SF 1738

2nd Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to waters; modifying water use permit
provisions; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, section
103G.271, subdivision 5.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 103G.271,
subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Prohibition on once-through water use permits.

(a) new text begin Except as provided in paragraph (c), new text end the commissioner may
not, after December 31, 1990, issue a water use permit to
increase the volume of appropriation from a groundwater source
for a once-through cooling system using in excess of 5,000,000
gallons annually.

(b) new text begin Except as provided in paragraph (c), new text end once-through
system water use permits using in excess of 5,000,000 gallons
annually, must be terminated by the commissioner by the end of
their design life but not later than December 31, 2010, unless
the discharge is into a public water basin within a nature
preserve approved by the commissioner and established prior to
January 1, 2001. Existing once-through systems must not be
expanded and are required to convert to water efficient
alternatives within the design life of existing equipment.

new text begin (c) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b), the
commissioner, with the approval of the commissioners of health
and the Pollution Control Agency, may issue once-through system
water use permits on an annual basis for aquifer storage and
recovery systems that return all once-through system water to
the source aquifer. Water use permit processing fees in
subdivision 6, paragraph (a), apply to all water withdrawals
under this paragraph, including any reuse of water returned to
the source aquifer.
new text end