HF 1421

1st Engrossment - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) Posted on 02/27/2023 04:53pm

A bill for an act
relating to environment; specifying duties and requiring report for petroleum tank
release cleanup program.

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

Section 1. new text begin PETROLEUM TANK RELEASE CLEANUP; REPORT TO
LEGISLATURE.
new text end

new text begin The commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency must perform the duties under clauses
(1) to (5) with respect to the petroleum tank release cleanup program governed by Minnesota
Statutes, chapter 115C, and must, no later than January 15, 2025, report the results to the
chairs and ranking minority members of the senate and house of representatives committees
with primary jurisdiction over environment policy and finance. The report must include any
recommendations for legislation. The commissioner must:
new text end

new text begin (1) explicitly define the conditions that must be present in order for the commissioner
to classify a site as posing a low potential risk to public health and the environment and
ensure that all agency staff use the definition in assessing potential risks. In determining
the conditions that indicate that a site poses a low risk, the commissioner must consider
relevant site conditions, including but not limited to the nature of groundwater flow, soil
type, and proximity of features at or near the site that could potentially become contaminated;
new text end

new text begin (2) develop guidelines to incorporate consideration of potential future uses of a
contaminated property into all agency staff decisions regarding site remediation;
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new text begin (3) develop scientifically based and measurable technical standards that allow the quality
of the agency's performance in remediating petroleum-contaminated properties to be
evaluated and conduct such evaluations periodically;
new text end

new text begin (4) in collaboration with the Petroleum Tank Release Compensation Board and the
commissioner of commerce, examine whether and how to establish technical qualifications
for consultants hired to remediate petroleum-contaminated properties as a strategy to improve
the quality of remediation work, and how agencies can share information on consultant
performance; and
new text end

new text begin (5) in collaboration with the commissioner of commerce, make consultants who remediate
petroleum-contaminated sites more accountable for the quality of their work by:
new text end

new text begin (i) requiring a thorough evaluation of the past performance of a contractor being
considered for hire;
new text end

new text begin (ii) developing a formal system of measures and procedures by which to evaluate the
work; and
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new text begin (iii) sharing evaluations with the commissioner of commerce and with responsible parties.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end