1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to agriculture; appropriating money to the agriculture best management 
1.3 	practices loan program for rural septic system assistance grants.
1.4 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.5 	Section 1. RURAL SEPTIC SYSTEM ASSISTANCE GRANTS; APPROPRIATION.
 1.6 	$2,500,000 in fiscal year 2021 is appropriated from the environment and natural resources 
1.7 	trust fund to the commissioner of agriculture to provide grants to rural landowners to replace 
1.8 	failing septic systems that inadequately protect groundwater. Grants shall be administered 
1.9 	through the agriculture best management practices loan program. Rural landowners, as 
1.10 	defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 17.117, subdivision 4, with income below 300 percent 
1.11 	of the federal poverty guidelines for the applicable family size, shall be eligible for a grant 
1.12 	under this section. A grant awarded under this section shall not exceed the lesser of $5,000 
1.13 	or 35 percent of the cost of replacing the failed or failing septic system. The issuance of a 
1.14 	loan under Minnesota Statutes, section 17.117, for the purpose of replacing a failed septic 
1.15 	system shall not preclude a rural landowner from obtaining a grant under this section or 
1.16 	vice versa. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the commissioner to issue 
1.17 	a grant that conflicts with the requirements and limitations of Minnesota Constitution, article 
1.18 	XI, section 14.

1.19 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.