1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to natural resources; providing for the 
  1.3             purchase of additional critical habitat license 
  1.4             plates; appropriating money; amending Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes 1998, sections 84.943, subdivisions 3 and 5; 
  1.6             and 168.1296, subdivision 5. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 84.943, 
  1.9   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 3.  [APPROPRIATIONS MUST BE MATCHED BY PRIVATE 
  1.11  FUNDS.] (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), appropriations 
  1.12  transferred to the critical habitat private sector matching 
  1.13  account and money credited to the account under section 
  1.14  168.1296, subdivision 5, may be expended only to the extent that 
  1.15  they are matched equally with contributions to the account from 
  1.16  private sources or by funds contributed to the nongame wildlife 
  1.17  management account.  The private contributions may be made in 
  1.18  cash or in contributions of land or interests in land that are 
  1.19  designated by the commissioner of natural resources as program 
  1.20  acquisitions.  Appropriations transferred to the account that 
  1.21  are not matched within three years from the date of the 
  1.22  appropriation shall cancel to the source of the appropriation.  
  1.23  For the purposes of this section, the private contributions of 
  1.24  land or interests in land shall be valued in accordance with 
  1.25  their appraised value. 
  1.26     (b) As necessary to provide the registrar with a sufficient 
  2.1   supply of critical habitat license plates under section 
  2.2   168.1296, the commissioner may use money credited to the account 
  2.3   to purchase additional plates in lots of no more than 2,000. 
  2.4      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 84.943, 
  2.5   subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  2.6      Subd. 5.  [PLEDGES AND CONTRIBUTIONS.] The commissioner of 
  2.7   natural resources may accept contributions and pledges to the 
  2.8   critical habitat private sector matching account.  A pledge that 
  2.9   is made contingent on an appropriation is acceptable and shall 
  2.10  be reported with other pledges as required in this section.  In 
  2.11  the budget request for each biennium, the commissioner shall 
  2.12  report the balance of contributions in the account and the 
  2.13  amount that has been pledged for payment in the succeeding two 
  2.14  calendar years. 
  2.15     Money in the account is appropriated to the commissioner of 
  2.16  natural resources only for:  (1) the direct acquisition or 
  2.17  improvement of land or interests in land as provided in section 
  2.18  84.944; or (2) the purchase of license plates under subdivision 
  2.19  3, paragraph (b).  To the extent of available appropriations 
  2.20  other than bond proceeds, the money matched to the nongame 
  2.21  wildlife management account may be used for the management of 
  2.22  nongame wildlife projects as specified in section 290.431.  
  2.23  Acquisition includes:  (1) purchase of land or an interest in 
  2.24  land by the commissioner; or (2) acceptance by the commissioner 
  2.25  of gifts of land or interests in land as program projects. 
  2.26     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 168.1296, 
  2.27  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  2.28     Subd. 5.  [CONTRIBUTION AND FEES CREDITED.] Contributions 
  2.29  under subdivision 1, clause (5), must be paid to the registrar 
  2.30  and credited to the Minnesota critical habitat private sector 
  2.31  matching account established in section 84.943.  From the fees 
  2.32  collected under this section, $5 must be deposited in the 
  2.33  Minnesota critical habitat private sector matching account, and 
  2.34  the remainder must be deposited in the highway user tax 
  2.35  distribution fund.