HF 2660

1st Engrossment - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to natural resources; creating a forest 
  1.3             management investment fund; appropriating money; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, sections 84A.51, 
  1.5             subdivision 2; 89.035; Laws 2003, chapter 128, article 
  1.6             1, section 5, subdivision 4; proposing coding for new 
  1.7             law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 89. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 84A.51, 
  1.10  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 2.  [FUNDS TRANSFERRED; APPROPRIATED.] Money in any 
  1.12  fund established under section 84A.03, 84A.22, or 84A.32, 
  1.13  subdivision 2, is transferred to the consolidated account, 
  1.14  except as provided in subdivision 3.  The money in the 
  1.15  consolidated account, or as much of it as necessary, is 
  1.16  appropriated for the purposes of sections 84A.52 and 84A.53.  Of 
  1.17  any remaining balance, the amount derived from timber sales 
  1.18  receipts is transferred to the forest management investment fund 
  1.19  and the amount derived from all other receipts is transferred to 
  1.20  the general fund. 
  1.21     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 89.035, is 
  1.22  amended to read: 
  1.23     89.035 [INCOME FROM STATE FOREST LANDS, DISPOSITION.] 
  1.24     All income which may be received from lands acquired by the 
  1.25  state heretofore or hereafter for state forest purposes by gift, 
  1.26  purchase or eminent domain and tax-forfeited lands to which the 
  2.1   county has relinquished its equity to the state for state forest 
  2.2   purposes shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to 
  2.3   the general fund following funds except where the conveyance to 
  2.4   and acceptance by the state of lands for state forest purposes 
  2.5   provides for other disposition of receipts.  The income derived 
  2.6   from timber sales receipts shall be credited to the forest 
  2.7   management investment fund and the amounts derived from all 
  2.8   other receipts shall be credited to the general fund.  
  2.9      Sec. 3.  [89.039] [FOREST MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT FUND.] 
  2.10     Subdivision 1.  [FUND ESTABLISHED; SOURCES.] The forest 
  2.11  management investment fund is created as a fund in the state 
  2.12  treasury and money in the fund may be spent only for the 
  2.13  purposes provided in subdivision 2.  The following revenue shall 
  2.14  be deposited in the forest management investment fund: 
  2.15     (1) timber sales receipts transferred from the consolidated 
  2.16  conservation areas account as provided in section 84A.51, 
  2.17  subdivision 2; and 
  2.18     (2) timber sales receipts from forest lands as provided in 
  2.19  section 89.035. 
  2.20     Subd. 2.  [PURPOSES OF FUND.] Subject to appropriation by 
  2.21  the legislature, money in the forest management investment fund 
  2.22  may be spent only for the following purposes: 
  2.23     (1) reforestation and timber stand improvement, including 
  2.24  forest pest management; 
  2.25     (2) timber sales administration, contract marking of 
  2.26  commercial thinning sales, cultural resource reviews, and other 
  2.27  timber sales costs; and 
  2.28     (3) state forest road maintenance costs. 
  2.29     Sec. 4.  Laws 2003, chapter 128, article 1, section 5, 
  2.30  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  2.31  Subd. 4.  Forest Management  
  2.32      33,066,000     33,066,000 33,666,000
  2.33                Summary by Fund
  2.34  General              32,824,000    32,824,000 27,209,000
  2.35  Game and Fish           242,000       242,000
  2.36  Forest Management
  3.1   Investment                          6,215,000
  3.2   $7,650,000 the first year and 
  3.3   $7,650,000 the second year are for 
  3.4   prevention, presuppression, and 
  3.5   suppression costs of emergency 
  3.6   firefighting and other costs incurred 
  3.7   under Minnesota Statutes, section 
  3.8   88.12.  If the appropriation for either 
  3.9   year is insufficient to cover all costs 
  3.10  of presuppression and suppression, the 
  3.11  amount necessary to pay for these costs 
  3.12  during the biennium is appropriated 
  3.13  from the general fund.  By November 15 
  3.14  of each year, the commissioner of 
  3.15  natural resources shall submit a report 
  3.16  to the chairs of the house of 
  3.17  representatives ways and means 
  3.18  committee, the senate finance 
  3.19  committee, the environment and 
  3.20  agriculture budget division of the 
  3.21  senate finance committee, and the house 
  3.22  of representatives environment and 
  3.23  natural resources finance committee, 
  3.24  identifying all firefighting costs 
  3.25  incurred and reimbursements received in 
  3.26  the prior fiscal year.  The report must 
  3.27  be in a format agreed to by the house 
  3.28  environment finance committee chair, 
  3.29  the senate environment budget division 
  3.30  chair, the department, and the 
  3.31  department of finance.  These 
  3.32  appropriations may not be transferred.  
  3.33  Any reimbursement of firefighting 
  3.34  expenditures made to the commissioner 
  3.35  from any source other than federal 
  3.36  mobilizations shall be deposited into 
  3.37  the general fund. 
  3.38  $730,000 the first year and $730,000 
  3.39  the second year are for the forest 
  3.40  resources council for implementation of 
  3.41  the Sustainable Forest Resources Act. 
  3.42  $350,000 the first year and $350,000 
  3.43  the second year are for the FORIST 
  3.44  timber management information system 
  3.45  and for increased forestry management. 
  3.46  $242,000 the first year and $242,000 
  3.47  the second year are from the game and 
  3.48  fish fund to implement ecological 
  3.49  classification systems (ECS) standards 
  3.50  on forested landscapes.  This is a 
  3.51  onetime appropriation from revenue 
  3.52  deposited to the game and fish fund 
  3.53  under Minnesota Statutes, section 
  3.54  297A.94, paragraph (e), clause (1). 
  3.55  $6,215,000 the second year is from the 
  3.56  forest management investment fund for 
  3.57  only the purposes specified in 
  3.58  Minnesota Statutes, section 89.039, 
  3.59  subdivision 2. 
  3.60  Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, 
  3.61  section 89.37, subdivision 4, up to 
  3.62  $600,000 for fiscal year 2005 is 
  3.63  transferred from the forest nursery 
  3.64  account to the forest management 
  3.65  investment fund to provide for cash 
  4.1   flow needs.  The amount of the transfer 
  4.2   shall be repaid to the forest nursery 
  4.3   account from the forest management 
  4.4   investment fund no later than June 30, 
  4.5   2012.