HF 948

1st Engrossment - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to the environment; requiring disclosure of 
  1.3             the amount of mercury emitted in the generation of 
  1.4             electricity; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes, chapter 116. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [TITLE.] 
  1.8      Section 2 may be referred to as the Mercury Emissions 
  1.9   Consumer Information Act of 1997. 
  1.10     Sec. 2.  [116.925] [ELECTRIC ENERGY; MERCURY EMISSIONS 
  1.11  DISCLOSURE.] 
  1.12     Subdivision 1.  [DISCLOSURE.] To address the shared 
  1.13  responsibility between the providers and consumers of 
  1.14  electricity for the protection of Minnesota's lakes, each person 
  1.15  that sells electricity at retail or at wholesale in the state, 
  1.16  or that generates electricity for that person's own use in the 
  1.17  state, shall provide the commissioner an annual statement of the 
  1.18  amount of mercury emitted in generating that electricity at that 
  1.19  person's facilities, and the net amount of electricity obtained 
  1.20  by the person through purchase or exchange. 
  1.21     Subd. 2.  [TERMS AND CONDITIONS.] (a) The disclosure must 
  1.22  be made to the commissioner on a quarterly basis for the first 
  1.23  year and annually thereafter.  This disclosure must include: 
  1.24     (1) a list of all generation sources from which the person 
  1.25  purchased electricity or which the person used to generate 
  2.1   electricity; 
  2.2      (2) information for each facility owned or operated by the 
  2.3   person stating the total amount of mercury emitted from that 
  2.4   facility in the previous calendar year or the average mercury 
  2.5   concentration in each fuel used at that facility; and 
  2.6      (3) information for each facility for which the person has 
  2.7   a contract of a year or more stating the total amount of mercury 
  2.8   emitted from that facility in the previous calendar year or the 
  2.9   average mercury concentration in each fuel used at that facility.
  2.10     (b) The disclosure, as well as the calculation of mercury 
  2.11  emissions, shall be made under terms and conditions established 
  2.12  by the commissioner.  As part of these terms and conditions, the 
  2.13  commissioner may establish a de minimis standard for the 
  2.14  disclosure required under this section.  Persons subject to this 
  2.15  section who are under the de minimis standard may be subject to 
  2.16  reduced or no disclosure requirements.  The establishment of the 
  2.17  terms and conditions for the disclosure is exempt from chapter 
  2.18  14, including sections 14.385 to 14.388, although the 
  2.19  commissioner must provide notice of the proposed terms and 
  2.20  conditions, an opportunity for the public to comment on those 
  2.21  terms and conditions, and must publish the terms and conditions 
  2.22  in the State Register. 
  2.23     Subd. 3.  [REPORT TO CONSUMERS.] By September 30, 1998, and 
  2.24  biennially thereafter in the report on air toxics required under 
  2.25  section 115D.15, the commissioner shall report the amount of 
  2.26  mercury emitted in the generation of electricity, based on the 
  2.27  information provided under subdivision 1.  The commissioner 
  2.28  shall include in this report an analysis of trends in the 
  2.29  emissions of mercury due to electricity generation and 
  2.30  recommendations to the legislature to reduce these emissions. 
  2.31     Sec. 3.  [INITIAL DISCLOSURE.] 
  2.32     Persons subject to section 2 shall make the initial 
  2.33  disclosure to the agency by July 1, 1997, using available data 
  2.34  and information.  The commissioner shall issue draft terms and 
  2.35  conditions required under section 2, subdivision 2, paragraph 
  2.36  (b), by October 1, 1997.  Upon adoption of those terms and 
  3.1   conditions, persons subject to section 2 shall make all 
  3.2   subsequent disclosures in accordance with those terms and 
  3.3   conditions. 
  3.4      Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.5      Sections 1 to 3 are effective on the day following final 
  3.6   enactment.