1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to commercial redevelopment; allowing 
  1.3             nonprofit organizations to receive funding under the 
  1.4             contamination cleanup, livable communities tax base 
  1.5             revitalization, and livable communities demonstration 
  1.6             account programs; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
  1.7             sections 116J.552, by adding a subdivision; 116J.553, 
  1.8             subdivision 1; 116J.554, subdivisions 1, 1a; 116J.556; 
  1.9             116J.557, subdivisions 1, 2, 3; 473.252, subdivision 
  1.10            3, by adding a subdivision; 473.253, subdivision 2. 
  1.11  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.12     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 116J.552, is 
  1.13  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.14     Subd. 6a.  [NONPROFIT DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION.] "Nonprofit 
  1.15  development organization" means a nonprofit organization whose 
  1.16  work includes acquiring and rehabilitating commercial and 
  1.17  industrial properties in a first-class city in the metropolitan 
  1.18  area. 
  1.19     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 116J.553, 
  1.20  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.21     Subdivision 1.  [APPLICATION REQUIRED.] To obtain a 
  1.22  contamination cleanup development grant, the development 
  1.23  authority or nonprofit development organization shall apply to 
  1.24  the commissioner.  The governing body of the municipality must 
  1.25  approve, by resolution, the application. 
  1.26     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 116J.554, 
  1.27  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.28     Subdivision 1.  [AUTHORITY.] (a) The commissioner may make 
  2.1   a grant to an applicant development authority or nonprofit 
  2.2   development organization to pay for up to 75 percent of the 
  2.3   project costs for a qualifying site. 
  2.4      (b) The commissioner may also make a grant to an applicant 
  2.5   development authority or nonprofit development organization to 
  2.6   pay up to 75 percent or $50,000, whichever is less, toward the 
  2.7   cost of performing contaminant investigations and the 
  2.8   development of a response action plan for a qualifying site. 
  2.9      (c) The commissioner may also make a grant to an applicant 
  2.10  to fill a site that would represent more than 50 percent of the 
  2.11  remaining land in a city suitable for industrial development if 
  2.12  it were properly filled. 
  2.13     (d) The determination of whether to make a grant for a 
  2.14  qualifying site is within the sole discretion of the 
  2.15  commissioner, subject to the process provided by this section, 
  2.16  and available unencumbered money in the appropriation.  The 
  2.17  commissioner's decisions and application of the priorities under 
  2.18  section 116J.555 are not subject to judicial review, except for 
  2.19  abuse of discretion. 
  2.20     (e) The total amount of money provided in grants under 
  2.21  paragraph (b) may not exceed $250,000 per fiscal year. 
  2.22     (f) In making grants under paragraph (b), the commissioner 
  2.23  shall give priority to applicants that have not received a grant 
  2.24  under paragraph (a) or section 473.252 during the year ending on 
  2.25  the date of application. 
  2.26     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 116J.554, 
  2.27  subdivision 1a, is amended to read: 
  2.28     Subd. 1a.  [METROPOLITAN LIVABLE COMMUNITIES.] The 
  2.29  commissioner may not make a grant to a development authority or 
  2.30  a nonprofit development organization for a site in a 
  2.31  municipality in the metropolitan area unless it the municipality 
  2.32  is participating in the local housing incentives program under 
  2.33  section 473.254.  
  2.34     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 116J.556, is 
  2.35  amended to read: 
  2.36     116J.556 [LOCAL MATCH REQUIREMENT.] 
  3.1      (a) In order for a development authority or nonprofit 
  3.2   development organization to qualify for a grant under sections 
  3.3   116J.551 to 116J.557, the municipality must pay for at least 
  3.4   one-quarter of the project costs as a local match.  The 
  3.5   municipality shall pay an amount of the project costs equal to 
  3.6   at least 12 percent of the cleanup costs from the municipality's 
  3.7   general fund, a property tax levy for that purpose, or other 
  3.8   unrestricted money available to the municipality (excluding tax 
  3.9   increments).  These unrestricted moneys may be spent for project 
  3.10  costs, other than cleanup costs, and qualify for the local match 
  3.11  payment equal to 12 percent of cleanup costs.  The rest of the 
  3.12  local match may be paid with tax increments, regional, state, or 
  3.13  federal money available for the redevelopment of brownfields or 
  3.14  any other money available to the municipality. 
  3.15     (b) If the development authority establishes a tax 
  3.16  increment financing district or hazardous substance subdistrict 
  3.17  on the site to pay for part of the local match requirement, the 
  3.18  district or subdistrict is not subject to the state aid 
  3.19  reductions under section 273.1399.  In order to qualify for the 
  3.20  exemption from the state aid reductions, the municipality must 
  3.21  elect, by resolution, on or before the request for certification 
  3.22  is filed that all tax increments from the district or 
  3.23  subdistrict will be used exclusively to pay (1) for project 
  3.24  costs for the site and (2) administrative costs for the district 
  3.25  or subdistrict.  The district or subdistrict must be decertified 
  3.26  when an amount of tax increments equal to no more than three 
  3.27  times the costs of implementing the response action plan for the 
  3.28  site and the administrative costs for the district or 
  3.29  subdistrict have been received, after deducting the amount of 
  3.30  the state grant. 
  3.31     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 116J.557, 
  3.32  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  3.33     Subdivision 1.  [CAUSE OF ACTION.] The attorney general or 
  3.34  a development authority, nonprofit development organization, or 
  3.35  municipality that incurs cleanup costs to implement an approved 
  3.36  response action plan pursuant to sections 116J.551 to 116J.557, 
  4.1   may bring an action under section 115B.04 or other law to 
  4.2   recover the reasonable and necessary cleanup costs incurred by 
  4.3   the development authority, nonprofit development organization, 
  4.4   or municipality.  The attorney general, development authority, 
  4.5   or municipality may recover all cleanup costs incurred whether 
  4.6   paid from the proceeds of a grant under sections 116J.551 to 
  4.7   116J.557 or funds of the development authority, nonprofit 
  4.8   development organization, or municipality.  Recoverable costs 
  4.9   include administrative and legal costs related to the 
  4.10  development and implementation of the response action plan but 
  4.11  do not include any cost associated with development or 
  4.12  redevelopment of property.  A development authority, nonprofit 
  4.13  development organization, or municipality must have the consent 
  4.14  of the attorney general to bring or settle an action under this 
  4.15  subdivision to recover cleanup costs paid from the proceeds of a 
  4.16  grant. 
  4.17     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 116J.557, 
  4.18  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  4.19     Subd. 2.  [PROCEDURES.] The commissioner shall notify the 
  4.20  attorney general when a grant is awarded under sections 116J.551 
  4.21  to 116J.557.  Upon request of the attorney general the 
  4.22  development authority or nonprofit development organization 
  4.23  shall prepare and submit a certification of the cleanup costs 
  4.24  and shall cooperate in any cost recovery action brought by the 
  4.25  attorney general under subdivision 1.  Certification by the 
  4.26  development authority or nonprofit development organization of 
  4.27  the cleanup costs incurred to develop and implement the approved 
  4.28  response action plan is prima facie evidence that the costs are 
  4.29  reasonable and necessary in any action brought under this 
  4.30  section. 
  4.31     Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 116J.557, 
  4.32  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  4.33     Subd. 3.  [ATTORNEY GENERAL ASSISTANCE AND COSTS.] (a) The 
  4.34  attorney general may assist a development authority, nonprofit 
  4.35  development organization, or municipality, if requested to do 
  4.36  so, in bringing an action under subdivision 1 by providing legal 
  5.1   and technical advice or other appropriate assistance.  The 
  5.2   attorney general shall not assess any fee to the development 
  5.3   authority, nonprofit development organization, or municipality 
  5.4   for the assistance but may recover the cost of the assistance as 
  5.5   provided in paragraph (b). 
  5.6      (b) If the attorney general brings or assists in an action 
  5.7   brought under subdivision 1, the reasonable litigation expenses 
  5.8   or other costs of legal or technical assistance incurred by the 
  5.9   attorney general must be deducted from any recovery and paid to 
  5.10  the attorney general before proceeds of the recovery are 
  5.11  otherwise distributed.  The attorney general shall deposit any 
  5.12  money so deducted in the general fund. 
  5.13     Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 473.252, is 
  5.14  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  5.15     Subd. 1b.  [NONPROFIT DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION.] For the 
  5.16  purpose of this section, "nonprofit development organization" 
  5.17  means a nonprofit organization whose work includes acquiring and 
  5.18  rehabilitating commercial and industrial properties in a 
  5.19  first-class city in the metropolitan area. 
  5.20     Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 473.252, 
  5.21  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  5.22     Subd. 3.  [DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.] (a) The council must use 
  5.23  the funds in the account to make grants to municipalities, 
  5.24  nonprofit development organizations, or development authorities 
  5.25  for the cleanup of polluted land in the metropolitan area.  A 
  5.26  grant to a metropolitan county, a nonprofit development 
  5.27  organization, or a development authority must be used for a 
  5.28  project in a participating municipality.  The council shall 
  5.29  prescribe and provide the grant application form to 
  5.30  municipalities.  The council must consider the probability of 
  5.31  funding from other sources when making grants under this 
  5.32  section.  No less than ten days before submitting its 
  5.33  application to the council, a nonprofit development organization 
  5.34  must notify the city in which the project will be located of its 
  5.35  intention to apply for funds.  This city may submit to the 
  5.36  council its written comments on the nonprofit development 
  6.1   organization's application and the council shall consider the 
  6.2   city's comments in reviewing the application. 
  6.3      (b)(1) The legislature expects that applications for grants 
  6.4   will exceed the available funds and the council will be able to 
  6.5   provide grants to only some of the applicant municipalities.  If 
  6.6   applications for grants for qualified sites exceed the available 
  6.7   funds, the council shall make grants that provide the highest 
  6.8   return in public benefits for the public costs incurred, that 
  6.9   encourage commercial and industrial development that will lead 
  6.10  to the preservation or growth of living-wage jobs and that 
  6.11  enhance the tax base of the recipient municipality. 
  6.12     (2) In making grants, the council shall establish regular 
  6.13  application deadlines in which grants will be awarded from the 
  6.14  available money in the account.  If the council provides for 
  6.15  application cycles of less than six-month intervals, the council 
  6.16  must reserve at least 40 percent of the receipts of the account 
  6.17  for a year for application deadlines that occur in the second 
  6.18  half of the year.  If the applications for grants exceed the 
  6.19  available funds for an application cycle, no more than one-half 
  6.20  of the funds may be granted to projects in a statutory or home 
  6.21  rule charter city and no more than three-quarters of the funds 
  6.22  may be granted to projects located in cities of the first class. 
  6.23     (c) A municipality or a nonprofit development organization 
  6.24  may use the grant to provide a portion of the local match 
  6.25  requirement for project costs that qualify for a grant under 
  6.26  sections 116J.551 to 116J.557. 
  6.27     Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 473.253, 
  6.28  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  6.29     Subd. 2.  [DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.] The council shall use 
  6.30  the funds in the livable communities demonstration account to 
  6.31  make grants or loans to municipalities participating in the 
  6.32  local housing incentives program under section 473.254 or to 
  6.33  metropolitan area counties or to nonprofit development 
  6.34  organizations as defined under section 473.252, subdivision 1b, 
  6.35  to fund the initiatives specified in section 473.25, paragraph 
  6.36  (b), in participating municipalities.  No less than ten days 
  7.1   before submitting its application to the council, a nonprofit 
  7.2   development organization must notify the city in which the 
  7.3   project will be located of its intention to apply for funds.  
  7.4   The city may submit to the council its written comments on the 
  7.5   nonprofit development organization's application and the council 
  7.6   shall consider the city's comments in reviewing the application.