1st Engrossment - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 03/30/2016 09:10am
A bill for an act
relating to agriculture; establishing a pollinator investment grant program;
appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 17.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
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The commissioner may award a pollinator
investment grant to a person who implements best management practices to protect wild
and managed insect pollinators in this state equal to ten percent of the first $....... of
qualifying expenditures, provided the person makes qualifying expenditures of at least
$....... The commissioner may award multiple pollinator investment grants to a person
over the life of the program as long as the cumulative amount does not exceed $.......
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For the purposes of this section, "qualified expenditures"
means the amount spent for:
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(1) in conventional farming systems, planting neonicotinoid-free seeds and
implementing integrated pest management practices that do not involve the use of
pollinator lethal insecticides; and
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(2) creating new pollinator habitat, protected from contamination by pollinator
lethal insecticides, including contamination from planting dust; soil contamination; or
water contamination, by:
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(i) seeding native flowering plants as prairie strips within productive cropland to
provide forage for pollinators;
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(ii) renovating a pasture system by overseeding a pasture with high-diversity native
forb or native or non-native legume mixtures;
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(iii) interseeding legumes, brassicas, buckwheat, or other pollinator forage plants
with corn or soybean, or planting these as cover crops before or after corn or soybean;
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(iv) planting or seeding riparian and wetland areas and vegetative buffer strips with
native perennial cover that provides forage for pollinators;
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(v) planting a native hedgerow; or
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(vi) increasing plant diversity in nonproductive areas by adding native flowering
forbs, trees, or shrubs, or by introducing pollinator-friendly plant species into existing
strands of grasses.
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(a) To be eligible for a pollinator investment grant, a person
must:
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(1) be a resident of Minnesota or an entity specifically defined in section 500.24,
subdivision 2, that is eligible to own farmland and operate a farm in this state under
section 500.24;
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(2) be the principal operator of the farm; and
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(3) apply to the commissioner on forms prescribed by the commissioner, including a
statement of the qualifying expenditures made during the qualifying period along with any
proof or other documentation the commissioner may require.
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(b) The $....... maximum grant applies at the entity level for partnerships, S
corporations, C corporations, trusts, and estates as well as at the individual level. In the
case of married individuals, the grant is limited to $....... for a married couple.
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$....... is appropriated in fiscal year 2017 from the general fund to the commissioner
of agriculture for the pollinator investment grant program under Minnesota Statutes,
section 17.119.
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