Minnesota Session Laws - 2002, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 293-S.F.No. 2933 
                  An act relating to pollution; allowing installation of 
                  certain individual sewage treatment systems; 
                  appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
                  section 115.55, by adding a subdivision. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 115.55, is 
        amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
           Subd. 9.  [WARRANTIED SYSTEMS.] (a) An individual sewage 
        treatment system may be installed provided that it meets all 
        local ordinance requirements and provided the requirements of 
        paragraphs (b) to (d) are met. 
           (b) The manufacturer shall provide to the commissioner: 
           (1) documentation that the manufacturer's system was 
        designated by the agency as a warrantied system as of June 30, 
        2001, and the system meets the size requirements or other 
        requirements that were the basis for the warrantied system 
        classification; 
           (2) documentation showing that a minimum of 50 of the 
        manufacturer's systems have been installed and operated and are 
        under normal use across all major soil classifications for a 
        minimum of three years; 
           (3) documentation that the system manufacturer or designer 
        will provide full warranty effective for at least five years 
        from the time of installation, covering design, labor, and 
        material costs to remedy failure to meet performance 
        expectations for systems used and installed in accordance with 
        the manufacturer's or designer's instructions; and 
           (4) a commonly accepted financial assurance document or 
        documentation of the manufacturer's or designer's financial 
        ability to cover potential replacement and upgrades necessitated 
        by failure of the system to meet the performance expectations 
        for the duration of the warranty period. 
           (c) The manufacturer shall reimburse the agency an amount 
        of $1,000 for staff services needed to review the information 
        submitted pursuant to paragraph (b).  Reimbursements accepted by 
        the agency shall be deposited in the environmental fund and are 
        appropriated to the agency for the purpose of reviewing 
        information submitted.  Reimbursement by the manufacturer shall 
        precede, not be contingent upon, and shall not affect the 
        agency's decision on whether the submittal meets the 
        requirements of paragraph (b). 
           (d) The manufacturer shall provide to the local unit of 
        government reasonable assurance of performance of the 
        manufacturer's system, engineering design of the manufacturer's 
        system, a monitoring plan that will be provided to system 
        owners, and a mitigation plan that will be provided to system 
        owners describing actions to be taken if the system fails. 
           (e) The commissioner may prohibit an individual sewage 
        treatment system from qualifying for installation under this 
        subdivision upon a finding of fraud, system failure, failure to 
        meet warranty conditions, or failure to meet the requirements of 
        this subdivision or other matters that fail to meet with the 
        intent and purpose of this subdivision.  Prohibition of 
        installation of a system by the commissioner does not alter or 
        end warranty obligations for systems already installed. 
           Presented to the governor March 25, 2002 
           Signed by the governor March 26, 2002, 2:30 p.m.