Minnesota Session Laws - 2001, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 116-S.F.No. 1613 
                  An act relating to the environment; expanding the 
                  pollution control agency's authority to expedite 
                  permits; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 
                  116.07, subdivision 4d. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 116.07, 
        subdivision 4d, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 4d.  [PERMIT FEES.] (a) The agency may collect permit 
        fees in amounts not greater than those necessary to cover the 
        reasonable costs of reviewing and acting upon applications for 
        agency permits and implementing and enforcing the conditions of 
        the permits pursuant to agency rules.  Permit fees shall not 
        include the costs of litigation.  The fee schedule must reflect 
        reasonable and routine permitting, implementation, and 
        enforcement costs.  The agency may impose an additional 
        enforcement fee to be collected for a period of up to two years 
        to cover the reasonable costs of implementing and enforcing the 
        conditions of a permit under the rules of the agency.  Any money 
        collected under this paragraph shall be deposited in the 
        environmental fund. 
           (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), and section 16A.1285, 
        subdivision 2, the agency shall collect an annual fee from the 
        owner or operator of all stationary sources, emission 
        facilities, emissions units, air contaminant treatment 
        facilities, treatment facilities, potential air contaminant 
        storage facilities, or storage facilities subject to the 
        requirement to obtain a permit under subchapter V of the federal 
        Clean Air Act, United States Code, title 42, section 7401 et 
        seq., or section 116.081.  The annual fee shall be used to pay 
        for all direct and indirect reasonable costs, including attorney 
        general costs, required to develop and administer the permit 
        program requirements of subchapter V of the federal Clean Air 
        Act, United States Code, title 42, section 7401 et seq., and 
        sections of this chapter and the rules adopted under this 
        chapter related to air contamination and noise.  Those costs 
        include the reasonable costs of reviewing and acting upon an 
        application for a permit; implementing and enforcing statutes, 
        rules, and the terms and conditions of a permit; emissions, 
        ambient, and deposition monitoring; preparing generally 
        applicable regulations; responding to federal guidance; 
        modeling, analyses, and demonstrations; preparing inventories 
        and tracking emissions; and providing information to the public 
        about these activities. 
           (c) The agency shall set fees that: 
           (1) will result in the collection, in the aggregate, from 
        the sources listed in paragraph (b), of an amount not less than 
        $25 per ton of each volatile organic compound; pollutant 
        regulated under United States Code, title 42, section 7411 or 
        7412 (section 111 or 112 of the federal Clean Air Act); and each 
        pollutant, except carbon monoxide, for which a national primary 
        ambient air quality standard has been promulgated; 
           (2) may result in the collection, in the aggregate, from 
        the sources listed in paragraph (b), of an amount not less than 
        $25 per ton of each pollutant not listed in clause (1) that is 
        regulated under this chapter or air quality rules adopted under 
        this chapter; and 
           (3) shall collect, in the aggregate, from the sources 
        listed in paragraph (b), the amount needed to match grant funds 
        received by the state under United States Code, title 42, 
        section 7405 (section 105 of the federal Clean Air Act). 
        The agency must not include in the calculation of the aggregate 
        amount to be collected under clauses (1) and (2) any amount in 
        excess of 4,000 tons per year of each air pollutant from a 
        source.  The increase in air permit fees to match federal grant 
        funds shall be a surcharge on existing fees.  The commissioner 
        may not collect the surcharge after the grant funds become 
        unavailable.  In addition, the commissioner shall use nonfee 
        funds to the extent practical to match the grant funds so that 
        the fee surcharge is minimized. 
           (d) To cover the reasonable costs described in paragraph 
        (b), the agency shall provide in the rules promulgated under 
        paragraph (c) for an increase in the fee collected in each year 
        by the percentage, if any, by which the Consumer Price Index for 
        the most recent calendar year ending before the beginning of the 
        year the fee is collected exceeds the Consumer Price Index for 
        the calendar year 1989.  For purposes of this paragraph the 
        Consumer Price Index for any calendar year is the average of the 
        Consumer Price Index for all-urban consumers published by the 
        United States Department of Labor, as of the close of the 
        12-month period ending on August 31 of each calendar year.  The 
        revision of the Consumer Price Index that is most consistent 
        with the Consumer Price Index for calendar year 1989 shall be 
        used. 
           (e) Any money collected under paragraphs (b) to (d) must be 
        deposited in an air quality account in the environmental fund 
        and must be used solely for the activities listed in paragraph 
        (b).  
           (f) Persons who wish to construct or expand an air emission 
        a facility may offer to reimburse the agency for the costs of 
        staff overtime or consultant services needed to expedite permit 
        review.  The reimbursement shall be in addition to fees imposed 
        by paragraphs (a) to (d) law or rule.  When the agency 
        determines that it needs additional resources to review the 
        permit application in an expedited manner, and that expediting 
        the review would not disrupt air permitting program priorities, 
        the agency may accept the reimbursement.  Reimbursements 
        accepted by the agency are appropriated to the agency for the 
        purpose of reviewing the permit application.  Reimbursement by a 
        permit applicant shall precede and not be contingent upon 
        issuance of a permit and shall not affect the agency's decision 
        on whether to issue or deny a permit, what conditions are 
        included in a permit, or the application of state and federal 
        statutes and rules governing permit determinations. 
           Presented to the governor May 14, 2001 
           Signed by the governor May 17, 2001, 10:31 a.m.