Minnesota Session Laws - 1993, Regular Session

  
    Laws of Minnesota 1993 

                        CHAPTER 279-S.F.No. 880 
           An act relating to the environment; changing methods 
          for assessing and collecting hazardous waste 
          administration fees; providing for rulemaking; 
          amending Minnesota Statutes 1992, sections 116.12; and 
          473.811, subdivision 5b. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 116.12, is 
amended to read: 
    116.12 [HAZARDOUS WASTE ADMINISTRATION FEES.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [FEE SCHEDULES.] The agency shall establish 
the fees provided in subdivisions 2 and 3 in the manner provided 
in section 16A.128 to cover the amount appropriated from 
the special revenue account environmental fund to the agency for 
permitting, monitoring, inspection, and enforcement expenses of 
the hazardous waste activities of the agency.  
    The legislature may appropriate additional amounts from the 
general fund that need not be covered by fees, in order to 
assure adequate funding for the regulatory and enforcement 
functions of the agency related to hazardous waste.  All fees 
collected by the agency under this section shall be deposited in 
the special revenue account environmental fund. 
    Subd. 2.  [HAZARDOUS WASTE GENERATOR FEE.] (a) Each 
generator of hazardous waste shall pay a fee on the hazardous 
waste generated by that generator.  The agency shall compute the 
amount of the fee due based on the hazardous waste disclosures 
submitted by the generators and other information available to 
the agency.  The agency shall annually prepare a statement of 
the amount of the fee due from each generator.  The fee shall be 
paid annually commencing with the first day of the calendar 
quarter after the date of the statement adopt rules in 
accordance with chapter 14 establishing a system for charging 
fees to generators.  The rules must include the basis for 
determining the amount of fees, and procedures and deadlines for 
payment of fees.  The agency shall base the amount of fees on 
the quantity of hazardous waste generated and may charge a 
minimum fee for each generator not exempted by the agency.  In 
adopting the fee rules, the agency shall consider: 
    (1) reducing the fees for generators using environmentally 
beneficial hazardous waste management methods, including 
recycling; 
    (2) the agency resources allocated to regulating the 
various sizes or types of generators; 
    (3) adjusting fees for sizes or types of generators that 
would bear a disproportionate share of the fees to be collected; 
and 
    (4) whether implementing clauses (1) to (3) would require 
excessive staff time compared to staff time available for 
providing technical assistance to generators or would make the 
fee system difficult for generators to understand. 
    (b) The agency may exempt generators of very small 
quantities of hazardous wastes otherwise subject to the fee if 
it finds that the cost of administering a fee on those 
generators is excessive relative to the proceeds of the 
fee.  The fee shall consist of a minimum fee for each generator 
not exempted by the agency and an additional fee based on the 
quantity of wastes generated by the generator.  
    (c) If any metropolitan counties recover the costs of 
administering county hazardous waste regulations by charging 
fees, the fees charged by the agency outside of those counties 
shall not exceed the fees charged by those counties.  The agency 
shall not charge a fee in any metropolitan county which charges 
such a fee.  The agency shall impose a fee calculated as a 
surcharge on the fees charged by the metropolitan counties and 
by the agency to reflect the agency's expenses in carrying out 
its statewide hazardous waste regulatory responsibilities.  The 
agency shall reduce fees charged to generators in counties which 
also charge generator fees to reflect a lesser level of activity 
by the agency in those counties.  The surcharge imposed on the 
fees charged by the metropolitan agency in those counties shall 
be collected by the metropolitan counties in the manner in which 
and at the same time as those counties collect their generator 
fees.  Metropolitan Counties shall remit the proceeds of the 
surcharge to the agency the amount of the fees charged by the 
agency by the last day of the month following the month in which 
they were collected.  If a county does not collect or remit 
generator fees due to the agency, the agency may collect fees 
from generators in that county according to rules adopted under 
paragraph (a). 
     (d) The agency may not impose a volume-based fee under this 
subdivision on material that is reused at the facility where the 
material is generated in a manner that the facility owner or 
operator can demonstrate does not increase the toxicity of, or 
the level of hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants 
in, products that leave the facility.  The agency may impose a 
flat annual fee on a facility that generates the type of 
material described in the preceding sentence, provided that the 
fee reflects the reasonable and necessary costs of inspections 
of the facility. 
    Subd. 3.  [FACILITY FEES.] The agency shall charge 
hazardous waste facility fees including, but not limited to, an 
original permit fee, a reissuance fee, a major modification fee, 
and an annual operator's facility fee for any hazardous waste 
facility regulated by the agency.  The agency shall adopt rules 
in accordance with chapter 14 establishing a system for charging 
hazardous waste facility fees.  The agency may exempt facilities 
otherwise subject to the fee if regulatory oversight of those 
facilities is minimal.  The agency may include reasonable and 
necessary costs of any environmental review required under 
chapter 116D in the original permit fee for any hazardous waste 
facility. 
     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 473.811, 
subdivision 5b, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 5b.  [ORDINANCES; HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT.] (a) 
Each metropolitan county shall by ordinance establish and revise 
rules, regulations, and standards relating to (1) the 
identification of hazardous waste, (2) the labeling and 
classification of hazardous waste, (3) the collection, storage, 
transportation, processing, and disposal of hazardous waste, and 
(4) other matters necessary for the public health, welfare and 
safety.  The county shall require permits or licenses for the 
generation, collection, processing, and disposal of hazardous 
waste and shall require registration with a county office.  
County hazardous waste ordinances shall embody and may not be 
consistent inconsistent with, and must be at least as stringent 
as, the agency hazardous waste rules.  Counties shall submit 
adopted ordinances to the agency for review.  Counties may adopt 
ordinances for the issuance of permits or licenses for 
generators, collectors, or processors of hazardous waste that 
are more stringent than agency rules if the ordinances do not 
present an obstacle or impediment to implementation of the 
agency rules.  In the event that agency rules are modified, each 
county shall modify its ordinances accordingly and shall submit 
the modification to the agency for review within 120 days.  
Issuing, denying, suspending, modifying, imposing conditions 
upon, or revoking hazardous waste permits or licenses, and 
county hazardous waste regulations and ordinances, shall be 
subject to review, denial, suspension, modification, and 
reversal by the agency.  The agency shall after written 
notification have 15 days in the case of hazardous waste permits 
and licenses and 30 days in the case of hazardous waste 
ordinances to review, suspend, modify, or reverse the action of 
the county.  After this period, the action of the county board 
shall be final subject to appeal to the district court in the 
manner provided in chapter 14.  
    (b) A metropolitan county may not impose a volume-based fee 
under this subdivision on material that is reused at the 
facility where the material is generated in a manner that the 
facility owner or operator can demonstrate does not increase the 
toxicity of, or the level of hazardous substances or pollutants 
or contaminants in, products that leave the facility.  A 
metropolitan county may impose a flat annual fee on a facility 
that generates the type of material described in the preceding 
sentence, provided that the fee reflects the reasonable and 
necessary costs of inspections of the facility.  A county 
imposing a fee under this paragraph must comply with section 
373.41. 
     Sec. 3.  [SINGLE BILLING STATEMENT; REPORT.] 
    (a) The commissioner of revenue, in cooperation with the 
pollution control agency, the office of waste management, the 
emergency response commission, and the seven metropolitan 
counties, shall evaluate the feasibility of collecting the 
following tax and fees using a single billing statement: 
    (1) the hazardous waste generator tax in Minnesota 
Statutes, section 115B.22; 
    (2) the hazardous waste administration fees in Minnesota 
Statutes, section 116.12; 
    (3) the pollution prevention fees in Minnesota Statutes, 
section 115D.12; and 
    (4) the fees in Minnesota Statutes, sections 299K.09 and 
299K.095. 
    (b) In doing the evaluation, the commissioner of revenue 
shall consider at least the following: 
    (1) the benefits to the payers of the tax and fees; 
    (2) the administrative cost savings; 
    (3) the simplification possible in administering the tax 
and fee collections; 
    (4) the degree of control that each of the affected 
agencies prefers to retain in administering its programs; and 
    (5) any issues relating to cash flow from one fiscal year 
to the next. 
    (c) The commissioner of revenue shall submit a report by 
October 1, 1993, to the legislative commission on waste 
management, the senate environment and natural resources finance 
division, and the house of representatives committee on 
environment and natural resources finance.  The report must 
include options and recommendations, including proposed 
legislation if necessary. 
    Presented to the governor May 15, 1993 
    Signed by the governor May 19, 1993, 8:30 a.m.