HF 631

1st Engrossment - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to natural resources; modifying sales authority; creating an account;
removing expiration of sustainable forest resources provisions; providing for
change of security for timber sales; providing for timber sales on tax-forfeited
land; appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, sections 84.025,
subdivision 9; 84.026, subdivision 1; 84.0855, subdivisions 1, 2; 90.161, by
adding a subdivision; 282.04, subdivision 1; proposing coding for new law in
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 89; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2006, section
89A.11.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 84.025, subdivision 9, is amended to read:

Subd. 9.

Professional services support account.

The commissioner of natural
resources may bill the various programs carried out by the commissioner for the costs of
providing them with professional support services. new text begin Except as provided under section
89.421, new text end receipts must be credited to a special account in the state treasury and are
appropriated to the commissioner to pay the costs for which the billings were made.

The commissioner of natural resources shall submit to the commissioner of finance
before the start of each fiscal year a work plan showing the estimated work to be done
during the coming year, the estimated cost of doing the work, and the positions and fees
that will be necessary. This account is exempted from statewide and agency indirect
cost payments.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 84.026, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Contracts.

The commissioner of natural resources is authorized
to enter into contractual agreements with any public or private entity for the provision
of statutorily prescribed natural resources services by the department. The contracts
shall specify the services to be provided. new text begin Except as provided under section 89.421, new text end funds
generated in a contractual agreement made pursuant to this section shall be deposited in
the special revenue fund and are appropriated to the department for purposes of providing
the services specified in the contracts. The commissioner shall report revenues collected
and expenditures made under this subdivision to the chairs of the Committees on Ways and
Means in the house and Finance in the senate by January 1 of each odd-numbered year.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 84.0855, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Sales authorized; gift certificates.

The commissioner may
sell natural resources-related publications and maps; new text begin forest resource assessment
products; new text end federal migratory waterfowl, junior duck, and other federal stamps; and other
nature-related merchandise, and may rent or sell items for the convenience of persons using
Department of Natural Resources facilities or services. The commissioner may sell gift
certificates for any items rented or sold. Notwithstanding section 16A.1285, a fee charged
by the commissioner under this section may include a reasonable amount in excess of the
actual cost to support Department of Natural Resources programs. The commissioner may
advertise the availability of a program or item offered under this section.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 84.0855, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Receipts; appropriation.

new text begin Except as provided under section 89.421,
new text end money received by the commissioner under this section or to buy supplies for the use of
volunteers, may be credited to one or more special accounts in the state treasury and is
appropriated to the commissioner for the purposes for which the money was received.
Money received from sales at the state fair shall be available for state fair related costs.
Money received from sales of intellectual property and software products or services shall
be available for development, maintenance, and support of software products and systems.

Sec. 5.

new text begin [89.421] FOREST RESOURCE ASSESSMENT PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES ACCOUNT.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Creation. new text end

new text begin The forest resource assessment products and services
account is created in the state treasury in the natural resources fund.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Receipts. new text end

new text begin Money received from forest resource assessment product sales
and services provided by the commissioner under sections 84.025, subdivision 9; 84.026;
and 84.0855 shall be credited to the forest resource assessment products and services
account. Forest resource assessment products and services include the sale of aerial
photography, remote sensing, and satellite imagery products and services.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Use of money in account. new text end

new text begin Money credited to the forest resource
assessment products and services account under subdivision 2 is annually appropriated to
the commissioner and shall be used to maintain the staff and facilities producing the aerial
photography, remote sensing, and satellite imagery products and services.
new text end

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 90.161, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Change of security. new text end

new text begin Prior to any harvest activity, or activities incidental
to the preparation for harvest, a purchaser having posted a bond for 100 percent of the
purchase price of a sale may request the release of the bond and the commissioner
shall grant such release upon cash payment to the commissioner of the down payment
requirement of the sale, plus interest.
new text end

Sec. 7.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 282.04, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Timber sales; land leases and uses.

(a) The county auditor may
sell timber upon any tract that may be approved by the natural resources commissioner.
The sale of timber shall be made for cash at not less than the appraised value determined
by the county board to the highest bidder after not less than one week's published notice
in an official paper within the county. Any timber offered at the public sale and not sold
may thereafter be sold at private sale by the county auditor at not less than the appraised
value thereof, until the time as the county board may withdraw the timber from sale. The
appraised value of the timber and the forestry practices to be followed in the cutting of
said timber shall be approved by the commissioner of natural resources.

(b) Payment of the full sale price of all timber sold on tax-forfeited lands shall be
made in cash at the time of the timber sale, except in the case of oral or sealed bid auction
sales, the down payment shall be no less than 15 percent of the appraised value, and the
balance shall be paid prior to entry. In the case of auction sales that are partitioned and
sold as a single sale with predetermined cutting blocks, the down payment shall be no less
than 15 percent of the appraised price of the entire timber sale which may be held until the
satisfactory completion of the sale or applied in whole or in part to the final cutting block.
The value of each separate block must be paid in full before any cutting may begin in that
block. With the permission of the county contract administrator the purchaser may enter
unpaid blocks and cut necessary timber incidental to developing logging roads as may
be needed to log other blocks provided that no timber may be removed from an unpaid
block until separately scaled and paid for. If payment is provided as specified in this
paragraph as security under paragraph (a) and no cutting has taken place on the contract,
the county auditor may credit the security provided, less any down payment required for
an auction sale under this paragraph, to any other contract issued to the contract holder
by the county under this chapter to which the contract holder requests in writing that it
be credited, provided the request and transfer is made within the same calendar year as
the security was received.

(c) The county board may deleted text begin require final settlement on the basis of a scale of cut
products deleted text end new text begin sell any timber, including biomass, as appraised or scaled new text end . Any parcels of land
from which timber is to be sold by scale of cut products shall be so designated in the
published notice of sale under paragraph (a), in which case the notice shall contain a
description of the parcels, a statement of the estimated quantity of each species of timber,
and the appraised price of each species of timber for 1,000 feet, per cord or per piece, as
the case may be. In those cases any bids offered over and above the appraised prices shall
be by percentage, the percent bid to be added to the appraised price of each of the different
species of timber advertised on the land. The purchaser of timber from the parcels shall
pay in cash at the time of sale at the rate bid for all of the timber shown in the notice of
sale as estimated to be standing on the land, and in addition shall pay at the same rate for
any additional amounts which the final scale shows to have been cut or was available for
cutting on the land at the time of sale under the terms of the sale. Where the final scale
of cut products shows that less timber was cut or was available for cutting under terms
of the sale than was originally paid for, the excess payment shall be refunded from the
forfeited tax sale fund upon the claim of the purchaser, to be audited and allowed by the
county board as in case of other claims against the county. No timber, except hardwood
pulpwood, may be removed from the parcels of land or other designated landings until
scaled by a person or persons designated by the county board and approved by the
commissioner of natural resources. Landings other than the parcel of land from which
timber is cut may be designated for scaling by the county board by written agreement
with the purchaser of the timber. The county board may, by written agreement with the
purchaser and with a consumer designated by the purchaser when the timber is sold by the
county auditor, and with the approval of the commissioner of natural resources, accept the
consumer's scale of cut products delivered at the consumer's landing. No timber shall be
removed until fully paid for in cash. Small amounts of timber not exceeding $3,000 in
appraised valuation may be sold for not less than the full appraised value at private sale
to individual persons without first publishing notice of sale or calling for bids, provided
that in case of a sale involving a total appraised value of more than $200 the sale shall be
made subject to final settlement on the basis of a scale of cut products in the manner above
provided and not more than two of the sales, directly or indirectly to any individual shall
be in effect at one time.

(d) As directed by the county board, the county auditor may lease tax-forfeited land
to individuals, corporations or organized subdivisions of the state at public or private sale,
and at the prices and under the terms as the county board may prescribe, for use as cottage
and camp sites and for agricultural purposes and for the purpose of taking and removing of
hay, stumpage, sand, gravel, clay, rock, marl, and black dirt from the land, and for garden
sites and other temporary uses provided that no leases shall be for a period to exceed ten
years; provided, further that any leases involving a consideration of more than $12,000 per
year, except to an organized subdivision of the state shall first be offered at public sale in
the manner provided herein for sale of timber. Upon the sale of any leased land, it shall
remain subject to the lease for not to exceed one year from the beginning of the term of the
lease. Any rent paid by the lessee for the portion of the term cut off by the cancellation
shall be refunded from the forfeited tax sale fund upon the claim of the lessee, to be
audited and allowed by the county board as in case of other claims against the county.

(e) As directed by the county board, the county auditor may lease tax-forfeited land
to individuals, corporations, or organized subdivisions of the state at public or private sale,
at the prices and under the terms as the county board may prescribe, for the purpose
of taking and removing for use for road construction and other purposes tax-forfeited
stockpiled iron-bearing material. The county auditor must determine that the material is
needed and suitable for use in the construction or maintenance of a road, tailings basin,
settling basin, dike, dam, bank fill, or other works on public or private property, and
that the use would be in the best interests of the public. No lease shall exceed ten years.
The use of a stockpile for these purposes must first be approved by the commissioner of
natural resources. The request shall be deemed approved unless the requesting county
is notified to the contrary by the commissioner of natural resources within six months
after receipt of a request for approval for use of a stockpile. Once use of a stockpile has
been approved, the county may continue to lease it for these purposes until approval is
withdrawn by the commissioner of natural resources.

(f) The county auditor, with the approval of the county board is authorized to grant
permits, licenses, and leases to tax-forfeited lands for the depositing of stripping, lean
ores, tailings, or waste products from mines or ore milling plants, upon the conditions and
for the consideration and for the period of time, not exceeding 15 years, as the county
board may determine. The permits, licenses, or leases are subject to approval by the
commissioner of natural resources.

(g) Any person who removes any timber from tax-forfeited land before said
timber has been scaled and fully paid for as provided in this subdivision is guilty of a
misdemeanor.

(h) The county auditor may, with the approval of the county board, and without first
offering at public sale, grant leases, for a term not exceeding 25 years, for the removal
of peat and for the production or removal of farm-grown closed-loop biomass as defined
in section 216B.2424, subdivision 1, or short-rotation woody crops from tax-forfeited
lands upon the terms and conditions as the county board may prescribe. Any lease for
the removal of peat, farm-grown closed-loop biomass, or short-rotation woody crops
from tax-forfeited lands must first be reviewed and approved by the commissioner of
natural resources if the lease covers 320 or more acres. No lease for the removal of
peat, farm-grown closed-loop biomass, or short-rotation woody crops shall be made by
the county auditor pursuant to this section without first holding a public hearing on the
auditor's intention to lease. One printed notice in a legal newspaper in the county at least
ten days before the hearing, and posted notice in the courthouse at least 20 days before
the hearing shall be given of the hearing.

(i) Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph (c) to the contrary, the St. Louis
County auditor may, at the discretion of the county board, sell timber to the party who
bids the highest price for all the several kinds of timber, as provided for sales by the
commissioner of natural resources under section 90.14. Bids offered over and above the
appraised price need not be applied proportionately to the appraised price of each of
the different species of timber.

(j) In lieu of any payment or deposit required in paragraph (b), as directed by the
county board and under terms set by the county board, the county auditor may accept an
irrevocable bank letter of credit in the amount equal to the amount otherwise determined
in paragraph (b). If an irrevocable bank letter of credit is provided under this paragraph,
at the written request of the purchaser, the county may periodically allow the bank letter
of credit to be reduced by an amount proportionate to the value of timber that has been
harvested and for which the county has received payment. The remaining amount of
the bank letter of credit after a reduction under this paragraph must not be less than 20
percent of the value of the timber purchased. If an irrevocable bank letter of credit or
cash deposit is provided for the down payment required in paragraph (b), and no cutting
of timber has taken place on the contract for which a letter of credit has been provided,
the county may allow the transfer of the letter of credit to any other contract issued to the
contract holder by the county under this chapter to which the contract holder requests in
writing that it be credited.

Sec. 8. new text begin REPEALER.
new text end

new text begin Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 89A.11, new text end new text begin is repealed.
new text end