1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to economic development; modifying provisions 
  1.3             relating to the wastewater infrastructure funding 
  1.4             program; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 
  1.5             446A.07, by adding a subdivision; and 446A.072, 
  1.6             subdivisions 3, 4, and 5. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 446A.07, is 
  1.9   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 12.  [DESIGNATED GROWTH AREAS.] Notwithstanding 
  1.11  subdivisions 10 and 11, the commissioner of the pollution 
  1.12  control agency, with concurrence from the authority and 
  1.13  commissioner of the state planning agency or the metropolitan 
  1.14  council, shall place projects for new collection systems in 
  1.15  designated growth areas on the project priority list with a 
  1.16  minimum of 100 points in order to encourage future development 
  1.17  in areas of the state that are not environmentally sensitive. 
  1.18     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 446A.072, 
  1.19  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.20     Subd. 3.  [PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.] The authority shall 
  1.21  provide supplemental assistance, as provided in subdivision 2, 
  1.22  to municipalities demonstrating financial need, as provided in 
  1.23  subdivision 4, whose projects have been certified to the 
  1.24  authority by the commissioner of the agency or approved by the 
  1.25  United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development.  The 
  1.26  authority shall reserve supplemental assistance for projects in 
  2.1   order of their priority ranking established by the agency, 
  2.2   provided the authority can determine the proposed project is a 
  2.3   reasonable and cost-effective approach to solving the 
  2.4   environmental problem.  In making this determination, the 
  2.5   authority shall consider the pollution control agency's or 
  2.6   United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development's 
  2.7   evaluation of alternatives, considering environmental and cost 
  2.8   factors, and comments on the proposed project from other 
  2.9   political subdivisions. 
  2.10     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 446A.072, 
  2.11  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  2.12     Subd. 4.  [FUNDING LEVEL.] (a) The authority shall provide 
  2.13  supplemental assistance for essential project component costs as 
  2.14  certified by the commissioner of the pollution control agency 
  2.15  under section 116.182, subdivision 4.  
  2.16     (b) Except as provided in paragraph (c), a municipality may 
  2.17  not receive more than $4,000,000, or $15,000 per existing 
  2.18  connection, whichever is less, under this section unless 
  2.19  specifically approved by law.  If a project would be eligible 
  2.20  for more than $4,000,000 under paragraph (e), the authority 
  2.21  shall include a description of the project and the financing 
  2.22  plan in its report on needs in subdivision 11. 
  2.23     (c) A sanitary district or multijurisdictional wastewater 
  2.24  treatment district may receive an additional $1,000,000 for each 
  2.25  additional municipality participating up to a maximum grant of 
  2.26  $8,000,000, unless a higher amount is specifically approved by 
  2.27  law.  If a project would be eligible for more than $8,000,000 
  2.28  under paragraph (e), the authority shall include a description 
  2.29  of the project and the financing plan in its report on needs in 
  2.30  subdivision 11. 
  2.31     (d) The authority shall provide supplemental assistance for 
  2.32  up to one-half of the eligible grant funding level determined by 
  2.33  the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development 
  2.34  funding for projects listed on the agency's project priority 
  2.35  list, in priority order.  In the case of multijurisdictional 
  2.36  projects when the United States Department of Agriculture Rural 
  3.1   Development is unable to fully fund up to one-half of the 
  3.2   eligible grant amount, the authority may provide up to an 
  3.3   additional $1,000,000 for each additional municipality 
  3.4   participating up to the limits under paragraph (c) but not to 
  3.5   exceed the maximum grant level determined by the United States 
  3.6   Department of Agriculture Rural Development as needed to keep 
  3.7   the project affordable.  For municipalities that are not 
  3.8   eligible to apply for United States Department of Agriculture 
  3.9   Rural Development funding for wastewater, the authority shall 
  3.10  provide supplemental assistance for:  (1) essential project 
  3.11  component costs calculated for sewered communities by first 
  3.12  determining the amount needed to reduce a municipality's annual 
  3.13  residential sewer costs to 1.4 percent of the municipality's 
  3.14  median household income or $25 per month per household, 
  3.15  whichever is greater, and then multiplying that amount by 80 
  3.16  percent to determine the actual award amount to supplement loans 
  3.17  under section 446A.07; (2) essential project component costs for 
  3.18  unsewered communities by first subtracting the amount the 
  3.19  municipality could provide toward the project from special 
  3.20  assessments assessed under chapter 429 on properties benefited 
  3.21  by the improvements; and (2) (3) up to 50 percent of the 
  3.22  incremental costs specifically identified by the agency as being 
  3.23  attributable to more stringent wastewater standards required to 
  3.24  protect outstanding resource value waters or outstanding 
  3.25  international resource value waters. 
  3.26     (e) Notwithstanding paragraph (b), in the event that a 
  3.27  municipality's monthly residential sewer service charges average 
  3.28  above $50, the authority will provide 90 percent of the grant 
  3.29  amount needed to reduce the average monthly sewer service charge 
  3.30  to $50, provided the project is ranked in the top 50 percentile 
  3.31  of the agency's intended use plan. 
  3.32     (f) The authority shall provide supplemental assistance to 
  3.33  a municipality that would not otherwise qualify for supplemental 
  3.34  assistance if: 
  3.35     (1) the municipality voluntarily accepts a sewer connection 
  3.36  from another governmental unit to serve residential, industrial, 
  4.1   or commercial developments that were completed before March 1, 
  4.2   1996, or are on lots whose plats were recorded before that date; 
  4.3   and 
  4.4      (2) fees charged by the municipality for the connection 
  4.5   must take into account state and federal grants used by the 
  4.6   municipality for the construction of the treatment plant. 
  4.7   The amount of supplemental assistance under this paragraph must 
  4.8   be sufficient to reduce debt service payments under section 
  4.9   446A.07 to an extent equivalent to a zero percent loan in an 
  4.10  amount up to the other governmental unit's project costs 
  4.11  necessary for connection.  Eligibility for supplemental 
  4.12  assistance under this paragraph ends three years after the 
  4.13  agency certifies that the connection has met the operational 
  4.14  performance standards established by the agency. 
  4.15     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 446A.072, 
  4.16  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  4.17     Subd. 5.  [APPLICATIONS.] Applications for the wastewater 
  4.18  infrastructure funding program must be made to the authority on 
  4.19  forms prescribed by the authority and the agency for the water 
  4.20  pollution control revolving loan program.  For a project in an 
  4.21  unsewered area, the application must include a certification 
  4.22  from the county in which the project area is located that the 
  4.23  project is consistent with an adopted comprehensive land use 
  4.24  plan and local water plan, and information provided by the 
  4.25  county and acceptable to the authority stating the specific land 
  4.26  use ordinances and controls that have been adopted to prevent 
  4.27  future development from occurring in a manner that could create 
  4.28  unsewered area problems in the future.  For municipalities that 
  4.29  are not eligible to apply for United States Department of 
  4.30  Agriculture Rural Development funding, the commissioner of the 
  4.31  pollution control agency shall:  
  4.32     (1) determine if the project meets the criteria in section 
  4.33  116.182.  The commissioner of the pollution control agency 
  4.34  shall; 
  4.35     (2) certify projects to the authority under section 116.182 
  4.36  , and shall; 
  5.1      (3) rank the certified applications in accordance with 
  5.2   section 116.182,; and 
  5.3      (4) determine the essential project component percentage 
  5.4   for each certified application.