1st Engrossment - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 05/27/2020 12:21pm
A bill for an act
relating to agriculture; establishing farm safety grant programs; 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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(a) The commissioner must award
grants to Minnesota farmers and Minnesota schools that retrofit eligible tractors with eligible
rollover protective structures.
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(b) Grants for farmers are limited to 70 percent of the farmer's documented cost to
purchase, ship, and install an eligible rollover protective structure. The commissioner must
increase a farmer's grant award amount over the 70 percent grant limitation requirement if
necessary to limit a farmer's cost per tractor to no more than $500.
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(c) Schools are eligible for grants that cover the full amount of a school's documented
cost to purchase, ship, and install an eligible rollover protective structure.
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(d) A rollover protective structure is eligible if it is certified to appropriate national or
international rollover protection structure standards with a seat belt.
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(e) "Eligible tractor" means a tractor that was built before 1987.
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(a) The commissioner must
award cost-share grants to Minnesota farmers who purchase grain storage facility safety
protection equipment. Grants are limited to 75 percent of the farmer's documented cost to
purchase, ship, and install grain storage facility safety protection equipment or $1,000,
whichever is less.
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(b) Eligible grain storage facility safety protection equipment includes:
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(1) fall protection systems;
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(2) engineering controls to prevent contact with an auger or other moving parts;
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(3) dust collection systems to minimize explosion hazards; and
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(4) other grain storage facility safety protection equipment approved by the commissioner.
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The commissioner may spend up to six percent
of total program dollars each fiscal year to promote and administer the program to Minnesota
farmers and schools.
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The commissioner must accept contributions
from nonstate sources to supplement state appropriations for this program. Contributions
received under this subdivision are appropriated to the commissioner for purposes of this
section.
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(a) $500,000 in fiscal year 2021 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner
of agriculture for farm safety grants under Minnesota Statutes, section 17.1195.
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(b) $250,000 in fiscal year 2021 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner
of agriculture for an agriculture safety education program.
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