HF 2661

as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 03/30/2022 12:55pm

A bill for an act
relating to economic development; creating the zero-waste grant program;
appropriating money; requiring reports; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota
Statutes, chapter 116J.

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

Section 1.

new text begin [116J.4381] ZERO-WASTE GRANT PROGRAM.
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new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Definitions. new text end

new text begin (a) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions
apply.
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new text begin (b) "Adaptive management practices" means the integration of project design,
management, and monitoring to identify project impacts and outcomes as they arise and
adjust behaviors to improve outcomes.
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new text begin (c) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of employment and economic development.
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new text begin (d) "Eligible entity" means a nonprofit or unit of government.
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new text begin (e) "Embodied energy" means energy that was used to create a product or material.
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new text begin (f) "Living wage" means the minimum income necessary to allow a person working 40
hours per week to afford the cost of housing, food, and other material necessities.
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new text begin (g) "Organics recycling" means the biological processes by which organics streams are
converted to compost which is not harmful to humans, plants, or animals.
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new text begin (h) "Recycling" means the mechanical processing of materials that has reached the end
of its current use into materials to be used in the production of new products. It does not
include incineration or any energy recovery process or depolymerization or a similar process.
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new text begin (i) "Reuse" does not mean incineration, but does mean:
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new text begin (1) using a product, packaging, or resource more than once for the same or a new function
with little or no processing; or
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new text begin (2) repairing a product so it can be used longer, sharing or renting it, or selling or donating
it to another party.
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new text begin (j) "Source reduction" does not mean incineration, but does mean:
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new text begin (1) activities that reduce consumption of products or services that create physical outputs,
such as packaging, that is secondary to the intended use of the item being consumed;
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new text begin (2) measures or techniques that reduce the amount of waste generated during production
processes; and
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new text begin (3) the reduction or elimination of the use of materials which are not able to be recycled
without degrading the quality of the material.
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new text begin (k) "Source separated" means the separation of a stream of recyclable materials at the
point of waste creation before materials are collected and centralized. It does not include
technologies that sort mixed municipal solid waste into recyclable and nonrecyclable
materials.
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new text begin (l) "Waste prevention" means reuse, recycling, and other methods to reduce the amount
of materials disposed of in landfills or incinerated.
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new text begin (m) "Zero waste" means conservation of all resources by means of responsible production,
consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning
or otherwise destroying embodied energy, with no discharges to land, water, or air that
threaten the environment or human health.
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new text begin (n) "Zero-waste practice" means a practice used to help achieve zero waste, including
source reduction and waste prevention.
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new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Establishment. new text end

new text begin The commissioner shall establish a competitive grant program
for eligible entities to pursue projects that are consistent with zero-waste practices. This
shall include projects in four categories:
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new text begin (1) electronic waste reuse and recycling, under subdivision 3;
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new text begin (2) source reduction, under subdivision 4;
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new text begin (3) market development, under subdivision 5; and
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new text begin (4) organics recycling infrastructure, under subdivision 6.
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new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Electronic waste reuse and recycling. new text end

new text begin Projects under this subdivision must
relate to electronic waste reuse and recycling and must be carried out by an organization
certified in sustainable electronic waste standards by an organization accredited by the
National Accreditation Board of the American National Standards Institute and The American
Society of Quality, or another accrediting body as determined by the commissioner. Grant
funds for such projects may be used for infrastructure, technology, research and development,
and product refurbishment. Projects must not include an electronic waste buy-back program
that provides compensation for used electronics as a credit toward the purchase of additional
electronics.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Source reduction. new text end

new text begin Projects under this subdivision must relate to source
reduction. Grant funds for such projects may be used for educational programming and
outreach activities to encourage consumer behavior change or for product or manufacturing
redesign or redevelopment to reduce byproducts, packaging, and other outputs. For projects
involving product or manufacturing redesign or redevelopment, the applicable manufacturer
must pay a living wage and the redevelopment or redesign must not result in higher toxicity
or more complicated recyclability of the product or byproducts or increased volume of the
byproducts.
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new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Market development. new text end

new text begin Projects under this subdivision must relate to market
development with respect to source reduction or waste prevention, including creating demand
for sorted recyclable commodities and refurbished goods. Such projects must target easily
or commonly recycled materials which are disproportionately disposed of in landfills or
incinerated and must reduce the volume, weight, or toxicity of waste and waste byproducts.
Projects must not conflict with other laws or requirements as identified by the commissioner.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Organics recycling infrastructure. new text end

new text begin Projects under this subdivision must relate
to organics recycling infrastructure. Grant funds for such projects may be used for facilities,
machinery, equipment, and other physical necessities required for organics collection or
processing on a city- or county-wide scale. Projects under this subdivision must result in
increased capacity for residential and commercial source separated organics streams and
generate a usable product that has demonstrable environmental benefits when compared to
the input materials such as compost with added nutritional content. Projects may not include
mixed-waste composting.
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new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Grant process. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner must award grants to eligible entities
through a competitive grant process.
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new text begin (b) To receive a grant, an eligible entity must submit a written application to the
commissioner, using the form developed by the commissioner, and including any information
requested by the commissioner.
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new text begin (c) The application must demonstrate that the eligible entity has set specific source
reduction or waste prevention targets and that the project will happen in a community in
the 80th percentile or higher for one or more pollutants as noted in the EJSCREEN tool, or
any successor system, of the Environmental Protection Agency.
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new text begin Subd. 8. new text end

new text begin Award criteria. new text end

new text begin In awarding grants under this section, the commissioner shall
give priority to eligible entities with projects that:
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new text begin (1) could lead to the creation of new jobs that pay a living wage with additional preference
for jobs for individuals with barriers to employment;
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new text begin (2) achieve source reduction or waste prevention in schools;
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new text begin (3) employ adaptive management practices to identify, prevent, or address any negative
environmental consequences of the proposed project;
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new text begin (4) demonstrate need for additional investment in infrastructure and projects to achieve
source reduction and waste prevention targets set by the local unit of government responsible
for waste and recycling projects in the geographic area;
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new text begin (5) will develop innovative or new technologies or strategies for source reduction and
waste prevention;
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new text begin (6) will encourage further investment in source reduction and waste prevention projects;
or
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new text begin (7) will incorporate multistakeholder involvement, including nonprofit, commercial,
and public sector partners.
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new text begin Subd. 9. new text end

new text begin Report to the legislature. new text end

new text begin By January 15, 2024, the commissioner must submit
a report as required under section 3.195 that details the use of grant funds. A copy of this
report must also be sent to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative
committees having jurisdiction over economic development and the environment.
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Sec. 2. new text begin ZERO-WASTE GRANT PROGRAM; APPROPRIATION.
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new text begin $1,500,000 in fiscal year 2022 and $1,500,000 in fiscal year 2023 are appropriated from
the general fund to the commissioner of employment and economic development for the
zero-waste grant program under Minnesota Statutes, section 116J.4381.
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