1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to agriculture; changing certain pest control
1.3 	programs; expanding the definition of shade tree;
1.4 	appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004,
1.5 	section 18G.16, subdivisions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
1.6 	9, 14.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 18G.16,
1.9 	subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.10 		Subdivision 1.Definitions.  (a) The definitions in this
1.11 	subdivision apply to this section.
1.12 	(b) "Metropolitan area" means the counties of Anoka,
1.13 	Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington.
1.14 	(c) "Municipality" means a home rule charter or statutory
1.15 	city or a town located in the metropolitan area that exercises
1.16 	municipal powers under section 368.01 or any general or special
1.17 	law; a special park district organized under chapter 398; a
1.18 	special-purpose park and recreation board organized under the
1.19 	city charter of a city of the first class located in the
1.20 	metropolitan area; a county in the metropolitan area for the
1.21 	purposes of county-owned property or any portion of a county
1.22 	located outside the geographic boundaries of a city or a town
1.23 	exercising municipal powers; and a municipality or county
1.24 	located outside the metropolitan area with an approved disease 
1.25 	pest control program.
1.26 	(d) "Shade tree disease pest " means Dutch elm disease, oak
2.1 	wilt, or any disorder pests or pathogens affecting the growth
2.2 	and life of shade trees.
2.3 	(e) "Wood utilization or disposal system" means facilities,
2.4 	equipment, or systems used for the removal and disposal of
2.5 	diseased or pest-infested shade trees, including collection,
2.6 	transportation, processing, or storage of wood and assisting in
2.7 	the recovery of materials or energy from wood.
2.8 	(f) "Approved disease pest control program" means a
2.9 	municipal plan approved by the commissioner to control or
2.10 	eradicate a shade tree disease pest.
2.11 	(g) " Disease Pest control area" means an area approved by
2.12 	the commissioner within which a municipality will conduct an
2.13 	approved disease pest control program.
2.14 	(h) "Sanitation" means the identification, inspection,
2.15 	disruption of a common root system, girdling, trimming, removal,
2.16 	and disposal of dead, pest-infested or diseased wood of shade
2.17 	trees, including subsidies for trees removed pursuant to
2.18 	subdivision 4, on public or private property within a disease
2.19 	control area.
2.20 	(i) "Reforestation" means the replacement of shade trees
2.21 	removed from public property and the planting of a tree as part
2.22 	of a municipal disease control program.  For purposes of this
2.23 	paragraph, "public property" includes private property within
2.24 	five feet of the boulevard or street terrace in a city that
2.25 	enacted an ordinance on or before January 1, 1977, that
2.26 	prohibits or requires a permit for the planting of trees in the
2.27 	public right-of-way.
2.28 	(j) "Shade tree" means a woody perennial grown primarily
2.29 	for aesthetic or environmental purposes.

2.30 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 18G.16,
2.31 	subdivision 2, is amended to read:
2.32 		Subd. 2.Commissioner to adopt rules.  The commissioner
2.33 	may adopt rules relating to shade tree pest and disease control
2.34 	in any municipality.  The rules must prescribe control measures
2.35 	to be used to prevent the spread of shade tree pests and
2.36 	diseases and must include the following:
3.1 	(1) a definition of shade tree;
3.2 	(2) qualifications for tree inspectors;
3.3 	(3) methods of identifying diseased or infested 
3.4 	pest-infested shade trees;
3.5 	(4) procedures for giving reasonable notice of inspection
3.6 	of private real property;
3.7 	(5) measures for the removal of any shade tree which may
3.8 	contribute to the spread of shade tree pests or disease and for
3.9 	reforestation of pest or disease control areas;
3.10 	(6) approved methods of treatment of shade trees;
3.11 	(7) criteria for priority designation areas in an approved
3.12 	pest or disease control program; and
3.13 	(8) any other matters determined necessary by the
3.14 	commissioner to prevent the spread of shade tree pests or
3.15 	disease and enforce this section.

3.16 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 18G.16,
3.17 	subdivision 3, is amended to read:
3.18 		Subd. 3.Diagnostic laboratory.  The commissioner shall
3.19 	operate a diagnostic laboratory for culturing diseased or
3.20 	infested pest-infested trees for positive identification of
3.21 	diseased or infested pest-infested shade trees.

3.22 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 18G.16,
3.23 	subdivision 4, is amended to read:
3.24 		Subd. 4.Cooperation by university.  The University of
3.25 	Minnesota College of Natural Resources shall cooperate with the
3.26 	department in control of shade tree disease, pests, and
3.27 	disorders and management of shade tree populations.  The College
3.28 	of Natural Resources shall cooperate with the department to
3.29 	conduct tree inspector certification and recertification
3.30 	workshops for certified tree inspectors.  The College of Natural
3.31 	Resources shall also conduct research into means for identifying
3.32 	diseased or pest-infested shade trees, develop and evaluate
3.33 	control measures, and develop means for disposing of and using
3.34 	diseased or pest-infested shade trees.

3.35 	Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 18G.16,
3.36 	subdivision 5, is amended to read:
4.1 		Subd. 5.Experimental programs.  The commissioner may
4.2 	establish experimental programs for sanitation or treatment of
4.3 	shade tree diseases and for research into tree varieties most
4.4 	suitable for municipal reforestation.  The research must include
4.5 	considerations of disease resistance, energy conservation, and
4.6 	other factors considered appropriate.  The commissioner may make
4.7 	grants to municipalities or enter into contracts with
4.8 	municipalities, nurseries, colleges, universities, or state or
4.9 	federal agencies in connection with experimental shade tree
4.10 	programs including research to assist municipalities in
4.11 	establishing priority designation areas for shade tree disease 
4.12 	pest control and energy conservation.

4.13 	Sec. 6. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 18G.16,
4.14 	subdivision 6, is amended to read:
4.15 		Subd. 6.Removal of diseased or infested pest-infested 
4.16 	trees.  After reasonable notice of inspection, an owner of real
4.17 	property containing a shade tree that is diseased, infested, or
4.18 	may contribute to the spread of pests or disease, must remove or
4.19 	treat the tree within the period of time and in the manner
4.20 	established by the commissioner.  Trees that are not removed in
4.21 	compliance with the commissioner's rules must be declared a
4.22 	public nuisance and removed or treated by approved methods by
4.23 	the municipality, which may assess all or part of the expense,
4.24 	limited to the lowest contract rates available that include wage
4.25 	levels which meet Minnesota minimum wage standards, to the
4.26 	property and the expense becomes a lien on the property.  A
4.27 	municipality may assess not more than 50 percent of the expense
4.28 	of treating with an approved method or removing diseased or
4.29 	pest-infested shade trees located on street terraces or
4.30 	boulevards to the abutting properties and the assessment becomes
4.31 	a lien on the property.

4.32 	Sec. 7. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 18G.16,
4.33 	subdivision 7, is amended to read:
4.34 		Subd. 7.Rules; applicability to municipalities.  The
4.35 	rules of the commissioner apply in a municipality unless the
4.36 	municipality adopts an ordinance determined by the commissioner
5.1 	to be more stringent than the rules of the commissioner.  The
5.2 	rules of the commissioner or the municipality apply to all state
5.3 	agencies, special purpose districts, and metropolitan
5.4 	commissions as defined in section 473.121, subdivision 5a, that
5.5 	own or control land adjacent to or within a shade tree disease 
5.6 	pest control area.

5.7 	Sec. 8. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 18G.16,
5.8 	subdivision 8, is amended to read:
5.9 		Subd. 8.Grants to municipalities.  (a) The commissioner
5.10 	may, in the name of the state and within the limit of
5.11 	appropriations provided, make a grant to a municipality with an
5.12 	approved disease pest control program for the partial funding of
5.13 	municipal sanitation and reforestation programs to replace trees
5.14 	lost to pest,disease,or natural disaster.  The commissioner
5.15 	may make a grant to a home rule charter or statutory city, a
5.16 	special purpose park and recreation board organized under a
5.17 	charter of a city of the first class, a nonprofit corporation
5.18 	serving a city of the first class, or a county having an
5.19 	approved disease pest control program for the acquisition or
5.20 	implementation of a wood use or disposal system.
5.21 	(b) The commissioner shall adopt rules for the
5.22 	administration of grants under this subdivision.  The rules must
5.23 	contain:
5.24 	(1) procedures for grant applications;
5.25 	(2) conditions and procedures for the administration of
5.26 	grants;
5.27 	(3) criteria of eligibility for grants including, but not
5.28 	limited to, those specified in this subdivision; and
5.29 	(4) other matters the commissioner may find necessary to
5.30 	the proper administration of the grant program.
5.31 	(c) Grants for wood utilization and disposal systems made
5.32 	by the commissioner under this subdivision must not exceed 50
5.33 	percent of the total cost of the system.  Grants for sanitation
5.34 	and reforestation must be combined into one grant program.
5.35 	Grants to a municipality for sanitation must not exceed 50
5.36 	percent of sanitation costs approved by the commissioner
6.1 	including any amount of sanitation costs paid by special
6.2 	assessments, ad valorem taxes, federal grants, or other funds.
6.3 	A municipality must not specially assess a property owner an
6.4 	amount greater than the amount of the tree's sanitation cost
6.5 	minus the amount of the tree's sanitation cost reimbursed by the
6.6 	commissioner.  Grants to municipalities for reforestation must
6.7 	not exceed 50 percent of the wholesale cost of the trees planted
6.8 	under the reforestation program; provided that a reforestation
6.9 	grant to a county may include 90 percent of the cost of the
6.10 	first 50 trees planted on public property in a town not included
6.11 	in the definition of municipality in subdivision 1 and with less
6.12 	than 1,000 population when the town applies to the county.
6.13 	Reforestation grants to towns and home rule charter or statutory
6.14 	cities of less than 4,000 population with an approved disease 
6.15 	pest control program may include 90 percent of the cost of the
6.16 	first 50 trees planted on public property.  The governing body
6.17 	of a municipality that receives a reforestation grant under this
6.18 	section must appoint up to seven residents of the municipality
6.19 	or designate an existing municipal board or committee to serve
6.20 	as a reforestation advisory committee to advise the governing
6.21 	body of the municipality in the administration of the
6.22 	reforestation program.  For the purpose of this subdivision,
6.23 	"cost" does not include the value of a gift or dedication of
6.24 	trees required by a municipal ordinance but does include
6.25 	documented "in-kind" services or voluntary work for
6.26 	municipalities with a population of less than 1,000 according to
6.27 	the most recent federal census.
6.28 	(d) Based upon estimates submitted by the municipality to
6.29 	the commissioner, which state the estimated costs of sanitation
6.30 	and reforestation in the succeeding quarter under an approved
6.31 	program, the commissioner shall direct quarterly advance
6.32 	payments to be made by the state to the municipality commencing
6.33 	April 1.  The commissioner shall direct adjustment of any
6.34 	overestimate in a succeeding quarter.  A municipality may elect
6.35 	to receive the proceeds of its sanitation and reforestation
6.36 	grants on a periodic cost reimbursement basis.
7.1 	(e) A home rule charter or statutory city, county outside
7.2 	the metropolitan area, or any municipality, as defined in
7.3 	subdivision 1, may submit an application for a grant authorized
7.4 	by this subdivision concurrently with its request for approval
7.5 	of a disease pest control program.
7.6 	(f) The commissioner shall not make grants for sanitation
7.7 	and reforestation or wood utilization and disposal systems in
7.8 	excess of 67 50 percent of the amounts appropriated for those
7.9 	purposes to the municipalities located within the metropolitan
7.10 	area, as defined in subdivision 1.

7.11 	Sec. 9. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 18G.16,
7.12 	subdivision 9, is amended to read:
7.13 		Subd. 9.Subsidies to certain owners.  A municipality may
7.14 	provide subsidies to nonprofit organizations, to owners of
7.15 	private residential property of five acres or less, to owners of
7.16 	property used for a homestead of more than five acres but less
7.17 	than 20 acres, and to nonprofit cemeteries for the approved
7.18 	treatment or removal of diseased or pest-infested shade trees.
7.19 	Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, an owner of
7.20 	property on which shade trees are located may contract with a
7.21 	municipality to provide protection against the cost of approved
7.22 	treatment or removal of diseased or pest-infested shade trees or
7.23 	shade trees that will contribute to the spread of shade tree
7.24 	diseases or pest infestations.  Under the contract, the
7.25 	municipality must pay for the removal or approved treatment
7.26 	under terms and conditions determined by its governing body.

7.27 	Sec. 10. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 18G.16,
7.28 	subdivision 14, is amended to read:
7.29 		Subd. 14.Municipal option to participate in program.
 7.30 	The term "municipality" shall include only those municipalities
7.31 	which have informed the commissioner of their intent to continue
7.32 	an approved disease pest control program.  Any municipality
7.33 	desiring to participate in the grants-in-aid for the partial
7.34 	funding of municipal sanitation and reforestation programs must
7.35 	notify the commissioner in writing before the beginning of the
7.36 	calendar year in which it wants to participate and must have an
8.1 	approved disease pest control program during any year in which
8.2 	it receives grants-in-aid.  Notwithstanding the provisions of
8.3 	any law to the contrary, no municipality shall be required to
8.4 	have an approved disease pest control program after December 31,
8.5 	1981.

8.6 	Sec. 11. APPROPRIATION.
 8.7 	$....... is appropriated from the general fund to the
8.8 	commissioner of agriculture for the shade tree pest control
8.9 	program under Minnesota Statutes, section 18G.16.  This
8.10 	appropriation is available until expended.