Minnesota Session Laws - 1988, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1988 

                        CHAPTER 530-S.F.No. 1328 
           An act relating to public safety; altering certain 
          requirements concerning fencing of unused mine pits 
          and shafts; providing modification to certain public 
          and private liability laws; providing penalties; 
          amending Minnesota Statutes 1986, sections 3.732, 
          subdivision 1; 3.736, subdivision 3; 87.024; 180.01; 
          180.03, subdivisions 2 and 3; 180.06; 180.10; 466.03, 
          subdivisions 6c and 13. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 3.732, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read:  
    Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] As used in this section and 
section 3.736 the terms defined in this section have the 
meanings given them. 
    (1) "State" includes each of the departments, boards, 
agencies, commissions, courts, and officers in the executive, 
legislative, and judicial branches of the state of Minnesota and 
includes but is not limited to the Minnesota housing finance 
agency, the Minnesota higher education coordinating board, the 
Minnesota higher education facilities authority, the armory 
building commission, the Minnesota zoological board, the iron 
range resources and rehabilitation board, the University of 
Minnesota, state universities, community colleges, state 
hospitals, and state penal institutions.  It does not include a 
city, town, county, school district, or other local governmental 
body corporate and politic. 
    (2) "Employee of the state" means all present or former 
officers, members, directors or employees of the state, members 
of the Minnesota national guard, or persons acting on behalf of 
the state in an official capacity, temporarily or permanently, 
with or without compensation, but does not include either an 
independent contractor or members of the Minnesota national 
guard while engaged in training or duty under United States 
Code, title 10, or United States Code, title 32, section 316, 
502, 503, 504, or 505, as amended through December 31, 1983. 
    (3) "Scope of office or employment" means that the employee 
was acting on behalf of the state in the performance of duties 
or tasks lawfully assigned by competent authority. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 3.736, 
subdivision 3, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 3.  [EXCLUSIONS.] Without intent to preclude the 
courts from finding additional cases where the state and its 
employees should not, in equity and good conscience, pay 
compensation for personal injuries or property losses, the 
legislature declares that the state and its employees are not 
liable for the following losses: 
    (a) Any loss caused by an act or omission of a state 
employee exercising due care in the execution of a valid or 
invalid statute or rule; 
    (b) Any loss caused by the performance or failure to 
perform a discretionary duty, whether or not the discretion is 
abused; 
    (c) Any loss in connection with the assessment and 
collection of taxes; 
    (d) Any loss caused by snow or ice conditions on any 
highway or public sidewalk that does not abut a publicly-owned 
building or a publicly-owned parking lot, except when the 
condition is affirmatively caused by the negligent acts of a 
state employee; 
    (e) Any loss caused by wild animals in their natural state; 
    (f) Any loss other than injury to or loss of property or 
personal injury or death; 
    (g) Any loss caused by the condition of unimproved real 
property owned by the state, which means land that the state has 
not improved, state land that contains idled or abandoned mine 
pits or shafts, and appurtenances, fixtures and attachments to 
land that the state has neither affixed nor improved; 
    (h) Any loss incurred by a user within the boundaries of 
the outdoor recreation system and arising from the construction, 
operation, or maintenance of the system, as defined in section 
86A.04, or from the clearing of land, removal of refuse, and 
creation of trails or paths without artificial surfaces, or from 
the construction, operation, or maintenance of a water access 
site created by the iron range resources and rehabilitation 
board, except that the state is liable for conduct that would 
entitle a trespasser to damages against a private person.  For 
the purposes of this clause, a water access site, as defined in 
section 86A.04 or created by the iron range resources and 
rehabilitation board, that provides access to an idled, water 
filled mine pit, also includes the entire water filled area of 
the pit and, further, includes losses caused by the caving or 
slumping of the mine pit walls; 
    (i) Any loss of benefits or compensation due under a 
program of public assistance or public welfare, except where 
state compensation for loss is expressly required by federal law 
in order for the state to receive federal grants-in-aid; 
    (j) Any loss based on the failure of any person to meet the 
standards needed for a license, permit, or other authorization 
issued by the state or its agents; 
    (k) Any loss based on the usual care and treatment, or lack 
of care and treatment, of any person at a state hospital or 
state corrections facility where reasonable use of available 
appropriations has been made to provide care; 
    (l) Any loss, damage, or destruction of property of a 
patient or inmate of a state institution;  
    (m) Any loss for which recovery is prohibited by section 
169.121, subdivision 9. 
    The state will not pay punitive damages. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 87.024, is 
amended to read:  
    87.024 [LIABILITY; LEASED LAND, WATER FILLED MINE PITS.] 
    Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the provisions of 
sections 87.022 and 87.023 shall be deemed applicable to the 
duties and liability of an owner of the following described land:
(1) land leased to the state or any subdivision thereof for 
recreational purposes; or (2) idled or abandoned, water filled, 
mine pits whose pit walls may slump or cave, and to which water 
the public has access from a water access site operated by a 
public entity.  
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 180.01, is 
amended to read:  
    180.01 [APPOINTMENT.] 
    The board of commissioners of any county in this state, 
where there are at least five mines situate and in operation, is 
hereby authorized and directed, on or before the first day of 
July, 1905, to appoint an inspector of mines, who shall hold 
office for the term of three years or until a successor is 
appointed and qualified, and in addition thereto may appoint one 
assistant inspector for every 20 mines as the board may 
determine for the purpose of discharging the duties hereinafter 
prescribed; to fix the compensation and traveling expenses of 
such inspector or any assistant inspector and provide for the 
payment of the same, and to remove such inspector or any 
assistant inspector and appoint another in place when in the 
judgment of the board the best interests of the owners and 
employees of such mines may so require.  In any county where 
there are active, inactive, or idled mines, and no county mine 
inspector has been appointed as provided above, the county board 
shall enforce the provisions of chapter 180 by designating an 
appropriate county officer or employee to discharge the duties 
of county mine inspector.  The qualifications and salary 
prescribed in section 180.02 do not apply to the person 
designated, except that the person may not be interested in any 
mine as an owner, operator, agent, stockholder, or engineer.  
Acts or omissions of a person appointed or designated to perform 
the duties of county mine inspector, whether statutory or 
discretionary, are acts or omissions as defined in section 
466.03, subdivision 5 or 6. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 180.03, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 2.  Every person, firm or corporation that is or has 
been engaged in the business of mining or removing iron ore, 
taconite, semitaconite or other minerals except sand, crushed 
rock and gravel by the open pit method in any county which has 
appointed an inspector of mines pursuant to section 180.01 shall 
erect and maintain, as a minimum, a three strand wire fence, 
barrier, appropriate signs, or combination of them, as directed 
by the inspector, along the outside perimeter of the excavation, 
open pit, or shaft of any mine in which mining operations have 
ceased for a period of six consecutive months or longer.  
However, in residential and developed areas, along major roads, 
and in areas of hazardous conditions, the following described 
fencing must be erected, unless exempted by based upon local 
site conditions that may exist at shafts, caves, or open pits, 
the county mine inspector may require more secure fencing such 
as barbed wire or mesh fence, or may require barriers, 
appropriate signs, or any combination of the above, to reduce 
the possibility of accidental falls.  The county mine 
inspector may grant exemptions under subdivision 4.  This 
fencing must consist of two-inch by four-inch mesh fencing; the 
top and bottom wire shall not be less than nine gauge and the 
filler wire shall not be less than 11 gauge; the fencing shall 
be not less than five feet in height with two strands of barbed 
wire six inches apart affixed to the top of the fence; and the 
fence posts shall be no more than ten feet apart.  In the case 
of open pit mines in which mining operations cease after 
November 1, 1979, and before March 1, 1980, the fence, barrier, 
signs, or combination of them shall be erected as soon as 
possible after March 1, 1980.  Where mining operations cease on 
or after March 1, 1980, the fence, barrier, signs, or 
combination of them shall be erected forthwith.  In the case of 
open pit mines in which mining operations had ceased for a 
period of six consecutive months or longer before November 1, 
1979, and not resumed, the fence, barrier, signs, or combination 
of them shall be erected within two years from the current date 
when the county mine inspector directs the erection of fences, 
barriers, signs, or combination of them.  Any fence, barrier, 
signs, or combination of them, required by an inspector of mines 
pursuant to subdivision 3 or other applicable law, shall meet 
the standards of this section as a minimum.  This subdivision 
does not apply to any excavation, open pit, or shaft, or any 
portion thereof, exempted from its application by the 
commissioner of natural resources pursuant to laws relating to 
mineland reclamation, exempted from its application by the iron 
range resources and rehabilitation board under actions taken by 
the board, or exempted from its application by the county mine 
inspector pursuant to subdivision 4. 
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 180.03, 
subdivision 3, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 3.  When any mine is idle or abandoned it shall be 
the duty of the inspector of mines to notify the person, firm, 
or corporation that is or has been engaged in the business of 
mining to erect and maintain around all the shafts, caves, and 
open pits of such mines a fence, barrier, appropriate signs, or 
combination of them, suitable to prevent persons or domestic 
animals from warn of the presence of shafts, caves, or open pits 
and reduce the possibility of accidentally falling into these 
shafts, caves or open pits.  If the mine has been idled or 
abandoned for more than ten years, or if the person, firm or 
corporation that has been engaged in the business of mining no 
longer exists, the fee owner shall erect the fence, barrier, or 
signs required by this section.  The notice shall be in writing 
and be served upon such person, firm, corporation or fee owner 
by certified mail. 
    Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 180.06, is 
amended to read:  
    180.06 [SALARY AND EXPENSES.] 
    The salary and expenses of the inspector of mines shall be 
paid out of the treasury of the county for which appointed by 
vouchers similar to those used by The county for which the 
inspector of mines was appointed shall pay the inspector's 
salary and expenses out of its treasury in the manner provided 
for payment of salaries and expenses of other county officials.  
The board of county commissioners shall furnish the inspector of 
mines with necessary books, stationery, and supplies.  At the 
request of the county mine inspector, the county board may 
appropriate money, including money appropriated to the county by 
the legislature for the purposes of mine safety or inspection 
for the expenses of the county mine inspector including expenses 
that arise from the erection and maintenance, by the county, on 
county administered land, of fences, barriers, or signs required 
by chapter 180. 
    Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 180.10, is 
amended to read:  
    180.10 [REMOVAL OF FENCE; GUARD.] 
    Any worker, employee, or other person who shall open, 
remove, or disturb any fence, guard, barrier, sign, or rail and 
not close or replace or have the same closed or replaced again 
around or in front of any shaft, test pit, chute, excavation, 
cave, or land liable to cave, injure, or destroy, whereby 
accident, injury, or damage results, either to the mine or those 
at work therein, or to any other person, shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor.  A worker, employee, or other person who, in regard 
to any fence, guard, barrier, sign, or rail, does any of the 
acts prohibited by section 609.52, commits theft of the fence, 
guard, barrier, sign, or rail may be sentenced as provided in 
section 609.52. 
    Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 466.03, 
subdivision 6c, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 6c.  [WATER ACCESS SITES.] Any claim based upon the 
construction, operation, or maintenance by a municipality of a 
water access site created by the iron range resources and 
rehabilitation board.  A water access site under this 
subdivision that provides access to an idled, water filled mine 
pit also includes the entire water filled area of the pit, and, 
further, claims related to a mine pit water access site under 
this subdivision include those based upon the caving or slumping 
of mine pit walls.  
    Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 466.03, 
subdivision 13, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 13.  Any claim for a loss caused by the condition of 
unimproved real property owned by a municipality, which means 
land that the municipality has not improved, land that is owned 
or administered by the municipality that contains idled or 
abandoned mine pits or shafts, and appurtenances, fixtures and 
attachments to land that the municipality has neither affixed 
nor improved. 
    Approved April 14, 1988