Minnesota Session Laws - 1993, Regular Session

  
    Laws of Minnesota 1993 

                         CHAPTER 180-S.F.No. 96 
           An act relating to the environment; wastewater 
          treatment; clarifying rulemaking provisions for 
          pollution control agency adoption of wastewater 
          treatment standards; changing the composition of the 
          technical advisory committee; changing the definition 
          of individual on-site treatment system; amending 
          Minnesota Statutes 1992, sections 115.44, subdivisions 
          4, 6, and 7; 115.54; and 116.18, subdivision 3c.  
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 115.44, 
subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 4.  [STANDARDS.] The agency, after proper study, and 
after conducting public hearings upon due notice in accordance 
with chapter 14, shall adopt and design standards of quality and 
purity for each such classification necessary for the public use 
or benefit contemplated by such the classification.  Such The 
standards shall prescribe what qualities and properties of water 
shall indicate a polluted condition of the waters of the state 
which is actually or potentially deleterious, harmful, 
detrimental, or injurious to the public health, safety, or 
welfare,; to terrestrial or aquatic life or to the its growth 
and propagation thereof,; or to the use of such the waters for 
domestic, commercial and industrial, agricultural, recreational, 
or other reasonable purposes, with respect to the various 
classes established pursuant to subdivision 2 hereof, and.  The 
standards may also contain such other provisions as that the 
agency deems proper.  Wherever practicable and advisable, the 
agency shall establish standards for effluent of disposal 
systems entering classified waters.  
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 115.44, 
subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 6.  [MODIFICATION OF STANDARDS.] The adoption, 
alteration, or modification of the standards of quality and 
purity, above prescribed, in subdivision 4 shall be made by the 
agency only after public hearing on due notice in accordance 
with chapter 14.  
     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 115.44, 
subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 7.  Notices of public hearing for the consideration, 
adoption, modification, alteration or amendment of the 
classification of waters and standards of purity and quality 
thereof shall specify the time, date and place of hearing, and 
the waters concerning which classification is sought to be made 
or for which standards are sought to be adopted or modified.  
    Copies of said notice shall: 
    (a) Be published at least twice in a newspaper regularly 
published or circulated in the county or counties bordering or 
through which the waters sought to be classified, or for which 
standards are sought to be adopted, flow, the first date of 
publication of which shall not be more than 30 days nor less 
than 20 days before the date fixed for such hearing; and 
    (b) For rules authorized under this section, the notices 
required to be mailed under sections 14.14, subdivision 1a, and 
14.22 must also be mailed at least 30 days before such hearing 
to the governing body of each municipality bordering or through 
which said the waters, for which standards are sought to be 
adopted, flow, and to such other persons as the agency has 
reason to believe may be affected by the proposed standards. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 115.54, is 
amended to read: 
    115.54 [TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE.] 
    The agency shall adopt and revise rules governing waste 
water treatment control under this chapter or chapter 116 only 
with the advice of a technical advisory committee of nine seven 
members.  One member of the committee shall be selected by each 
of the following:  the state Consulting Engineers Council, the 
University of Minnesota division of environmental engineering, 
the state association of general contractors chapter of the 
Central States Water Pollution Control Federation, the 
Association of Minnesota Counties, the state Wastewater 
Treatment Plant Operators Association, the metropolitan waste 
control commission created by section 473.503, the association 
of metropolitan municipalities, the state Association of Small 
Cities, and two members from the League of Minnesota Cities.  
The technical advisory committee may review and advise the 
agency on any rule or technical requirements governing the 
wastewater treatment grant or loan program and may review the 
work of other professional persons working on a wastewater 
treatment project and make recommendations to those persons, the 
agency, and the concerned municipality, in order for the agency 
to ensure that water quality treatment standards will be met.  
The committee shall meet at least once a year, or at the call of 
the chair, and shall elect its chair.  The agency must provide 
staff support for the committee, prepare committee minutes, and 
provide information to the committee it may request.  A quorum 
is a simple majority and official action must be by a majority 
vote of the quorum.  The committee expires as provided in 
section 15.059, subdivision 5. 
     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 116.18, 
subdivision 3c, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 3c.  [INDIVIDUAL ON-SITE TREATMENT SYSTEMS PROGRAM.] 
(a) Beginning in fiscal year 1989, up to ten percent of the 
money to be awarded as grants under subdivision 3a in any single 
fiscal year, up to a maximum of $1,000,000, may be set aside for 
the award of grants by the authority to municipalities to 
reimburse owners of individual on-site wastewater treatment 
systems for a part of the costs of upgrading or replacing the 
systems. 
    (b) An individual on-site treatment system is a wastewater 
treatment system, or part thereof, serving less than six that 
uses soil treatment and disposal technology to treat 5,000 
gallons or less of wastewater per day from dwellings or other 
establishments, which utilizes subsurface soil treatment and 
disposal.  
    (c) Municipalities may apply yearly for grants of up to 50 
percent of the cost of replacing or upgrading individual on-site 
treatment systems within their jurisdiction.  Before agency 
approval of the grant application, a municipality must certify 
that:  
     (1) it has adopted and is enforcing the requirements of 
Minnesota Rules governing individual sewage treatment systems; 
     (2) the existing systems for which application is made do 
not conform to those rules, were constructed prior to January 1, 
1977, do not serve seasonal residences, and were not constructed 
with state or federal funds; and 
     (3) the costs requested do not include administrative 
costs, costs for improvements or replacements made before the 
application is submitted to the authority unless it pertains to 
the plan finally adopted, and planning and engineering costs 
other than those for the individual site evaluations and system 
design.  
    (d) The federal and state regulations regarding the award 
of state and federal wastewater treatment grants do not apply to 
municipalities or systems funded under this subdivision, except 
as provided in this subdivision.  
    (e) The authority shall award individual on-site wastewater 
treatment grants to municipalities selected by the state 
pollution control commissioner upon certification by the state 
pollution control commissioner that the municipalities' 
applications have been reviewed and approved in accordance with 
this subdivision and agency rules adopted under paragraph (f). 
    (f) The agency shall adopt permanent rules regarding 
priorities, distribution of funds, payments, inspections, the 
maximum number of dwellings or other establishments that may be 
served by an individual on-site treatment system, and other 
matters that the agency finds necessary for proper 
administration of grants awarded under this subdivision.  
    (g) The commissioner of trade and economic development may 
adopt rules containing procedures for administration of the 
authority's duties as set forth in paragraph (e). 
    Presented to the governor May 12, 1993 
    Signed by the governor May 14, 1993, 10:06 p.m.