SF 2727

1st Engrossment - 88th Legislature (2013 - 2014) Posted on 03/28/2014 09:01am

A bill for an act
relating to pesticides; providing compensation for bee deaths caused by pesticide
poisoning under certain circumstances; authorizing a pollinator emergency
response team; establishing pollinator bank; requiring a report; appropriating
money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2012, sections 18B.01, by adding
subdivisions; 18B.03, by adding a subdivision; 18B.04; 85A.02, subdivision 2;
proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 18B.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 18B.01, is amended by adding a
subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 1c. new text end

new text begin Apiary. new text end

new text begin "Apiary" means a place where a collection of one or more hives
or colonies of bees or the nuclei of bees are kept.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 18B.01, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 2a. new text end

new text begin Bee. new text end

new text begin "Bee" means any stage of the common honeybee, Apis mellifera (L).
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 18B.01, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 2b. new text end

new text begin Bee owner. new text end

new text begin "Bee owner" means a person who owns an apiary.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 18B.01, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 4c. new text end

new text begin Colony. new text end

new text begin "Colony" means the aggregate of worker bees, drones, the queen,
and developing young bees living together as a family unit in a hive or other dwelling.
new text end

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 18B.01, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 11a. new text end

new text begin Hive. new text end

new text begin "Hive" means a frame hive, box hive, box, barrel, log gum, skep,
or any other receptacle or container, natural or artificial, or any part of one, which is
used as domicile for bees.
new text end

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 18B.01, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 20a. new text end

new text begin Pollinator. new text end

new text begin "Pollinator" means an insect that pollinates flowers.
new text end

Sec. 7.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 18B.03, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Pollinators. new text end

new text begin The commissioner may take enforcement action under
chapter 18D for a violation of this chapter, or any rule adopted under this chapter,
that results in harm to pollinators, including but not limited to applying a product in
a manner inconsistent with the product's label or labeling and resulting in pollinator
death or willfully applying pesticide in a manner inconsistent with the product label or
labeling. The commissioner must deposit any penalty collected under this subdivision in
the pesticide regulatory account in section 18B.05.
new text end

Sec. 8.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 18B.04, is amended to read:

18B.04 PESTICIDE IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT.

new text begin (a) new text end The commissioner shall:

(1) determine the impact of pesticides on the environment, including the impacts on
surface water and groundwater in this state;

(2) develop best management practices involving pesticide distribution, storage,
handling, use, and disposal; and

(3) cooperate with and assist other state agencies and local governments to protect
public health new text begin , pollinators, new text end and the environment from harmful exposure to pesticides.

new text begin (b) The commissioner may assemble a pollinator emergency response team of
experts under section 16C.10, subdivision 2, to consult in the investigation of pollinator
deaths or illnesses. The pollinator emergency response team may include representatives
from local, state, and federal agencies; academia, including the University of Minnesota;
or other professionals as deemed necessary by the commissioner.
new text end

Sec. 9.

new text begin [18B.055] COMPENSATION FOR BEES KILLED BY PESTICIDE;
APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Compensation required. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of agriculture must
compensate a person for an acute pesticide poisoning resulting in the death of bees or loss
of bee colonies owned by the person, provided:
new text end

new text begin (1) the person who applied the pesticide cannot be determined;
new text end

new text begin (2) the person who applied the pesticide did so in a manner consistent with the
pesticide product's label or labeling; or
new text end

new text begin (3) the person who applied the pesticide did so in a manner inconsistent with the
pesticide product's label or labeling.
new text end

new text begin (b) Except as provided in this section, the bee owner is entitled to the fair market
value of the dead bees and bee colonies losses as determined by the commissioner upon
recommendation by academic experts and bee keepers. In any fiscal year, a bee owner
must not be compensated for a claim that is less than $100 or compensated more than
$20,000 for all eligible claims.
new text end

new text begin (c) To be eligible for compensation under this section, the bee owner must be
registered with a commonly utilized pesticide registry program, as designated by the
commissioner of agriculture.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Applicator responsible. new text end

new text begin In the event a person applies a pesticide in a
manner inconsistent with the pesticide product's label or labeling requirements as approved
by the commissioner and is determined to have caused the acute pesticide poisoning of bees,
resulting in death or loss of a bee colony kept for commercial purposes, then the person so
identified must bear the responsibility of restitution for the value of the bees to the owner.
In these cases the commissioner must not provide compensation as provided in this section.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Claim form. new text end

new text begin The bee owner must file a claim on forms provided by the
commissioner and available on the Department of Agriculture's Web site.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Determination. new text end

new text begin The commissioner must determine whether the death of
the bees or loss of bee colonies was caused by an acute pesticide poisoning, whether the
pesticide applicator can be determined, and whether the pesticide applicator applied the
pesticide product in a manner consistent with the pesticide product's label or labeling.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Payments; denial of compensation. new text end

new text begin (a) If the commissioner determines
the bee death or loss of bee colony was caused by an acute pesticide poisoning and
either the pesticide applicator cannot be determined or the pesticide applicator applied
the pesticide product in a manner consistent with the pesticide product's label or labeling,
the commissioner may award compensation from the pesticide regulatory account. If the
pesticide applicator can be determined and the applicator applied the pesticide product
in a manner inconsistent with the product's label or labeling, the commissioner may
collect a penalty from the pesticide applicator sufficient to compensate the bee owner
for the fair market value of the dead bees and bee colonies losses, and must award the
money to the bee owner.
new text end

new text begin (b) If the commissioner denies compensation claimed by a bee owner under this
section, the commissioner must issue a written decision based upon the available evidence.
The decision must include specification of the facts upon which the decision is based and
the conclusions on the material issues of the claim. The commissioner must mail a copy
of the decision to the bee owner.
new text end

new text begin (c) A decision to deny compensation claimed under this section is not subject to the
contested case review procedures of chapter 14, but may be reviewed upon a trial de
novo in a court in the county where the loss occurred. The decision of the court may be
appealed as in other civil cases. Review in court may be obtained by filing a petition for
review with the administrator of the court within 60 days following receipt of a decision
under this section. Upon the filing of a petition, the administrator must mail a copy to the
commissioner and set a time for hearing within 90 days of the filing.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Deduction from payment. new text end

new text begin The commissioner must reduce payments
made under this section by any compensation received by the bee owner for dead bees and
bee colonies losses as proceeds from an insurance policy or from another source.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Appropriation. new text end

new text begin The amount necessary to pay claims under this section,
not to exceed $150,000 per fiscal year, is appropriated from the pesticide regulatory
account in section 18B.05.
new text end

Sec. 10.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 85A.02, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Zoological Garden.

The board shall acquire, construct, equip, operate
and maintain the Minnesota Zoological Garden at a site in Dakota County legally
described in Laws 1975, chapter 382, section 12. The Zoological Garden shall consist
of adequate facilities and structures for the collection, habitation, preservation, care,
exhibition, examination or study of wild and domestic animals, including, but not limited
to mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans and mollusks. The board
may provide such lands, buildings and equipment as it deems necessary for parking,
transportation, entertainment, education or instruction of the public in connection with
such Zoological Garden. new text begin The Zoological Garden is the official pollinator bank for the state
of Minnesota. For purposes of this subdivision, "pollinator bank" means a program to
avert the extinction of pollinator species by cultivating insurance breeding populations.
new text end

Sec. 11. new text begin BEE VALUATION PROTOCOL REQUIRED.
new text end

new text begin No later than January 1, 2015, the commissioner of agriculture must report to
the house of representatives and senate committees with jurisdiction over agriculture
finance the protocol that the commissioner developed, in consultation with experts, for
determining the fair market value of bees, hives, colonies, apiaries, and queen apiaries for
purposes of compensation under Minnesota Statutes, section 18B.055.
new text end

Sec. 12. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin $100,000 in fiscal year 2015 is appropriated from the general fund to the
commissioner of agriculture to compensate the pollinator emergency response team
authorized in Minnesota Statutes, section 18B.04.
new text end