Minnesota Session Laws - 1984, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1984 

                        CHAPTER 455-S.F.No. 1662
           An act relating to solid waste; reducing the number of 
          proposed sites in metropolitan counties having a 
          population of less than 300,000 for mixed municipal 
          solid waste disposal facilities; amending Minnesota 
          Statutes 1983 Supplement, section 473.803, subdivision 
          1a. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1983 Supplement, section 
473.803, subdivision 1a, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 1a.  [PROPOSED INVENTORY OF DISPOSAL SITES.] By 
October 15, 1981, each county a metropolitan county having a 
population of less than 300,000, as determined by the 1980 
United States Census, shall adopt, by resolution of its the 
county governing body, an inventory of four at least three 
proposed sites in the county suitable for mixed municipal solid 
waste disposal facilities and shall submit the inventory to the 
council for approval or disapproval.  A metropolitan county 
having a population greater than 300,000, as determined by the 
1980 United States Census, shall adopt, by resolution of the 
county governing body, an inventory of at least four proposed 
sites in the county that are suitable for mixed municipal solid 
waste disposal facilities and shall submit the inventory to the 
council for approval or disapproval.  The council shall evaluate 
and approve or disapprove each proposed site in accordance with 
the standards set out in this subdivision.  Except as otherwise 
provided in this subdivision, each site shall satisfy the 
standards and criteria in federal and state regulations and the 
council's policy plan for solid waste management.  In proposing 
and approving sites for the inventory, the counties and the 
council shall prefer land which is capable of being returned to 
its existing use or the use anticipated in a plan of a 
metropolitan agency, county, or local unit of government use 
after closure of a disposal facility.  Each site shall contain 
no less than 80 acres and no more than 250 acres.  Each proposed 
site shall be surrounded by a buffer area at least equal to the 
area of the site.  No site shall be adopted by a county or the 
council as part of an inventory unless the agency certifies its 
intrinsic suitability for the use intended, based on preliminary 
environmental analysis and on site surveys and investigations 
conducted by the county. Notwithstanding any plan, charter 
provision, law, ordinance, regulation, or other requirement of 
any state agency or political subdivision, no land shall be 
excluded from consideration for inclusion in the inventory 
except land determined by the agency to be intrinsically 
unsuitable.  Each county shall provide to the agency data 
relating to the intrinsic suitability of the sites to be 
proposed for the inventory as soon as available.  By July 1, 
1981 each county shall propose at least the number of sites 
required for the inventory, and the director of the agency shall 
issue a notice indicating which of those sites the director 
recommends be certified as intrinsically suitable.  Notice of 
hearings on the director's recommendation shall be published in 
the state register and newspapers of general circulation in the 
metropolitan area and shall be sent by mail to the metropolitan 
council and local government units containing a proposed 
inventory site.  A hearing shall be held in each metropolitan 
county and shall be conducted by the state office of 
administrative hearings in a manner consistent with the 
completion of the proceedings and the hearing examiner's report 
to the agency in the time allowed by this section.  The hearing 
shall afford all interested persons an opportunity to testify 
and present evidence on the subject of the hearing.  The subject 
of the hearing shall be limited to information submitted by the 
county and additional information on the proposed sites which is 
relevant to the agency's decision on intrinsic suitability.  The 
rulemaking and contested case procedures of chapter 14 shall not 
apply to this hearing.  The report of the hearing examiner shall 
contain findings of fact, conclusions, and recommendations on 
the subject of the hearing.  The agency shall make a final 
determination as to the intrinsic suitability of each proposed 
site and shall certify them accordingly within 90 days of the 
county's proposal of a site.  The agency shall not be required 
to promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 15 on criteria and 
standards to govern its certification of intrinsic suitability 
under this section.  No action of the agency shall be held 
invalid by reason of the agency's failure to notify any of the 
entities listed in this subdivision.  The council shall evaluate 
each site with respect to local land use and land use controls, 
the protection of agriculture and natural resources, existing 
and future development patterns, transportation facilities and 
other services and facilities appropriate to land disposal 
facilities, the quality of other potential sites, and patterns 
of generation of solid waste.  The council shall notify a county 
of any site proposed by the county which the council disapproves 
and shall allow the county 60 days to propose an alternative 
site.  If the county fails to propose an alternative acceptable 
to the council in the time allowed, the council shall propose a 
site acceptable to it for inclusion in the inventory of sites in 
that county.  If in the council's judgment a county does not 
contain the requisite number of satisfactory sites, the council 
may reduce the number of sites required of that county. 
    Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION.] 
    This act is effective the day after final enactment and 
applies in the counties of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, 
Ramsey, Scott, and Washington. 
    Approved April 24, 1984