1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the environment; requiring rules related 
  1.3             to individual sewage treatment systems; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 115.55, subdivision 3.
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 115.55, 
  1.7   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.8      Subd. 3.  [RULES.] (a) The agency shall adopt rules 
  1.9   containing minimum standards and criteria for the design, 
  1.10  location, installation, use, and maintenance of individual 
  1.11  sewage treatment systems.  The rules must include: 
  1.12     (1) how the agency will ensure compliance under subdivision 
  1.13  2; 
  1.14     (2) how local units of government shall enforce ordinances 
  1.15  under subdivision 2, including requirements for permits and 
  1.16  inspection programs; 
  1.17     (3) how the advisory committee will participate in review 
  1.18  and implementation of the rules; 
  1.19     (4) provisions for alternative systems; 
  1.20     (5) provisions for handling and disposal of effluent; 
  1.21     (6) provisions for system abandonment; and 
  1.22     (7) procedures for variances, including the consideration 
  1.23  of variances based on cost and variances that take into account 
  1.24  proximity of a system to other systems. 
  1.25     (b) The agency shall consult with the advisory committee 
  2.1   before adopting rules under this subdivision. 
  2.2      (c) Notwithstanding the repeal of the agency rule under 
  2.3   which the commissioner has established a list of warrantied 
  2.4   individual sewage treatment systems, the warranties for all 
  2.5   systems so listed as of the effective date of the repeal shall 
  2.6   continue to be valid for the remainder of the warranty period. 
  2.7      (d) The rules required in paragraph (a) must also address 
  2.8   the following: 
  2.9      (1) a definition of redoximorphic features and other 
  2.10  criteria that can be used by system designers and inspectors; 
  2.11     (2) direction on the interpretation of observed soil 
  2.12  features that may be redoximorphic and their relation to zones 
  2.13  of seasonal saturation; and 
  2.14     (3) procedures on how to resolve professional disagreements 
  2.15  on seasonally saturated soils. 
  2.16  These rules must be in place by March 31, 2006.