SF 57

2nd Engrossment - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to agriculture; providing for shared savings 
  1.3             loans for demonstration projects of manure processing 
  1.4             and odor control technology; providing incentives for 
  1.5             the purchase of energy from manure waste methane 
  1.6             recovery systems and poultry litter; appropriating 
  1.7             money; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, sections 
  1.8             17.115, by adding a subdivision; and 216C.41. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 17.115, is 
  1.11  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 5.  [MANURE PROCESS AND ODOR CONTROL 
  1.13  TECHNOLOGY.] Notwithstanding subdivision 2, paragraphs (b) and 
  1.14  (c), interest-free loans up to $200,000 may be made under this 
  1.15  section to any resident of Minnesota for demonstration projects 
  1.16  of new technology for processing manure and odor control.  Loans 
  1.17  under this subdivision may be used as a match for federal loans 
  1.18  or grants.  Money from repayment of loans must be deposited in 
  1.19  the revolving loan account for this program to be used for 
  1.20  future projects.  
  1.21     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 216C.41, is 
  1.22  amended to read: 
  1.23     216C.41 [RENEWABLE ENERGY PRODUCTION INCENTIVE.] 
  1.24     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) The definitions in this 
  1.25  subdivision apply to this section. 
  1.26     (b) "Qualified hydroelectric facility" means a 
  1.27  hydroelectric generating facility in this state that: 
  2.1      (1) is located at the site of a dam, if the dam was in 
  2.2   existence as of March 31, 1994; and 
  2.3      (2) begins generating electricity after July 1, 1994. 
  2.4      (c) "Qualified wind energy conversion facility" means a 
  2.5   wind energy conversion system that: 
  2.6      (1) produces two megawatts or less of electricity as 
  2.7   measured by nameplate rating and begins generating electricity 
  2.8   after June 30, 1997, and before July 1, 1999; or 
  2.9      (2) begins generating electricity after June 30, 1999, 
  2.10  produces two megawatts or less of electricity as measured by 
  2.11  nameplate rating, and is: 
  2.12     (i) located within one county and owned by a natural person 
  2.13  who owns the land where the facility is sited; 
  2.14     (ii) owned by a Minnesota small business as defined in 
  2.15  section 645.445; 
  2.16     (iii) owned by a nonprofit organization; or 
  2.17     (iv) owned by a tribal council if the facility is located 
  2.18  within the boundaries of the reservation. 
  2.19     (d) "Qualified methane recovery facility" means a 
  2.20  farm-located farm animal manure waste methane recovery system 
  2.21  that is:  (1) located in Minnesota; and (2) begins generating 
  2.22  electricity after January 1, 1999. 
  2.23     (e) "Qualified poultry litter electricity facility" means a 
  2.24  poultry litter and related biomass to electricity system that: 
  2.25     (1) produces 40 megawatts or less electricity; 
  2.26     (2) is designed to burn 500,000 tons of poultry litter and 
  2.27  related biomass per year; and 
  2.28     (3) is located within the state. 
  2.29     Subd. 2.  [INCENTIVE PAYMENT.] Incentive payments shall be 
  2.30  made according to this section to the owner or operator of a 
  2.31  qualified methane recovery facility, qualified poultry litter 
  2.32  electricity facility, qualified hydropower facility, or 
  2.33  qualified wind energy conversion facility for electric energy 
  2.34  generated and sold by the facility.  Payment may only be made 
  2.35  upon receipt by the commissioner of finance of an incentive 
  2.36  payment application that establishes that the applicant is 
  3.1   eligible to receive an incentive payment and that satisfies 
  3.2   other requirements the commissioner deems necessary.  The 
  3.3   application shall be in a form and submitted at a time the 
  3.4   commissioner establishes.  There is annually appropriated from 
  3.5   the general fund sums sufficient to make the payments required 
  3.6   under this section.  
  3.7      Subd. 3.  [ELIGIBILITY WINDOW.] Payments may be made under 
  3.8   this section only for electricity generated: 
  3.9      (a) from a qualified hydroelectric facility that is 
  3.10  operational and generating electricity before January 1, 2001; 
  3.11  or 
  3.12     (b) from a qualified wind energy conversion facility that 
  3.13  is operational and generating electricity before January 1, 
  3.14  2005; 
  3.15     (c) from a qualified methane recovery facility that is 
  3.16  operational and generating electricity before January 1, 2010; 
  3.17  or 
  3.18     (d) from a qualified poultry litter electricity facility 
  3.19  that is operational and generating electricity before January 1, 
  3.20  2010. 
  3.21     Subd. 4.  [PAYMENT PERIOD.] A facility may receive payments 
  3.22  under this section for a ten-year period.  No payment under this 
  3.23  section may be made for electricity generated: 
  3.24     (a) by a qualified hydroelectric facility after December 
  3.25  31, 2010; or 
  3.26     (b) by a qualified wind energy conversion facility after 
  3.27  December 31, 2015; 
  3.28     (c) by a qualified methane recovery facility after December 
  3.29  31, 2020; or 
  3.30     (d) by a qualified poultry litter electricity facility 
  3.31  after December 31, 2020.  
  3.32     The payment period begins and runs consecutively from the 
  3.33  first year in which electricity generated from the facility is 
  3.34  eligible for incentive payment. 
  3.35     Subd. 5.  [AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.] (a) An incentive payment is 
  3.36  based on the number of kilowatt hours of electricity generated. 
  4.1   The amount of the payment is 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour.  
  4.2      (b) For electricity generated by qualified wind energy 
  4.3   conversion facilities, the incentive payment under this section 
  4.4   is limited to no more than 100 megawatts of nameplate capacity.  
  4.5   During any period in which qualifying claims for incentive 
  4.6   payments exceed 100 megawatts of nameplate capacity, the 
  4.7   payments must be made to producers in the order in which the 
  4.8   production capacity was brought into production. 
  4.9      (c) For electricity generated by a qualified methane 
  4.10  recovery facility, the incentive payment under this section is 
  4.11  limited to no more than 15 megawatts of capacity. 
  4.12     (d) For electricity generated by a qualified poultry litter 
  4.13  electricity facility, the incentive payment under this section 
  4.14  is limited to no more than 40 megawatts of capacity. 
  4.15     Sec. 3.  [APPROPRIATION; MANURE AND ODOR CONTROL.] 
  4.16     $2,000,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  4.17  commissioner of agriculture for fiscal year 2000 to be used for 
  4.18  loans under section 1.