Legislative Session number- 85

Bill Name: SF1312

4E Relating to environment and natural resources policy

ARTICLE 1 - NATURAL
RESOURCES MISCELLANEOUS AND TECHNICAL

Establishing the Cuyuna country state
recreation area citizens advisory council, sunset; extending the Minnesota river
trail by adding a loop extension between Fort Ridgely state park and the cities
of Redwood Falls and Sleepy Eye and a segment connecting the cities of Granite
Falls and Montevideo; clarifying state park permit display requirements;
modifying certain military personnel on leave provisions relating to park
permits; authorizing a state park permit exemption and fee waiver for Croft
mines historical park and Portsmouth mine lake overlook in the Cuyuna county
state recreation area; regulating shoreland resorts; requiring counties and
municipalities to allow resort owners to maintain and replace structures under
certain conditions and to expand structure footprints to minimally meet federal,
state or local dwelling standards or codes; providing for a change in ownership;
specifying certain duties of the metropolitan council for planning activities
addressing water supply needs; modifying contested case hearing notices
requirements; "Uniform Environmental Covenants Act", defining certain terms,
providing for the nature of rights under environmental covenants; specifying
contents of environmental covenants; providing for the validity and the effect
of environmental covenants on other instruments; providing for the relationship
to other land use law; specifying notice and recording requirements; providing
for the duration of environmental covenants, providing for modification or
termination by administrative or court action; providing for the amendment or
termination of environmental covenants by consent; providing for enforcement of
environmental covenants; providing for uniformity of application and
construction; providing for relation to federal electronic signatures in global
and national commerce act; providing for recovery of litigation costs and
expense; modifying commissioner of agriculture acquisition of property
provisions to conform to the act; requiring the commissioner of transportation
(DOT) to work with private individuals and groups to create native prairie
markers within a railroad right of way; modifying metropolitan council water
supply need planning activities requirements and removing certain requirements
for public facilities plans; requiring the commissioner of natural resources
(DNR) to initiate rulemaking for aquatic plant management permit issuance
standards and authorizing rulemaking for minimum shoreland standards updates;
requiring the commissioner of natural resources to establish a pilot project for
Eurasian water milfoil control on Green lake in Kandiyohi county; requiring the
director of Explore Minnesota tourism in collaboration with the commissioner of
natural resources (DNR) to develop a voluntary Minnesota travel green program to
recognize certain tourism businesses committed to protecting the environment and
to promote the Explore Minnesota brand and to give the state and hospitality
business participants a marketing edge, promote smart business practices, reduce
costs, educate travelers, promote Minnesota travel and protect the environment,
requiring report to the legislature; repealing a one day permit fee exemption
for active military personnel

ARTICLE 2 - OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLES

Requiring the
commissioner of natural resources (DNR) to prescribe a season for off highway
vehicle use on state forest lands, exception for designated forest roads,
exemption from rulemaking requirements; establishing an off highway vehicle
safety and conservation program to promote safe and responsible operation of off
highway vehicles without environmental harm; prohibiting public employee worker
displacement; requiring the commissioner to appoint an off highway vehicle
safety advisory council; modifying all terrain vehicle (ATV) operating
provisions; requiring youthful passengers and operators to wear helmets;
requiring class 2 operators and passengers to wear seat belts; requiring
parental authorization for operation under a certain age; modifying passenger
regulations; limiting class 2 operation to forest roads and trails on department
of natural resources lands; clarifying class 1 and 2 operation in ditches, banks
and certain public roads; establishing and defining state forest traditional
areas; requiring the commissioner to designate state forest traditional areas,
exemption from rulemaking requirements; providing for vehicle restrictions;
authorizing commissioner to classify portions of a limited forest as closed;
repealing a class 2 vehicles operation provision; modifying the definition of
motor vehicle under the open bottle law for off road recreational vehicles under
certain conditions; repealing class 2 vehicle operation requirements

ARTICLE 3
- GAME AND FISH

Specifying certain temporary licensing restrictions for raising
minnows, requiring legislative report; modifying the game bird definition;
defining immediately released or returned to water fish; designating the
Vermillion highlands wildlife management area in Dakota county; modifying taking
protected animals damaging property provisions, authorizing the commissioner to
prescribe rules for taking Canada geese; prohibiting convictions for persons in
violation of license possession requirements under certain conditions,
permitting certain license fee refunds and replacements; modifying the license
year for fishing, angling, nonresident fishing, resident fish house and dark
house and nonresident fish house licenses; imposing a penalty for taking wild
animals during privileges suspension; authorizing residents under a certain age,
possessing an apprentice hunter validation and accompanied by a parent or
guardian to take small game; increasing the number of deer allowed to be taken
with an all season license; eliminating the prohibition for using a commercial
cold storage warehouse for protected wild animals; eliminating the prohibition
of transporting the flesh of beaver, raccoon, rabbits and hare out of state;
exempting veterans from the range and shooting exercise portion of the required
course of instruction for the firearms safety certificate; authorizing the
commissioner of natural resources to require written proof of prior military
training or peace officer licensure; providing for an apprentice hunter
certificate as a condition for obtaining an annual license to take wild animals;
specifying apprentice hunter validation requirements; modifying certain hunting
provisions relating to hunting restrictions between evening and morning and all
season deer licenses; exempting remote controlled animal noise callers from the
general prohibition of hunters using radios to take game animals; removing the
ban against the use of smokeless gunpowder in muzzle loaders during muzzle
loader deer hunting season; authorizing the commissioner of natural resources to
temporarily issue additional bear hunting permits for scientific, conservation
or educational fund raising purposes; modifying information requirements for
traps and snares; modifying permit requirements for fishing contests, imposing a
fee for permits to conduct fishing contests, authorizing the commissioner to
establish contest permit fees; authorizing the commissioner to prescribe
restrictions on fishing seasons, limits or methods on specific bodies of water;
imposing civil penalties on owners of fish houses unlawfully left on the ice;
modifying the angling season for lake trout on lakes; reducing the number of
commercial fishing licenses issued for lake Superior; modifying types of fish
taken by pound nets and trap nets and clarifying the area of the lake; modifying
the type of fish to be taken by operators with special permits; requiring the
commissioner of natural resources to provide for taking of lake Superior lake
trout by licensed commercial operators in certain zones for expanded assessment
and sale; authorizing the commissioner to use the good clause exemption to amend
rules; requiring the commissioner of natural resources to create a walk in
public access plan to encourage private land owners to make land available to
the public for hunting and fishing

ARTICLE 4 - STATE LANDS

Relating to state
lands; increasing the land value threshold for the commissioner of natural
resources (DNR) to acquire land without appraisal; specifying a land value for
transaction incentive; requiring landowner disclosure of property value prior to
offer; renaming the Greenleaf lake state park the Greenleaf lake state
recreation area; regulating firewood possession on land administered by the
department of natural resources for pest control purposes, requiring
commissioner of natural resources approval of firewood and state register
publication of approved firewood definition, violation subject to confiscation;
modifying severed mineral interest recording requirements; exempting certain
exchanged tax forfeited land from the land assurance fee in Itasca county;
providing an addition and deletion to Flandrau state park in Brown county and an
addition to Whitewater state park in Winona county; authorizing and providing
for the public sale of certain surplus state land bordering public water in
Aitkin, Cook, Nicollet, Red Lake and St. Louis counties, public sale of certain
consolidated conservation land bordering public water in Aitkin county, private
sale of certain consolidated conservation land in Aitkin county, public sale of
consolidated conservation land in Aitkin county, conveyance of certain surplus
state land bordering public water in Beltrami county, private sale of certain
surplus state land bordering public water in Cass, Hennepin and Washington
counties, private sale of certain surplus state land in Hennepin, Kittson, Lake
and St. Louis counties, public or private sale of certain surplus state land
bordering public water in Kittson county, private sales of tax forfeited land
bordering public water in Crow Wing and Lake counties, conveyance of tax
forfeited land bordering public water in Dakota county and authorizing the Lake
County board to suspend the apportionment of the balance of net proceeds from
tax-forfeited lands and retain the net proceeds for reimbursement to the county
for the Clair A. Nelson memorial forest; repealing the Meeker county Greenleaf
lake state park provision

ARTICLE 5 - WETLANDS CONSERVATION

Modifying
provisions relating to wetland conservation; modifying certain agency service
application requirements; modifying certain wetland replacement siting
requirements; exempting wetlands created for conservation purposes and
activities in wetlands restored or created by landowners without public agency
assistance from wetland restoration replacement plan requirements; modifying
certain replacement plan exemptions for federal approvals, utilities and public
works; requiring the board of water and soil resources (BOWSR) to develop rules
providing for exempt wetland impacts estimates and reporting; authorizing the
board to develop a professional wetland delineator certification program;
requiring wetland boundary or type determination decisions appeals made by
designated local government staff to be made to local government units and
specifying a response time; allowing restoration order appeals, removing a
requirement for petitioner letter of credit or check; requiring the board to
establish a fee schedule to defray certain administrative costs of appeals;
modifying replacement credit requirements for water quality treatment ponds by
removing the ongoing or proposed project association requirement; requiring
BOWSR to use fees paid for appeals processing; modifying local comprehensive
wetland protection and management plan content requirements; granting the board
certain rulemaking authority; repealing a certain provision relating to approved
development exemptions

ARTICLE 6 - ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

Regulating the
installation and replacement of outdoor lighting fixtures using public funds for
energy conservation and outdoor artificial light pollution reduction purposes,
specifying certain standards for publicly funded outdoor lighting fixtures and
regulation exemptions; requiring the commissioner of administration in
consultation with the commissioner of commerce and local government associations
to develop a model ordinance, specifying ordinance requirements; exempting from
the individual sewage treatment system mandatory licensing program designers,
installers, inspectors and system operators of certain smaller systems;
prohibiting the sale of mercury containing products and regulating disposal of
fluorescent and high intensity discharge lamps, requiring delivery to lamp
recycling facilities; specifying manufacturer labeling requirements for
fluorescent and high intensity discharge lamps and laboratory chemicals and
electrodes; prohibiting sale of mercury containing sphygmomanometers,
gastrointestinal devices, thermostats, switches and relays, diostats,
barometers, manometers, pyrometers, over the counter pharmaceuticals and
cosmetics after a certain date; excluding switch, relay or measuring devices
used as replacement components on a larger product under certain conditions;
prohibiting school use of mercury after a certain date; updating the motor
vehicle race events noise standards exemption; extending the prohibition for
approving permits for the construction of new open air swine basins by the
commissioner of the pollution control agency or county boards; restricting
phosphorus content in dishwasher detergent, exception for commercial or
institutional dishwashing; modifying a pollution control agency wastewater
phosphorous discharge rule provision effective date; requiring the PCA to report
to environmental policy legislative committees on individual sewage treatment
systems (ISTS); requiring the PCA, the environmental quality board and the
commissioners of agriculture and natural resources to report to agriculture and
environmental policy and budget committees on the biofuel production permits
issuance process; authorizing the commissioner of the pollution control agency
in consultation with the commissioners of agriculture, health, natural
resources, the university of Minnesota and the United States environmental
protection agency to report to the legislature on strategies to prevent
endocrine disruptors entry into state waters

ARTICLE 7 - COMMUNITY AND
FORESTRY

Providing for community forest management; authorizing the
commissioner of agriculture to make grants to municipalities or enter into
contracts with municipalities, nurseries, colleges, universities, state or
federal agencies for new and emerging plant pest programs including research;
defining community forest; authorizing foresters to provide advice in community
forest management; modifying the Minnesota releaf program; defining and
redefining certain terms; modifying certain duties, best methods and forest plan
requirements of the commissioner of natural resources for forestry and forest
protection purposes; authorizing the commissioner to establish experimental
programs for the control of forest pests and shade tree pests; requiring posting
of zones of infestation on the department of natural resources web site;
clarifying and modifying certain infestation control and expenses provisions
relating pests and shade tree pests; establishing the shade tree pest control
grant program, authorizing the commissioner to make grants to aid in the control
of shade tree pests, specifying certain grant eligibility requirements and rules
and procedures applicable to municipalities; providing for the
certification of
tree inspectors; expanding certain enforcement officer powers; repealing certain
shade tree pest and disease control provisions

ARTICLE 8 - DRAINAGE

Modifying
requirements for drainage ditch buffers; requiring permanent perennial
vegetation planting approved by a drainage authority; authorizing drainage
authorities to implement perennial vegetation buffer strips and side inlet
controls, requiring an annual report to the board of water and soil resources
(BOWSR); providing for restoration upon
damage or destruction; specifying a
schedule for open drainage ditch inspection; making certain conforming
amendments
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