HF 190

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 05/22/2017 01:24am

A bill for an act
relating to water; requiring actions to protect the upper Mississippi River as drinking
water source for 1,000,000 Minnesotans; appropriating money.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. new text begin ACTIONS TO PROTECT UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER WATERSHED;
APPROPRIATIONS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Definition. new text end

new text begin For the purposes of this section, the Upper Mississippi River
Source Water Protection Area is defined as the upper Mississippi River basin that serves
as the watershed for the upper Mississippi River used by over 1,000,000 Minnesotans for
drinking water, including the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and St. Cloud drinking water systems.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Pollution Control Agency. new text end

new text begin (a) $228,000 in fiscal year 2018 and $228,000 in
fiscal year 2019 are appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of the Pollution
Control Agency to review manure and nutrient management requirements and guidance
established by the Pollution Control Agency and modify requirements, recommendations,
and management practices for areas within the Upper Mississippi River Source Water
Protection Area to ensure protection of the Mississippi River for purposes of drinking water.
This is a onetime appropriation and the work must be completed by July 1, 2020.
new text end

new text begin (b) $114,000 in fiscal year 2018 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner
of the Pollution Control Agency to incorporate surface water protection strategies specific
to drinking water sources when preparing watershed restoration and protection strategy
reports (WRAPSs) and total maximum daily load (TMDLs). This is a onetime appropriation.
new text end

new text begin (c) $720,000 in fiscal year 2019 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner
of the Pollution Control Agency to review and incorporate surface water protection strategies
specific to drinking water sources into best management practices, guidance, and rules
related to feedlots, subsurface treatment systems, storm water management, and state disposal
system/national pollutant discharge elimination system permits and when issuing state
disposal system/national pollutant discharge elimination system permits. The base for this
appropriation is $720,000 in fiscal year 2020, $492,000 in fiscal year 2021, and $0 in fiscal
year 2022.
new text end

new text begin (d) $28,000 in fiscal year 2018 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner
of the Pollution Control Agency to prepare and submit a report to the chairs and ranking
minority members of the house of representatives and senate committees and divisions with
jurisdiction over the environment and natural resources on the status of the efforts required
under paragraphs (a) and (b) and any necessary legislative changes needed to ensure effective
strategies to protect the upper Mississippi River as a drinking water source are implemented.
The report must be submitted by July 1, 2018. This is a onetime appropriation.
new text end

new text begin (e) $151,000 in fiscal year 2018 and $151,000 in fiscal year 2019 are appropriated from
the general fund to the commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency to complete rulemaking
to establish a water quality standard for nitrate nitrogen to protect aquatic life and human
health. This is a onetime appropriation.
new text end

new text begin (f) To the extent practicable, the commissioner must focus water quality assessment
work and other relevant work of the agency within the Upper Mississippi River Source
Water Protection Area.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Health. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of health, in consultation with the commissioners
of natural resources and the Pollution Control Agency, must develop a schedule to test and
regularly test drinking water sources, including surface waters, for contaminants, including:
new text end

new text begin (1) microorganisms, including bacteria, that are regulated as contaminants of drinking
water by the United States Environmental Protection Agency;
new text end

new text begin (2) the following pesticides and their degradates: acetochlor; alachlor; atrazine;
metolachlor; metribuzin; and neonicotinoids, including clothianidin, imidacloprid, and
thiamethoxam;
new text end

new text begin (3) nitrates;
new text end

new text begin (4) pharmaceuticals, including those identified by the Pollution Control Agency as part
of the agency's 2008 and 2013 work sampling and identifying pharmaceuticals present in
Minnesota's lakes and rivers; and
new text end

new text begin (5) other endocrine disruptors and unregulated contaminants commonly found when
testing waters in the state, including an estimate of the total quantity of endocrine disrupting
chemicals.
new text end

new text begin (b) Water tested for contaminants under this subdivision must include samples taken
from:
new text end

new text begin (1) the Crow River, including the mouth of the river and various locations along the
river;
new text end

new text begin (2) Minneapolis, St. Paul, and St. Cloud drinking water system intake locations; and
new text end

new text begin (3) areas identified as potential sources of drinking water contamination along the upper
Mississippi River and its tributaries.
new text end

new text begin (c) By July 1, 2018, the commissioner must submit a report on the status and results of
the testing required under this subdivision to the chairs and ranking minority members of
the house of representatives and senate committees and divisions with jurisdiction over the
environment and natural resources and health.
new text end

new text begin (d) By January 1, 2019, the commissioner must adopt health risk limits for:
new text end

new text begin (1) the following neonicotinoids: clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam; and
new text end

new text begin (2) breakdown products of pesticides commonly found in groundwater and surface water
samples in the Upper Mississippi River Source Water Protection Area.
new text end

new text begin Health risk limits adopted under this paragraph must be consistent with Minnesota Statutes,
section 144.0751, requiring reasonable margins of safety for the protection of infants,
children, and adults.
new text end

new text begin (e) The commissioner must test finished water for all contaminants the department has
adopted health risk limits for and must test finished water for pharmaceuticals and endocrine
disruptors to determine the effectiveness of drinking water treatment infrastructure in
removing pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors.
new text end

new text begin (f) $....... in fiscal year 2018 and $....... in fiscal year 2019 are appropriated from the
general fund to the commissioner of health for the purposes of this subdivision. This is a
onetime appropriation.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Natural resources. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of natural resources must study
groundwater and surface water connections within the Upper Mississippi River Source
Water Protection Area and determine the potential impact those connections and water
appropriation permits in the area have on drinking water for Minneapolis, St. Paul, and St.
Cloud. The commissioner must share the determinations made under this paragraph with
affected public water suppliers and submit a report to the chairs and ranking minority
members of the house of representatives and senate committees and divisions with jurisdiction
over the environment and natural resources with the determinations and recommendations.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioner must review public water access sites and other state lands and
facilities to ensure that the department is using best management practices to protect the
upper Mississippi River as a drinking water source.
new text end

new text begin (c) To the extent practicable, the commissioner must focus stream monitoring and fish
index of biological integrity work within the Upper Mississippi River Source Water
Protection Area.
new text end

new text begin (d) $....... in fiscal year 2018 and $....... in fiscal year 2019 are appropriated from the
general fund to the commissioner of natural resources for the purposes of this subdivision.
This is a onetime appropriation.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Agriculture. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of agriculture must ensure that education
and training for pesticide applicators and manure applicators includes information and best
management practices specifically addressing surface water quality for drinking water
protection.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioner of agriculture must review setback requirements for pesticide
applications to determine whether the requirements protect surface waters during extreme
weather events and incorporate the findings when registering pesticides and annually
renewing registrations under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 18B.
new text end

new text begin (c) The commissioner of agriculture must incorporate measures estimated to protect
drinking water sources from nitrate nitrogen when preparing the department's nitrogen
fertilizer rule.
new text end

new text begin (d) The commissioner of agriculture must require incident response plans required under
Minnesota Statutes, sections 18B.37 and 18C.235, to incorporate provisions necessary to
protect surface waters used for drinking water.
new text end

new text begin (e) $....... in fiscal year 2018 and $....... in fiscal year 2019 are appropriated from the
general fund to the commissioner of agriculture for the purposes of this subdivision. This
is a onetime appropriation.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Data coordination. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioners of the Pollution Control Agency,
health, natural resources, and agriculture must review procedures and data collection and
storage to improve efficiencies and ensure data is available across state entities to ensure
that the state's drinking water sources are protected.
new text end

new text begin (b) $....... in fiscal year 2018 is appropriated from the general fund as follows for the
purposes of this subdivision:
new text end

new text begin (1) $63,000 is to the commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency;
new text end

new text begin (2) $....... is to the commissioner of health;
new text end

new text begin (3) $....... is to the commissioner of natural resources; and
new text end

new text begin (4) $....... is to the commissioner of agriculture.
new text end

new text begin This is a onetime appropriation.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Source water protection plan review. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of health must
review source water protection plans for areas in other states that use surface water for
drinking water, including New York, New York; Boston, Massachusetts; and Portland,
Maine. The commissioner must compile a list of source water protection strategies from
those areas and others, including both on-the-ground practices and regulatory strategies.
By January 1, 2018, the commissioner must submit a report on the strategies to the chairs
and ranking minority members of the house of representatives and senate committees and
divisions with jurisdiction over the environment and natural resources and health.
new text end

new text begin (b) By July 1, 2018, the commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency, in cooperation
with the commissioners of natural resources, health, and agriculture, must evaluate the
source water protection strategies identified under paragraph (a) and submit a report
identifying the most effective strategies to the chairs and ranking minority members of the
house of representatives and senate committees and divisions with jurisdiction over the
environment and natural resources and health.
new text end