Minnesota Session Laws - 2005, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 138-H.F.No. 894 
                  An act relating to waters; modifying authority for 
                  public waters inventory; modifying public waters work 
                  permit and water use permit provisions; modifying 
                  enforcement authority; modifying a restriction on 
                  private land sale in Scott County; amending Minnesota 
                  Statutes 2004, sections 103G.201; 103G.2372, 
                  subdivision 1; 103G.245, subdivision 4; 103G.251, 
                  subdivision 2; 103G.301, subdivision 2; Laws 2003, 
                  First Special Session chapter 13, section 25. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 103G.201, is 
        amended to read: 
           103G.201 [PUBLIC WATERS INVENTORY.] 
           (a) The commissioner shall prepare a public waters 
        inventory map of each county that shows the waters of this state 
        that are designated as public waters under the public waters 
        inventory and classification procedures prescribed under Laws 
        1979, chapter 199.  The public waters inventory map for each 
        county must be filed with the auditor of the county.  
           (b) The commissioner is authorized to revise the list of 
        public waters established under Laws 1979, chapter 199, to 
        reclassify those types 3, 4, and 5 wetlands previously 
        identified as public waters wetlands under Laws 1979, chapter 
        199, as public waters or as wetlands under section 103G.005, 
        subdivision 19.  The commissioner may only reclassify public 
        waters wetlands as public waters if: 
           (1) they are assigned a shoreland management classification 
        by the commissioner under sections 103F.201 to 103F.221; 
           (2) they are classified as lacustrine wetlands or deepwater 
        habitats according to Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater 
        Habitats of the United States (Cowardin, et al., 1979 edition); 
        or 
           (3) the state or federal government has become titleholder 
        to any of the beds or shores of the public waters wetlands, 
        subsequent to the preparation of the public waters inventory map 
        filed with the auditor of the county, pursuant to paragraph (a), 
        and the responsible state or federal agency declares that the 
        water is necessary for the purposes of the public ownership. 
           (c) The commissioner must provide notice of the 
        reclassification to the local government unit, the county board, 
        the watershed district, if one exists for the area, and the soil 
        and water conservation district.  Within 60 days of receiving 
        notice from the commissioner, a party required to receive the 
        notice may provide a resolution stating objections to the 
        reclassification.  If the commissioner receives an objection 
        from a party required to receive the notice, the 
        reclassification is not effective.  If the commissioner does not 
        receive an objection from a party required to receive the 
        notice, the reclassification of a wetland under paragraph (b) is 
        effective 60 days after the notice is received by all of the 
        parties. 
           (d) The commissioner shall give priority to the 
        reclassification of public waters wetlands that are or have the 
        potential to be affected by public works projects. 
           (e) The commissioner may revise the public waters inventory 
        map and list of each county: 
           (1) to reflect the changes authorized in paragraph (b); and 
           (2) as needed, to:  
           (i) correct errors in the original inventory; 
           (ii) add or subtract trout stream tributaries within 
        sections that contain a designated trout stream following 
        written notice to the landowner; 
           (iii) add depleted quarries, and sand and gravel pits, when 
        the body of water exceeds 50 acres and the shoreland has been 
        zoned for residential development; and 
           (iv) add or subtract public waters that have been created 
        or eliminated as a requirement of a permit authorized by the 
        commissioner under section 103G.245. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 103G.2372, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [COMMISSIONER OF NATURAL RESOURCES.] (a) 
        The commissioner of natural resources, conservation officers, 
        and peace officers shall enforce laws preserving and protecting 
        ground water quantity, wetlands, and public waters.  The 
        commissioner of natural resources, a conservation officer, or a 
        peace officer may issue a cease and desist order to stop any 
        illegal activity adversely affecting ground water quantity, a 
        wetland, or public waters. 
           (b) In the order, or by separate order, the commissioner, 
        conservation officer, or peace officer may require restoration 
        or replacement of the wetland or public waters, as determined by 
        the local soil and water conservation district for wetlands and 
        the commissioner of natural resources for public waters.  
        Restoration or replacement orders may be recorded or filed in 
        the office of the county recorder or registrar of titles, as 
        appropriate, in the county where the real property is located by 
        the commissioner of natural resources, conservation officers, or 
        peace officers as a deed restriction on the property that runs 
        with the land and is binding on the owners, successors, and 
        assigns until the conditions of the order are met or the order 
        is rescinded.  Notwithstanding section 386.77, the agency shall 
        pay the applicable filing fee for any document filed under this 
        section. 
           Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 103G.245, 
        subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 4.  [STRUCTURES IN OR ADJACENT TO PUBLIC WATERS.] (a) 
        The following definitions apply to this subdivision: 
           (1) "boathouse" means a floating structure or watercraft 
        that is moored by spuds, cables, ropes, anchors, or chains that 
        may be intended for habitation and has walls, a roof, and either 
        an open well for boats or a floor from wall to wall and does not 
        include houseboats watercraft that are designed and operated as 
        motorboats; and 
           (2) "houseboat" "motorboat" means a motorboat that has 
        either a pontoon or a flat-bottomed hull configuration, and a 
        permanent enclosed superstructure housing, at a minimum, 
        built-in sleeping, cooking, and toilet facilities watercraft 
        that is designed for and is capable of navigation on the water 
        and that has an adequately sized external or internal mechanical 
        propulsion system for the type of watercraft. 
           (b) The commissioner, subject to the approval of the county 
        board, may grant and prescribe terms and conditions for granting 
        public waters work permits to establish, construct, maintain, 
        and control wharves, docks, piers, levees, breakwaters, basins, 
        canals, and hangars in or adjacent to public waters of the 
        state, except within the corporate limits of a municipality.  
           (c) Boathouses are prohibited on public waters of 
        Minnesota, except as allowed by paragraph (d). 
           (d) The commissioner may issue a public waters work permit 
        for boathouses only, when approved by the local governmental 
        unit and: 
           (1) only in areas of historic use for such the structures, 
        as determined by the commissioner, and where the boathouse was 
        in existence on public waters prior to January 1, 1997; or 
           (2) when approved by the local government unit; and 
           (3) where the boathouse is in existence on public waters 
        prior to January 1, 1997 serves as a public service structure 
        within a permitted commercial marina. 
           (e) A boathouse in existence on public waters prior to 
        January 1, 1997, may be repaired or replaced, provided that the 
        repairs or replacement are consistent with the permit issued by 
        the commissioner under paragraph (d). 
           Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 103G.251, 
        subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2.  [FINDINGS AND ORDER.] (a) With or without a 
        public hearing, the commissioner may make findings and issue 
        orders related to activities being conducted without a permit 
        that affect waters of the state as otherwise authorized under 
        this chapter.  
           (b) A copy of the findings and order must be served on the 
        person to whom the order is issued.  
           (c) If the commissioner issues the findings and order 
        without a hearing, the person to whom the order is issued may 
        file a demand for a hearing with the commissioner.  The demand 
        for a hearing must be accompanied by the bond as provided in 
        section 103G.311, subdivision 6, and the hearing must be held in 
        the same manner and with the same requirements as a hearing held 
        under section 103G.311, subdivision 5.  The demand for a hearing 
        and bond must be filed by 30 days after the person is served 
        with a copy of the commissioner's order.  
           (d) The hearing must be conducted as a contested case 
        hearing under chapter 14.  
           (e) If the person to whom the order is addressed does not 
        demand a hearing or demands a hearing but fails to file the 
        required bond:  
           (1) the commissioner's order becomes final at the end of 30 
        days after the person is served with the order; and 
           (2) the person may not appeal the order.  
           (f) An order of the commissioner may be recorded or filed 
        by the commissioner in the office of the county recorder or 
        registrar of titles, as appropriate, in the county where the 
        real property is located as a deed restriction on the property 
        that runs with the land and is binding on the owners, 
        successors, and assigns until the conditions of the order are 
        met or the order is rescinded.  
           Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, 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 must be paid for a permit authorized under this chapter 
        and for each request to amend or transfer an existing permit.  
           (b) The fee to apply for a permit to appropriate water, a 
        permit to construct or repair a dam that is subject to dam 
        safety inspection, or 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, according to a 
        schedule of fees adopted under section 16A.1285. 
           Sec. 6.  Laws 2003, First Special Session chapter 13, 
        section 25, is amended to read: 
           Sec. 25.  [PRIVATE SALE OF SURPLUS LAND BORDERING PUBLIC 
        WATERS; SCOTT COUNTY.] 
           (a) Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, sections 92.45; 
        94.09; 94.10; 97A.135, subdivision 2a; and 103F.535, the 
        commissioner of natural resources shall sell by private sale the 
        surplus land bordering public waters that is described in 
        paragraph (e). 
           (b) The conveyance shall be in a form approved by the 
        attorney general for consideration of no less than the appraised 
        value of the land. 
           (c) The deed must contain a restrictive covenant that 
        prohibits altering, disturbing vegetation in, draining, filling, 
        or placing any material or structure of any kind on or in the 
        existing wetland area located on the land; prohibits any 
        increase in run-off runoff rate or volume from the land or 
        future buildings into said wetland; and prohibits diverting or 
        appropriating water from said wetland.  This restriction applies 
        only to the public waters wetland on the land identified on the 
        public waters inventory map as 70-148W.  Other wetlands on the 
        land are subject to Minnesota Statutes, sections 103G.221 to 
        103G.2372. 
           (d) The consideration received for the conveyance shall be 
        deposited in the state treasury and credited to the wildlife 
        acquisition account in the game and fish fund.  The money is 
        appropriated to the commissioner of natural resources for 
        wildlife land acquisition purposes. 
           (e) The land that may be sold is in the Prior Lake wildlife 
        management area in Scott county and is described as: 
           The East 1200 feet of the South 800 feet of the Southwest 
           Quarter of the Southeast Quarter of Section 22, Township 
           115 North, Range 22 West.  Including the abandoned 
           right-of-way of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and 
           Pacific Railroad Company (formerly the Hastings and Dakota 
           Railway Company).  Containing 22 acres, more or less. 
           (f) This land no longer fits into the state wildlife 
        management area system because of hunting limitations, its small 
        size, and future development planned for the area.  Proceeds 
        from the sale will be used to purchase lands more suitable for 
        wildlife management and public use. 
           [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day 
        following final enactment. 
           Presented to the governor May 31, 2005 
           Signed by the governor June 3, 2005, 8:35 a.m.