SF 2276 Senate Long Description
2E Relating to the organization, operation and financing of state government, appropriating money for environment, natural resources, agriculture and economic development purposes; reducing certain appropriations
ARTICLE 1 - ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES AND AGRICULTURE
Providing a summary of appropriations by fund, reducing appropriations from the general fund; appropriating money to the pollution control agency for water, air and land, reducing appropriations for administrative support, requiring use of a certain appropriation transfer for cleanup of certain sites; appropriating money to the zoological board, to the commissioner of natural resources (DNR) for land and mineral and water resources, forest, parks and recreation, trails and waterways and fish and wildlife management, for ecological services, for enforcement and for operations support, to the board of water and soil resources (BOWSR) for grants to the Minnesota River basin study area 2, for a public drainage system buffers implementation, use and maintenance assessment and for beaver damage control grants, to the metropolitan council for regional parks and trails maintenance and operations, to the commissioner of agriculture for grants to gasoline service station owners installing pumps for dispensing E85 gasoline, for ethanol combustion efficiency grants, for a study of the feasibility and desirability of constructing a rail container load out facility in or near the cities of Willmar or Clara City, for transfer to the board of trustees of the Minnesota state colleges and universities (MnSCU) for certain farm business management programs, for grants to the Minnesota horticultural society and to the northern Minnesota forage-turf seed advisory committee, for training and technical assistance to county and town officials relating to livestock siting issues and local zoning and land use planning, for a contract with the university of Minnesota for livestock odor and air quality management research and development, for grants to second harvest heartland to purchase milk for the second harvest food banks and for rural finance authority purchase of direct agricultural loans to farmers, to the board of animal health for a grant to the veterinary diagnostic laboratory at the university of Minnesota to expand animal disease surveillance and to protect animal agriculture and public health and to various departments and agencies for certain Minnesota resources projects, providing an appropriation to the legislative commission on Minnesota resources and the LCMR citizen advisory committee, specifying certain match, data availability, project, payment, recyclable materials purchase, energy conservation and accessibility requirements and imposing certain project completion deadlines; requiring certain assessments and reports; delaying the reorganization of the office of environmental assistance (OEA); providing for the issuance of state bonds for RFA loan programs; modifying the distribution of receipts credited to the forest suspense account; changing the dates for commissioner of agriculture semiannual reports to the legislature on agricultural fund expenditures; authorizing the commissioner to impose a nonrefundable application fee for agricultural best management practices loans; specifying certain grain scale testing requirements, requiring fees charged by the commissioner for testing scales and weighing equipment to be uniform with the fees charged by the division of weights and measures of the department of commerce; requiring the deposit of assessments collected relating to pesticide management in the pesticide regulatory account in the agricultural fund; increasing certain pesticide registration and dealer, pest control or applicator license application fees and imposing or modifying certain late payment penalties; modifying the soil and manure testing laboratories certification program and increasing the inspection fee; increasing the maximum amount of money in the agricultural chemical response and reimbursement account allowed to be used by the compensation board to reimburse the commissioner for administrative costs; modifying certain export certification laboratory or technical analysis fee requirements; clarifying the application of the shade tree disease control program to pest infested trees; increasing certain nursery stock dealer certificate fees and modifying certain penalties; modifying certain apiary or commercial feed registration or license application and fee requirements; modifying certain provisions regulating ethanol producer payments and providing for commissioner ethanol combustion efficiency grants under the ethanol development program; requiring and providing for the rural finance authority to establish and implement a livestock equipment pilot loan program to help finance the first purchase of livestock related equipment and make livestock facilities improvements; establishing a rural finance authority revolving loan account in the rural finance administration fund to replace certain separate RFA loan accounts or funds; increasing the limit on gifts by the commissioner of natural resources to members of the public to promote conservation or create awareness of natural resources in the state; expanding the authority of the commissioner relating to electronic transactions and requiring the commissioner to establish an electronic licensing system commission for recovery of electronic licensing system costs; extending the expiration date of the off highway vehicle damage account; modifying certain registration, decal or sticker requirements for off highway motorcycles, off road vehicles, snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles (ATV), imposing certain certificate issuing fees for licensing agents and expanding the snowmobile trails grant in aid program; authorizing recreational vehicle or watercraft registration or license refunds under certain conditions; modifying the restriction on commercial fishing in infested waters; authorizing separate state park open house days, exempting a certain parking area in the Big Bog state recreation area from state park permit requirements and authorizing the commissioner to authorize waiver or reduction of state park entrance fees; creating the water recreation account in the natural resources fund for the deposit of certain fees, surcharges, fines, penalties and unrefunded gasoline tax receipts relating to watercraft, restricting use of money in the account; protecting existing shooting ranges through commissioner establishment of performance standards; establishing the forest bough account in the natural resources fund for deposit of bough buyers permit fees; authorizing the commissioner to assess a surcharge on tree seedlings for forestry education and technical assistance; modifying the fee for special permits to salvage or cut fuelwood; extending the expiration date of the game and fish fund budgetary oversight committee; modifying certain requirements for payment in lieu of taxes to counties with public hunting areas or game refuges; expanding the authorized uses of money in the trout and salmon management account; modifying the content requirement for the annual commissioner lifetime fish and wildlife trust fund report to the legislature; requiring the commissioners of human services and natural resources to request a waiver from the federal requirements for the collection of social security numbers on certain license applications for child support enforcement purposes for certain youth; authorizing and providing for the commissioner to require the tagging and registration of certain special species of fish; restricting the planting of trees over public or private drain tile; reinstating the beaver damage control grant program under the board of water and soil resources; increasing or imposing a surcharge on certain water use permit application processing fees; requiring the deposit of money received for permits to harvest or destroy aquatic plants in the water recreation account in lieu of the game and fish fund; providing for the use of revenues from permit fees for underground storage of gas or liquid; modifying certain federal section 401 water quality certification requirements of the commissioner of the PCA; prohibiting solicitation of business by individual sewage treatment system inspection professionals and limiting the per household tank installation fee for performance based ISTSs; clarifying the definition of full time equivalence under the dry cleaner environmental response and reimbursement law and making permanent the requirement for the PCA commissioner to adjust dry cleaner registration fees to maintain a certain annual income to the response and reimbursement account; eliminating a certain member term limit and compensation regulation provision for the board of directors of the agricultural utilization research institute; specifying certain annual reporting requirements of recipients of appropriations from the environment and natural resources trust fund used to acquire interest in real property; encouraging road authorities to use low maintenance native vegetation to reduce the need for mowing ditches to provide enhanced roadside habitat for nesting birds and small wildlife; authorizing the issuance of special critical habitat license plates for recreational vehicles; increasing grain buyers and warehouse operators license fees and authorizing the commissioner of agriculture to impose a penalty for delinquent fees; modifying the authorized use of tax-forfeited land or products sale proceeds for timber development projects; eliminating the crediting of unrefunded gasoline tax receipts attributable to motorboat use to the water recreation account for state park development purposes; requiring cities or towns to regulate the repair, replacement, maintenance, improvement or expansion of nonconforming uses and structures in floodplain areas to maintain eligibility in the national flood insurance program without increasing the flood damage potential; requiring the metropolitan council to carry out metropolitan area water supply planning activities, creating an advisory committee and providing for funding from the repealed credit bond enhancement program; correcting the purpose of a certain prior appropriation to the university of Minnesota for land acquisition at the landscape arboretum; transferring certain funds for the rural finance authority loan programs; repealing the waste pesticide collection account, bee colony inspection fees, the value added agricultural product revolving loan fund, the off highway vehicle safety and conservation program, certain obsolete interim dry cleaner fees, the metropolitan water use and supply plan and the housing bond credit enhancement program
ARTICLE 2 - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Providing a summary of appropriations by fund; appropriating money to the commissioner of employment and economic development for the collaborative research partnership between the university of Minnesota and the Mayo foundation for research in biotechnology and medical genomics, for small business development, for a grant to the Minnesota inventors congress, for establishment of a methamphetamine laboratory cleanup revolving fund, for grants to the northwest regional development commission for research on the planting and production of cold hardy grape cultivars, to the metropolitan economic development association for continuing minority business development programs, to the Blandin foundation for the get broadband program, to the children's discovery museum to furnish and equip the new museum in Grand Rapids, to the Minnesota alliance of boys and girls clubs for a statewide project of youth job skills development, to the Minnesota opportunities industrialization centers state council, to the Ford motor company production system, to the twin cities community voice mail, to Lifetrack resources for immigrant and refugee collaborative programs and to the Minnesota employment center for deaf or heard of hearing people, for displaced homemaker and youth intervention programs, for extended employment services for persons with severe disabilities or related conditions and for employment support services to persons with mental illness, to the Minnesota conservation corps, to explore Minnesota tourism for tourism and marketing promotion, to the commissioner of labor and industry for workers compensation grants to the Vinland center for rehabilitation services, for certain workforce services and for general support and to the Minnesota historical society for sesquicentennial commission planning and support and for the operation of certain historic sites; authorizing a certain housing finance agency (HFA) fund transfer to implement the business plan for the working group on long term homelessness, requiring a priority for supportive housing projects providing employment support and housing for offenders discharged from correctional or detention facilities; requiring certain reports and matching contributions and providing for the continued availability of certain appropriations; classifying certain investment related data of the state board of investment; imposing certain license education fees payable to the commissioner of commerce; regulating service contracts and providers and reimbursement insurance policies; imposing or increasing certain insurance and real estate appraiser license or examination fees; authorizing the petroleum tank release compensation board to adopt rules specifying competitive bidding and proposal and invoice requirements for consultant services, expanding the authority of the board to provide reimbursement for bulk plant upgrades or closures and extending the expiration date of the petroleum tank release cleanup program; modifying eligibility for grants from the greater Minnesota redevelopment accounts to the metropolitan area, modifying eligible costs and imposing a local match requirement; modifying the workforce development fund employer assessment; establishing purposes for the youth intervention program and for the matching requirement and authorizing the use of certain percentages of appropriations to the program for a grant to the Minnesota youth intervention programs association for certain collaborative training and technical assistance expenses and for DEED administration costs; requiring and providing for the state board of investment investments in Minnesota early stage venture capital; modifying compensation for members of the board of the arts; replacing the commissioner of employment and economic development with the director of explore Minnesota tourism on the membership of the Mississippi River parkway commission and providing for commission acceptance of gifts, grants and endowments; modifying the relative value fee schedule under workers compensation medical fee review purposes and specifying certain rule requirements for chiropractors and physical therapists relating to provider group designation; prohibiting employer misrepresentation of the employment relationship with employees, providing a civil remedy; requiring the commissioner of labor and industry to issue annual permits to boats to carry passengers for hire on inland waters and specifying or modifying certain inspection and registration requirements; modifying certain boiler inspection and license fees and requiring and providing for registration of certain objects by owners or lessees of boilers or pressure vessels subject to inspection; modifying certain engineer license application requirements and imposing an examination requirement; modifying certain reporting requirements in boiler and pressure vessel insurers; expanding authorized biomass fuel sources under the public utilities biomass power mandate to sustainable managed woody biomass and establishing a municipal waste to energy project using woody biomass from state owned land; modifying certain biomass mandate reduction and power purchase agreement requirements; prohibiting railroad companies or persons employed by railroad companies from negligently or intentionally obstructing treatment of railroad workers injured on the job or from disciplining or threatening to discipline injured railroad employees for requesting medical treatment or first aid; creating an exception to the requirement for telephone companies to annually forward balance sheets to the public utilities commission and the commissioner of commerce; replacing the requirement for telephone companies to pay for investigations with a new authority application payment requirement, requiring the PUC to determine the amount of the payment; increasing the total telephone company assessment limit; requiring and providing for PUC establishment of a per number fee to fund the telephone assistance, telecommunications access (TAM) and 911 emergency and public safety communications programs, requiring remittance to the commissioner of revenue for allocation purposes; authorizing use of money in the telephone assistance fund for TAP promotional activities; updating certain standards for the weights and measures division of the department of commerce, granting the division certain penalty assessment authority and modifying certain petroleum inspection fee and products inspection requirements; requiring refineries or terminals selling or transferring diesel fuel to provide a bill of lading or shipping manifest to the person receiving the fuel, specifying certain document disclosure requirements; providing for automotive fuel ratings, certification and posting, specifying certain duties of distributors, retailers and the director of the weights and measures division; prohibiting the commissioner of the iron range resources and rehabilitation from selling or privatizing project areas or functions of the agency without IRRRB approval; clarifying the definition of telephone solicitation for trade practices regulation purposes and regulating representations of 911 emergency phone service; providing an early separation incentive program for certain employees of the commissioner of iron range resources and rehabilitation under the Minnesota state retirement system (MSRS); increasing the marriage dissolution and marriage license fees to fund the displaced homemaker program; establishing a methamphetamine laboratory cleanup revolving fund for loans to assist cities and counties in methamphetamine cleanup, specifying loan application and eligibility requirements and providing for disbursement of funds; increasing the per diem for attendance at port authority meetings; expanding the authority for county establishment of economic development authorities to metropolitan area counties; modifying and clarifying certain provisions regulating job opportunity building (JOBZ) and biotechnology and health sciences industry zones; increasing the bond allocation from the public facilities pool to western Lake Superior sanitary district projects; extending the expiration date of certain telephone company competition regulation and penalty imposition provisions; establishing a temporary Minnesota sesquicentennial commission to plan activities relating to the 150th anniversary of statehood, specifying certain membership requirements and duties; requiring the commissioner of employment and economic development to study extended employment program wage rates and report to the legislature by a certain date; specifying certain headnote insertion and renumbering instructions to the revisor of statutes; repealing certain criteria for use of funds in the Minnesota redevelopment accounts, the apprenticeship registration fee and the expiration date for certain expedited proceedings and practices of the public utilities commission
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