  statement required in subdivision 2. 
  1.19     (b) Compensation of members and reimbursement of their 
  1.20  expenses is governed by Minnesota Statutes, section 15.059.  The 
  1.21  committee expires upon completion of the generic environmental 
  1.22  impact statement required in subdivision 2 and presentation of 
  1.23  the report to the legislature. 
  1.24     (c) For the purposes of this section, "urban development" 
  1.25  means development in: 
  1.26     (1) cities with more than 5,000 population; and 
  2.1      (2) areas with densities greater than 200 people per square 
  2.2   mile in proximity to cities with more than 5,000 population. 
  2.3      Subd. 2.  [GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.] A 
  2.4   generic environmental impact statement must be prepared under 
  2.5   the direction of the environmental quality board to examine the 
  2.6   long-term effects of urban development, past, present, and 
  2.7   future, upon the economy, environment, and way of life of 
  2.8   Minnesota and its citizens.  The study may address: 
  2.9      (1) the overall dimension of urban development in 
  2.10  Minnesota, including the past and current trends of settlement 
  2.11  and population growth, the types and location of urban 
  2.12  development, and the relationship of past and current 
  2.13  development patterns to existing land use policies; 
  2.14     (2) environmental quality issues associated with urban 
  2.15  development such as the effects of urban development on the air, 
  2.16  groundwater, surface water, and land, including the impact of 
  2.17  urban development on the loss of agricultural land in urbanizing 
  2.18  areas; 
  2.19     (3) economic issues such as the comparative economic impact 
  2.20  of alternative means of urban development, including the 
  2.21  economic efficiency of the alternatives; 
  2.22     (4) social issues such as the comparative social impact of 
  2.23  alternative means of urban development; and 
  2.24     (5) the roles of various units of government in regulating 
  2.25  various aspects of land use decisions. 
  2.26     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.27     $240,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  2.28  office of strategic and long-range planning for the purposes of 
  2.29  section 1.  This appropriation is available until June 30, 2001.