Minnesota Legislature
Office of the Revisor of Statutes
Minnesota Session Laws - 1995, Regular Session
Key: (1) language to be deleted (2) new language
CHAPTER 218-H.F.No. 1101
An act relating to water; making miscellaneous
technical corrections to water law; delegation of
permit authority; minimal impact permits; removal of
hazardous dams; requiring the commissioner of natural
resources to issue a permit authorizing Hennepin
county to construct a seawall on Lake Minnetonka;
amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, sections 103F.215,
subdivision 1; 103F.221, subdivision 1; 103G.005,
subdivision 14; 103G.105; 103G.111, subdivision 1;
103G.121, subdivision 1; 103G.135; 103G.245,
subdivisions 3 and 5; 103G.271, subdivision 2;
103G.275, subdivision 1; 103G.295, subdivision 4;
103G.301, subdivision 2; 103G.315, subdivisions 12 and
15; 103G.511, subdivision 12; 103G.515, by adding a
subdivision; and 103G.611, subdivision 3.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103F.215,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [COUNTY ORDINANCE FAILING TO MEET
STANDARDS.] The commissioner shall adapt the model ordinance to
a county if, after notice and hearing as provided in section
103G.311, the commissioner finds that a county has failed to
adopt a shoreland conservation ordinance or that a county has
adopted a shoreland conservation ordinance that fails to meet
the minimum standards established under section 103F.211.
Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103F.221,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [COMMISSIONER'S REVIEW OF ORDINANCES.] (a)
A municipality having shoreland within its corporate boundaries
must submit ordinances or rules affecting the use and
development of its shorelands to the commissioner for review.
The commissioner must review the ordinances or rules and:
(1) determine whether the rules and ordinances are in
substantial compliance with municipal shoreland management
standards and criteria under subdivision 3 section 103F.211; and
(2) consider any feature unique to the municipal shoreland
in question, including the characteristics of the waters that
may be affected by development, storm sewer facilities, and
sanitary and waste disposal facilities in existence at the time
of the commissioner's review.
(b) If the commissioner determines that the ordinances or
rules of a municipality do not substantially comply with the
state standards and criteria for municipal shoreland management,
the commissioner must notify the municipality. The notice must
state the changes that are necessary to bring the ordinances or
rules into substantial compliance with the standards and
criteria. By one year after receiving the notice from the
commissioner, the municipality must make changes necessary to
bring the ordinances or rules into substantial compliance with
state standards and criteria.
Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.005,
subdivision 14, is amended to read:
Subd. 14. [ORDINARY HIGH WATER LEVEL.] "Ordinary high
water level" means the boundary of waterbasins, watercourses,
public waters, and public waters wetlands, and:
(1) the ordinary high water level is an elevation
delineating the highest water level that has been maintained for
a sufficient period of time to leave evidence upon the
landscape, commonly the point where the natural vegetation
changes from predominantly aquatic to predominantly terrestrial;
(2) for watercourses, the ordinary high water level is the
elevation of the top of the bank of the channel; and
(3) for reservoirs and flowages, the ordinary high water
level is the operating elevation of the normal summer pool.
Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.105, is
amended to read:
103G.105 [COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.]
Subdivision 1. [COMMISSIONER MAY COOPERATE WITH OTHER
STATES AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.] The commissioner may cooperate
and enter into agreements with the United States government, a
state department, or a state or country adjacent to this state
to implement this chapter chapters 103F and 103G. The
commissioner may cooperate with departments of the government of
the United States in the execution of surveys within the state.
Subd. 2. [STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS MUST COOPERATE IN
ENFORCEMENT.] Personnel of the pollution control agency, the
health department, and county and municipal governments must
cooperate with the commissioner in monitoring and enforcing
water permits. County attorneys, sheriffs, and other peace
officers and other officers having enforcement authority must
take all action to the extent of their authority, respectively,
that may be necessary or proper for the enforcement of the
provisions, rules, standards, orders, or permits specified in
this chapter chapters 103F and 103G.
Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.111,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [COMMISSIONER TO APPEAR IN FEDERAL WATER
ISSUES.] The commissioner may appear, represent, and act for the
state in any matter relating to an application to be made to the
federal government relating to waters of the state or their use
and may act in a manner to protect the interests of the people
of the state consistent with this chapter chapters 103F and 103G.
Sec. 6. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.121,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [SURVEYS AND INVESTIGATIONS.] (a) The
commissioner may conduct surveys, investigations, and studies,
and prepare maps of the waters of the state and topography of
the state to implement this chapter.
(b) Under the direction of the commissioner, the director
shall be responsible for providing the surveys and engineering
investigations required by this chapter.
Sec. 7. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.135, is
amended to read:
103G.135 [ENFORCEMENT OF COMMISSIONER'S ORDERS.]
Upon application of the commissioner, the district court of
a county where a project is entirely or partially located may by
injunction enforce compliance with, or restrain the violation
of, an order of the commissioner made under this chapter chapter
103F or 103G, or restrain the violation of this chapter chapter
103F or 103G.
Sec. 8. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.245,
subdivision 3, is amended to read:
Subd. 3. [PERMIT APPLICATION.] Application for a public
waters work permit must be in writing to the commissioner on
forms prescribed by the commissioner. The commissioner may
issue a state general permit to a governmental subdivision for
classes of activities having minimal impact upon public waters
under which more than one project may be conducted under a
single permit.
Sec. 9. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.245,
subdivision 5, is amended to read:
Subd. 5. [DELEGATION OF PERMIT AUTHORITY TO LOCAL UNITS OF
GOVERNMENT.] The commissioner may adopt rules to identify
classes of activities in waterbasins and classes of watercourses
where the commissioner may delegate public waters work permit
authority to the appropriate county or municipality or to
watershed districts or watershed management organizations that
have elected to assert local authority over protected waters.
The public waters work permit authority must be delegated under
guidelines of the commissioner and the delegation must be done
by agreement with the involved county or, municipality,
watershed district, or water management organization and in
compliance with section 103G.315.
Sec. 10. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.271,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2. [PERMITS MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH STATE AND LOCAL
PLANS.] A water use permit may not be issued under this section
unless it is consistent with state, regional, and local water
and related land resources management plans if the regional and
local plans are consistent with statewide plans.
Sec. 11. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.275,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [PERMIT REQUIRED.] The owner of an
installation for appropriating or using waters of the state may
not increase the pumping capacity or make any major change in
the installation without a water use permit first applying in
writing for, and obtaining, the written permit of the
commissioner.
Sec. 12. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.295,
subdivision 4, is amended to read:
Subd. 4. [CLASS B PERMIT REQUIREMENTS.] (a) Class B
groundwater water use permit applications are not complete until
the applicant has supplied:
(1) a summary of the anticipated well depth and subsurface
geologic formation expected to be penetrated by the well,
including for glacial drift aquifers, the logs of test holes
drilled to locate the site of the proposed production well;
(2) the formation and aquifer expected to serve as the
groundwater source;
(3) the maximum daily, seasonal, and annual pumpage
expected;
(4) the anticipated groundwater quality in terms of the
measures of quality commonly specified for the proposed water
use;
(5) the results of a pumping test supervised by the
commissioner or a designee of the commissioner, conducted at a
rate not to exceed the proposed pumping rate for not more than
72 continuous hours for wells under water table conditions and
not more than 24 continuous hours for wells under artesian
conditions; and
(6) when the area of influence of the proposed well is
determined, the location of existing wells within the area of
influence that were reported according to section 103I.205,
subdivision 9, together with readily available facts on depths,
geologic formations, pumping and nonpumping water levels, and
details of well construction as related to the water well
construction code.
(b) The commissioner may in any specific application waive
any requirements of paragraph (a), clauses (4) to (6), or (c) if
the necessary data are already available.
(c) Before, during, and after the pumping test required in
paragraph (a), clause (5), the commissioner shall require
monitoring of water levels in one observation well located at a
distance from the pumping well that the commissioner has reason
to believe may be affected by the new appropriation. The permit
applicant is responsible for costs of the pumping tests and
monitoring in the observation well. The applicant is
responsible for the construction of one observation well if
suitable existing wells cannot be located for this purpose. If
the commissioner determines that more than one observation well
is needed, the commissioner shall instruct the applicant to
install and monitor more observation wells. The commissioner
shall reimburse the applicant for these added costs.
Sec. 13. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.301,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2. [PERMIT APPLICATION FEES.] (a) An application for
a permit authorized under this chapter, and each request to
amend or transfer an existing permit, must be accompanied by a
permit application fee to defray the costs of receiving,
recording, and processing the application or request to amend or
transfer.
(b) The application fee for a permit to appropriate water,
a permit to construct or repair a dam that is subject to dam
safety inspection, a state general permit, or to apply for the
state water bank program is $75. The application fee for a
permit to work in public waters or to divert waters for mining
must be at least $75, but not more than $500, in accordance with
a schedule of fees adopted under section 16A.128.
Sec. 14. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.315,
subdivision 12, is amended to read:
Subd. 12. [PERMIT NOT ISSUED UNTIL FEES ARE PAID.] Except
for field inspection fees related to monitoring, the
commissioner may not issue a permit until all fees required by
this section 103G.301 relating to the issuance of a permit have
been paid. The time limits prescribed by section 103G.305,
subdivision 1, do not apply to an application for which the
appropriate fee has not been paid. Field inspection fees
relating to monitoring of an activity authorized by a permit may
be charged and collected as necessary at any time after the
issuance of the permit.
Sec. 15. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.315,
subdivision 15, is amended to read:
Subd. 15. [RULES FOR ISSUANCE AND DENIAL OF PERMITS.] The
commissioner shall adopt rules prescribing standards and
criteria for issuing and denying water use permits, and public
waters work permits, and water level control permits issued
under section 103G.405.
Sec. 16. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.511,
subdivision 12, is amended to read:
Subd. 12. [PRIORITY LIST OF DAMS NEEDING REPAIR.] After
reviewing examinations of dams owned by the state and political
subdivisions, the commissioner shall prioritize the state and
political subdivision dams in need of repair or, reconstruction,
or removal and report annually by June 1 of each odd-numbered
year to the legislature. The commissioner must prioritize
projects considering danger to life, damage to property, and the
factors listed in subdivision 6.
Sec. 17. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.515, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:
Subd. 5. [REMOVAL OF HAZARDOUS DAMS.] Notwithstanding any
provision of this section or of section 103G.511 relating to
cost sharing or apportionment, the commissioner, within the
limits of legislative appropriation, may assume or pay the
entire cost of removal of a privately or publicly owned dam upon
determining that continued existence of the structure presents a
significant public safety hazard, or prevents restoration of an
important fisheries resource, or that public or private property
is being damaged due to partial failure of the structure, and
that an attempt to assess costs of removal against the private
or public owner would be of no avail.
Sec. 18. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 103G.611,
subdivision 3, is amended to read:
Subd. 3. [PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.] Advance public notice of
the commencement of any aeration system, authorized by a water
aeration permit from the commissioner during periods of ice
cover on public waters, must be given by the permittee. Minimum
notice consists of publication of the location and date of
commencement of the aeration system in a newspaper of general
circulation in the area where the system is proposed to be
operated at least two times between five and 60 days before
aeration is started.
Sec. 19. [CONSTRUCTION OF SEAWALL BY HENNEPIN COUNTY ON
LAKE MINNETONKA.]
Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, section 103G.245,
subdivision 1, the commissioner of natural resources shall issue
a public waters work permit authorizing Hennepin county to
construct a new seawall at the site of the county's water patrol
building located at Spring Park Bay on Lake Minnetonka, provided
that the new seawall may not extend more than 15 feet further
into the lake than the existing seawall.
Sec. 20. [EFFECTIVE DATE.]
This act is effective the day following final enactment.
Presented to the governor May 22, 1995
Signed by the governor May 24, 1995, 10:16 a.m.
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes