HF 2479

as introduced - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to public facilities authority; removing 
  1.3             certain wastewater infrastructure program funding 
  1.4             limits for municipalities bordering Lake Superior; 
  1.5             amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 446A.072, 
  1.6             subdivision 4. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 446A.072, 
  1.9   subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 4.  [FUNDING LEVEL.] (a) The authority shall provide 
  1.11  supplemental assistance for essential project component costs as 
  1.12  certified by the commissioner of the pollution control agency 
  1.13  under section 116.182, subdivision 4.  
  1.14     (b) Except as provided in paragraph (c), a municipality may 
  1.15  not receive more than $4,000,000, or $15,000 per existing 
  1.16  connection, whichever is less, under this section unless 
  1.17  specifically approved by law.  If a project would be eligible 
  1.18  for more than $4,000,000 under paragraph (e), the authority 
  1.19  shall include a description of the project and the financing 
  1.20  plan in its report on needs in subdivision 11.  The $4,000,000, 
  1.21  or $15,000 per existing connection, whichever is less, limit in 
  1.22  this paragraph does not apply to a municipality that borders the 
  1.23  Outstanding Resource Value Water of Lake Superior. 
  1.24     (c) A sanitary district or multijurisdictional wastewater 
  1.25  treatment district may receive an additional $1,000,000 for each 
  1.26  municipality participating up to a maximum grant of $8,000,000, 
  2.1   unless a higher amount is specifically approved by law.  If a 
  2.2   project would be eligible for more than $8,000,000 under 
  2.3   paragraph (e), the authority shall include a description of the 
  2.4   project and the financing plan in its report on needs in 
  2.5   subdivision 11. 
  2.6      (d) The authority shall provide supplemental assistance for 
  2.7   up to one-half of the eligible grant funding level determined by 
  2.8   the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development 
  2.9   funding for projects listed on the agency's project priority 
  2.10  list, in priority order.  In the case of multijurisdictional 
  2.11  projects when the United States Department of Agriculture Rural 
  2.12  Development is unable to fully fund up to one-half of the 
  2.13  eligible grant amount, the authority may provide up to an 
  2.14  additional $1,000,000 for each municipality participating up to 
  2.15  the limits under paragraph (c) but not to exceed the maximum 
  2.16  grant level determined by the United States Department of 
  2.17  Agriculture Rural Development as needed to keep the project 
  2.18  affordable.  For municipalities that are not eligible for United 
  2.19  States Department of Agriculture Rural Development funding for 
  2.20  wastewater, the authority shall provide supplemental assistance 
  2.21  for:  (1) essential project component costs calculated by first 
  2.22  determining the amount needed to reduce a municipality's annual 
  2.23  residential sewer costs to 1.4 percent of the municipality's 
  2.24  median household income or $25 per month per household, 
  2.25  whichever is greater, and then multiplying that amount by 80 
  2.26  percent to determine the actual award amount to supplement loans 
  2.27  under section 446A.07; and (2) up to 50 percent of the 
  2.28  incremental costs specifically identified by the agency as being 
  2.29  attributable to more stringent wastewater standards required to 
  2.30  protect outstanding resource value waters or outstanding 
  2.31  international resource value waters. 
  2.32     (e) Notwithstanding paragraph (b), in the event that a 
  2.33  municipality's monthly residential sewer service charges average 
  2.34  above $50, the authority will provide 90 percent of the grant 
  2.35  amount needed to reduce the average monthly sewer service charge 
  2.36  to $50, provided the project is ranked in the top 50 percentile 
  3.1   of the agency's intended use plan. 
  3.2      (f) The authority shall provide supplemental assistance to 
  3.3   a municipality that would not otherwise qualify for supplemental 
  3.4   assistance if: 
  3.5      (1) the municipality voluntarily accepts a sewer connection 
  3.6   from another governmental unit to serve residential, industrial, 
  3.7   or commercial developments that were completed before March 1, 
  3.8   1996, or are on lots whose plats were recorded before that date; 
  3.9   and 
  3.10     (2) fees charged by the municipality for the connection 
  3.11  must take into account state and federal grants used by the 
  3.12  municipality for the construction of the treatment plant. 
  3.13  The amount of supplemental assistance under this paragraph must 
  3.14  be sufficient to reduce debt service payments under section 
  3.15  446A.07 to an extent equivalent to a zero percent loan in an 
  3.16  amount up to the other governmental unit's project costs 
  3.17  necessary for connection.  Eligibility for supplemental 
  3.18  assistance under this paragraph ends three years after the 
  3.19  agency certifies that the connection has met the operational 
  3.20  performance standards established by the agency.