SF 2763

1st Engrossment - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the environment; providing for issuance of 
  1.3             pipeline routing permits by the Environmental Quality 
  1.4             Board; ratifying the authority of the board to impose 
  1.5             conditions, to suspend permits, and to pursue 
  1.6             enforcement of permits; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.7             2002, section 116I.015, subdivision 3, by adding 
  1.8             subdivisions. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 116I.015, 
  1.11  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 3.  [RULES.] (a) The Environmental Quality Board 
  1.13  shall adopt rules governing the routing of pipelines.  The rules 
  1.14  apply only to the route of pipelines and may not set safety 
  1.15  standards for the construction of pipelines.  
  1.16     (b) The rules must: 
  1.17     (1) require that a person proposing construction of a 
  1.18  pipeline submit to the board one preferred route for the 
  1.19  pipeline and evidence of consideration of alternatives; 
  1.20     (2) provide for notice of proposed pipeline routes to local 
  1.21  units of government and to owners and lessees of property along 
  1.22  the routes being considered; 
  1.23     (3) provide for public hearings on proposed pipeline 
  1.24  routes, which may follow the board's procedures for public 
  1.25  hearings on proposed power line routes and electrical generating 
  1.26  plant sites; 
  1.27     (4) provide criteria that the board will use in determining 
  2.1   pipeline routes, which must include the existence of populated 
  2.2   areas, consideration of local government land use laws including 
  2.3   ordinances adopted under section 299J.05, and the impact of the 
  2.4   proposed pipeline on the natural environment; 
  2.5      (5) provide a procedure that the board will follow in 
  2.6   issuing pipeline routing permits and require the board to issue 
  2.7   the permits within nine months after the permit application is 
  2.8   received by the board, unless the board extends this deadline 
  2.9   for cause; 
  2.10     (6) provide for the payment of fees by persons proposing to 
  2.11  construct pipelines to cover the costs of the board in 
  2.12  implementing this section, including the costs of inspection of 
  2.13  the pipeline during construction to monitor compliance with the 
  2.14  conditions of the permit; 
  2.15     (7) allow the board to provide exemptions from all or part 
  2.16  of the pipeline routing permit application process in 
  2.17  emergencies or if the board determines that the proposed 
  2.18  pipeline will not have a significant impact on humans or the 
  2.19  environment; 
  2.20     (8) require exemption determinations to be made within 90 
  2.21  days after an application; and 
  2.22     (9) require that a person who has constructed a pipeline, 
  2.23  to the extent possible, restore the area affected by the 
  2.24  pipeline to the natural conditions that existed immediately 
  2.25  before construction of the pipeline, provided that this 
  2.26  restoration is compatible with the safe operation, maintenance, 
  2.27  and inspection of the pipeline; 
  2.28     (10) provide for Environmental Quality Board monitoring of 
  2.29  compliance by permittees with all requirements of the permit; 
  2.30  and 
  2.31     (11) provide for the inclusion of other reasonable 
  2.32  conditions in any pipeline routing permit issued by the board. 
  2.33     (c) The rules do not apply to temporary use of a route for 
  2.34  purposes other than installation of a pipeline, to securing 
  2.35  survey or geological data, to repair or replacement of an 
  2.36  existing pipeline within the existing right-of-way, or to minor 
  3.1   relocation of less than three-quarters of a mile of an existing 
  3.2   pipeline.  The rules do not apply to construction of new 
  3.3   pipeline in a right-of-way in which pipeline has been 
  3.4   constructed before July 1, 1988, or in a right-of-way that has 
  3.5   been approved by the board after July 1, 1988, except when the 
  3.6   board determines that there is a significant chance of an 
  3.7   adverse effect on the environment or that there has been a 
  3.8   significant change in land use or population density in or near 
  3.9   the right-of-way since the first construction of pipeline in the 
  3.10  right-of-way, or since the board first approved the right-of-way.
  3.11     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 116I.015, is 
  3.12  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  3.13     Subd. 5.  [REVOCATION AND SUSPENSION OF PERMIT.] The board 
  3.14  may modify, suspend, or revoke a permit after adequate notice of 
  3.15  the alleged grounds for revocation or suspension and a full and 
  3.16  fair hearing in which the affected permittee has an opportunity 
  3.17  to confront any witness and respond to any evidence against it 
  3.18  and to present rebuttal or mitigating evidence upon a finding by 
  3.19  the board of: 
  3.20     (1) any false statement knowingly made in the application 
  3.21  or accompanying statements or studies required of the applicant, 
  3.22  if a true statement would have warranted a change in the board's 
  3.23  findings; 
  3.24     (2) failure to comply with a material condition of the 
  3.25  route permit; or 
  3.26     (3) any material violation of the provisions of this 
  3.27  section and any rule adopted under it, or any order of the board.
  3.28     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 116I.015, is 
  3.29  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  3.30     Subd. 6.  [JUDICIAL REVIEW.] Any applicant, party, or 
  3.31  person aggrieved by the issuance or denial of a route permit by 
  3.32  the board or by a final order issued by the board, may appeal to 
  3.33  the Court of Appeals in accordance with chapter 14.  The appeal 
  3.34  must be filed within 60 days after the board's decision. 
  3.35     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 116I.015, is 
  3.36  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  4.1      Subd. 7.  [ENFORCEMENT, PENALTIES.] (a) The provisions of 
  4.2   this section or any rules adopted under it and any pipeline 
  4.3   routing permit issued by the board may be enforced by 
  4.4   injunction, action to compel performance, or other appropriate 
  4.5   action in the district court of the county wherein the violation 
  4.6   takes place.  The attorney general shall bring any action under 
  4.7   this subdivision upon the request of the board. 
  4.8      (b) When the court finds that any person has knowingly or 
  4.9   with reason to know violated this section or any rule adopted 
  4.10  under it, or any pipeline routing permit issued by the board, or 
  4.11  who knowingly submitted false information in any report required 
  4.12  by this section or has violated any court order issued under 
  4.13  this section, the court may impose a civil penalty of not more 
  4.14  than $10,000 for each violation.  These penalties must be paid 
  4.15  to the general fund in the state treasury.  Before exercising 
  4.16  its authority under this section, the board shall notify the 
  4.17  person in writing and provide the person 30 days to correct the 
  4.18  violation. 
  4.19     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 116I.015, is 
  4.20  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  4.21     Subd. 8.  [TERMINATION OF BOARD JURISDICTION OVER 
  4.22  PIPELINE.] The board's jurisdiction over a pipeline terminates 
  4.23  upon a determination by the board that the pipeline has been 
  4.24  installed and is in operation and the permittee has complied 
  4.25  with all permit conditions, including the obligation to restore 
  4.26  the land to its natural condition to the extent possible.  A 
  4.27  permittee may request the board to determine that it no longer 
  4.28  has jurisdiction over a pipeline.  The board may require a 
  4.29  permittee to provide information in the permittee's possession 
  4.30  to assist the board in determining whether the permittee has 
  4.31  complied with all permit conditions. 
  4.32     Sec. 6.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  4.33     This act is effective the day following final enactment.