Minnesota Session Laws - 1990, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1990 

                        CHAPTER 406-H.F.No. 1883 
           An act relating to natural resources; providing 
          legislative approval of certain consumptive uses of 
          water over 2,000,000 gallons per day; exempting 
          legislative approval for consumptive uses over 
          2,000,000 gallons per day for construction dewatering 
          and pollution abatement or remediation; amending 
          Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 105.405, subdivision 
          3. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 105.405, 
subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 3.  [REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSUMPTIVE USE.] (a) Except as 
provided in paragraph (b), a permit authorized by sections 
105.37 to 105.55 or a plan that requires a permit or the 
commissioner's approval, involving a consumptive use of more 
than 2,000,000 gallons per day average in a 30-day period, may 
not be granted or approved until after:  (1) a determination by 
the commissioner that the water remaining in the basin of origin 
will be adequate to meet the basin's water resources needs 
during the specified life of the consumptive use; and (2) 
approval by the legislature. 
    (b) Legislative approval under paragraph (a), clause (2), 
is not required for a consumptive use in excess of 2,000,000 
gallons per day average in a 30-day period for:  
    (1) a domestic water supply, excluding industrial and 
commercial uses of a municipal water supply; and 
    (2) agricultural irrigation and processing of agricultural 
products; 
    (3) construction dewatering; and 
    (4) pollution abatement or remediation. 
    Sec. 2.  [LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL OF CONSUMPTIVE USES OF 
WATER.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL.] Pursuant to 
Minnesota Statutes, section 105.405, subdivision 3, the 
legislature approves each of the following projects requiring a 
consumptive use of more than 2,000,000 gallons per day average 
in a 30-day period subject to the commissioner of natural 
resources making a determination for each project that the water 
remaining in the basin of origin will be adequate to meet the 
basin's need for water:  
    (1) construction of the Blue Lake Wastewater Treatment 
Facility; 
    (2) construction of the Empire Wastewater Treatment 
Facility; 
    (3) construction of the Minneapolis East Interceptor 
Project; 
    (4) construction of the Seneca Wastewater Treatment 
Facility; 
    (5) construction of the Stillwater Wastewater Treatment 
Facility; 
    (6) Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Superfund Site at 
LeHillier, Minnesota; 
    (7) Anoka Municipal Sanitary Landfill in Ramsey, Minnesota; 
    (8) United States Army Twin City Army Ammunition Plant 
(TCAAP); 
    (9) Flying Cloud Landfill in Eden Prairie, Minnesota; 
    (10) United States Army Corps of Engineers, Goose 
Lake-Vermillion River Bottoms Habitat Rehabilitation Enhancement 
Project in Dakota and Goodhue counties; and 
    (11) Minneapolis Chain of Lakes Water Level Augmentation. 
    Subd. 2. [EXISTING RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.] 
Legislative approval under subdivision 1 does not affect: 
    (1) existing rights of parties to challenge a permit under 
Minnesota Statutes, section 105.44; and 
    (2) any liability of project sponsors that exists elsewhere 
in statute. 
    Subd. 3.  [PROTECTION OF FENS.] (a) The granting of a 
permit for a project under this section, regardless of the 
volume appropriated, is subject to the following conditions:  
    (1) dewatering will not be permitted to continue if it is 
determined to, in any way, adversely affect the health or 
natural status of a calcareous fen; and 
    (2) at a minimum, the groundwater source for the fen must 
be maintained at its natural level and its appropriate chemical 
and temperature characteristics.  
    (b) The adverse effects will be determined by the 
commissioner of natural resources.  
    If the adverse effects occur, the metropolitan waste 
control commission must have in place an emergency contingency 
plan to provide for the safety of the affected fens. 
    Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    This act is effective the day following final enactment. 
    Presented to the governor April 3, 1990 
    Signed by the governor April 5, 1990, 9:20 p.m.