HF 1128

1st Engrossment - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the environment; modifying the clean water 
  1.3             partnership loan program; conforming the definition of 
  1.4             sewage sludge to federal language; providing for rules 
  1.5             regarding permit fee calculations; amending Minnesota 
  1.6             Statutes 1994, sections 103F.725, subdivision 1a; 
  1.7             115A.03, subdivision 29; and 116.07, subdivision 4d. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103F.725, 
  1.10  subdivision 1a, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 1a.  [FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE; LOANS.] (a) Up to 
  1.12  $10,000,000 of the balance in the water pollution control 
  1.13  revolving fund in section 446A.07, as determined by the public 
  1.14  facilities authority shall be appropriated to the commissioner 
  1.15  for the establishment of a clean water partnership loan program. 
  1.16     (b) The agency may award loans for up to 100 percent of the 
  1.17  costs associated with activities identified by the agency as 
  1.18  best management practices pursuant to section 319 and section 
  1.19  320 of the federal Water Quality Act of 1987, as amended, 
  1.20  including associated administrative costs. 
  1.21     (c) Loans may be used to finance clean water partnership 
  1.22  grant project eligible costs not funded by grant assistance. 
  1.23     (d) The interest rate, at or below market rate, and the 
  1.24  term, not to exceed 20 years, shall be determined by the agency 
  1.25  in consultation with the public facilities authority. 
  1.26     (e) The repayment must be deposited in the water pollution 
  2.1   control revolving fund under section 446A.07. 
  2.2      (f) The local unit of government receiving the loan is 
  2.3   responsible for repayment of the loan. 
  2.4      (g) For the purpose of obtaining a loan from the agency to 
  2.5   finance clean water partnership grant eligible costs that are 
  2.6   not funded by grant assistance, a local unit of government may 
  2.7   provide to the agency its general obligation note.  All 
  2.8   obligations incurred by a local unit of government in obtaining 
  2.9   a loan from the agency shall be in accordance with chapter 475. 
  2.10  An election by a local unit of government is not required so 
  2.11  long as the obligations issued evidence a loan from the agency 
  2.12  from the proceeds according to section 446A.07. 
  2.13     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 115A.03, 
  2.14  subdivision 29, is amended to read: 
  2.15     Subd. 29.  [SEWAGE SLUDGE.] "Sewage sludge" means the 
  2.16  solids and associated liquids in municipal wastewater which are 
  2.17  encountered and concentrated by a municipal wastewater treatment 
  2.18  plant solid, semi-solid, or liquid residue generated during the 
  2.19  treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment works.  It includes, 
  2.20  but is not limited to, scum or solids removed in primary, 
  2.21  secondary, or advanced wastewater treatment processes and a 
  2.22  material derived from sewage sludge.  Sewage sludge does not 
  2.23  include ash generated during the firing of sewage sludge in a 
  2.24  sewage sludge incinerator residues and or grit, scum, or and 
  2.25  screenings removed from other solids during treatment generated 
  2.26  during preliminary treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment 
  2.27  works.  Sewage sludge that is acceptable and beneficial for 
  2.28  recycling on land as a soil conditioner and nutrient source is 
  2.29  also known as biosolids. 
  2.30     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116.07, 
  2.31  subdivision 4d, is amended to read: 
  2.32     Subd. 4d.  [PERMIT FEES.] (a) The agency may collect permit 
  2.33  fees in amounts not greater than those necessary to cover the 
  2.34  reasonable costs of reviewing and acting upon applications for 
  2.35  agency permits and implementing and enforcing the conditions of 
  2.36  the permits pursuant to agency rules.  Permit fees shall not 
  3.1   include the costs of litigation.  The agency shall adopt rules 
  3.2   under section 16A.128 16A.1285 establishing the amounts and 
  3.3   methods of collection of any a system for charging permit fees 
  3.4   collected under this subdivision.  The fee schedule must reflect 
  3.5   reasonable and routine permitting, implementation, and 
  3.6   enforcement costs, and may reflect the amount of pollutants in 
  3.7   the discharge.  If the agency chooses to use pollutant load as a 
  3.8   factor in fee calculation, it shall report to the legislative 
  3.9   water commission on the fairness, understandability, and 
  3.10  administration of the fee.  The agency may impose an additional 
  3.11  enforcement fee to be collected for a period of up to two years 
  3.12  to cover the reasonable costs of implementing and enforcing the 
  3.13  conditions of a permit under the rules of the agency.  Any money 
  3.14  collected under this paragraph shall be deposited in the special 
  3.15  revenue account. 
  3.16     (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), and section 16A.128 
  3.17  16A.1285, subdivision 1 2, the agency shall collect an annual 
  3.18  fee from the owner or operator of all stationary sources, 
  3.19  emission facilities, emissions units, air contaminant treatment 
  3.20  facilities, treatment facilities, potential air contaminant 
  3.21  storage facilities, or storage facilities subject to the 
  3.22  requirement to obtain a permit under Title V of the federal 
  3.23  Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, Public Law Number 101-549, 
  3.24  Statutes at Large, volume 104, pages 2399 et seq., or section 
  3.25  116.081.  The annual fee shall be used to pay for all direct and 
  3.26  indirect reasonable costs, including attorney general costs, 
  3.27  required to develop and administer the permit program 
  3.28  requirements of Title V of the federal Clean Air Act Amendments 
  3.29  of 1990, Public Law Number 101-549, Statutes at Large, volume 
  3.30  104, pages 2399 et seq., and sections of this chapter and the 
  3.31  rules adopted under this chapter related to air contamination 
  3.32  and noise.  Those costs include the reasonable costs of 
  3.33  reviewing and acting upon an application for a permit; 
  3.34  implementing and enforcing statutes, rules, and the terms and 
  3.35  conditions of a permit; emissions, ambient, and deposition 
  3.36  monitoring; preparing generally applicable regulations; 
  4.1   responding to federal guidance; modeling, analyses, and 
  4.2   demonstrations; preparing inventories and tracking emissions; 
  4.3   providing information to the public about these activities; and, 
  4.4   after June 30, 1992, the costs of acid deposition monitoring 
  4.5   currently assessed under section 116C.69, subdivision 3. 
  4.6      (c) The agency shall adopt fee rules in accordance with the 
  4.7   procedures in section 16A.128, subdivisions 1a and 2a 16A.1285, 
  4.8   subdivision 5, that will result in the collection, in the 
  4.9   aggregate, from the sources listed in paragraph (b), of the 
  4.10  following amounts: 
  4.11     (1) in fiscal years 1992 and 1993, the amount appropriated 
  4.12  by the legislature from the air quality account in the 
  4.13  environmental fund for the agency's air quality program; 
  4.14     (2) for fiscal year 1994 and thereafter, an amount not less 
  4.15  than $25 per ton of each volatile organic compound; pollutant 
  4.16  regulated under United States Code, title 42, section 7411 or 
  4.17  7412 (section 111 or 112 of the federal Clean Air Act); and each 
  4.18  pollutant, except carbon monoxide, for which a national primary 
  4.19  ambient air quality standard has been promulgated; and 
  4.20     (3) for fiscal year 1994 and thereafter, the agency fee 
  4.21  rules may also result in the collection, in the aggregate, from 
  4.22  the sources listed in paragraph (b), of an amount not less than 
  4.23  $25 per ton of each pollutant not listed in clause (2) that is 
  4.24  regulated under Minnesota Rules, chapter 7005, or for which a 
  4.25  state primary ambient air quality standard has been adopted.  
  4.26  The agency must not include in the calculation of the aggregate 
  4.27  amount to be collected under the fee rules any amount in excess 
  4.28  of 4,000 tons per year of each air pollutant from a source. 
  4.29     (d) To cover the reasonable costs described in paragraph 
  4.30  (b), the agency shall provide in the rules promulgated under 
  4.31  paragraph (c) for an increase in the fee collected in each year 
  4.32  beginning after fiscal year 1993 by the percentage, if any, by 
  4.33  which the Consumer Price Index for the most recent calendar year 
  4.34  ending before the beginning of the year the fee is collected 
  4.35  exceeds the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year 1989.  
  4.36  For purposes of this paragraph the Consumer Price Index for any 
  5.1   calendar year is the average of the Consumer Price Index for 
  5.2   all-urban consumers published by the United States Department of 
  5.3   Labor, as of the close of the 12-month period ending on August 
  5.4   31 of each calendar year.  The revision of the Consumer Price 
  5.5   Index that is most consistent with the Consumer Price Index for 
  5.6   calendar year 1989 shall be used. 
  5.7      (e) Any money collected under paragraphs (b) to (d) must be 
  5.8   deposited in an air quality account in the environmental fund 
  5.9   and must be used solely for the activities listed in paragraph 
  5.10  (b).  
  5.11     (f) Persons who wish to construct or expand an air emission 
  5.12  facility may offer to reimburse the agency for the costs of 
  5.13  staff overtime or consultant services needed to expedite permit 
  5.14  review.  The reimbursement shall be in addition to fees imposed 
  5.15  by paragraphs (a) to (d).  When the agency determines that it 
  5.16  needs additional resources to review the permit application in 
  5.17  an expedited manner, and that expediting the review would not 
  5.18  disrupt air permitting program priorities, the agency may accept 
  5.19  the reimbursement.  Reimbursements accepted by the agency are 
  5.20  appropriated to the agency for the purpose of reviewing the 
  5.21  permit application.  Reimbursement by a permit applicant shall 
  5.22  precede and not be contingent upon issuance of a permit and 
  5.23  shall not affect the agency's decision on whether to issue or 
  5.24  deny a permit, what conditions are included in a permit, or the 
  5.25  application of state and federal statutes and rules governing 
  5.26  permit determinations.