Minnesota Session Laws - 2002, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 278-S.F.No. 3117 
                  An act relating to the metropolitan council; providing 
                  for the transfer or disposal of interceptor 
                  facilities; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
                  Statutes, chapter 473. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  [473.5111] [TRANSFER OR DISPOSAL OF 
        NONMETROPOLITAN INTERCEPTORS.] 
           Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] In this section, the 
        definitions in this subdivision apply, except as otherwise 
        expressly provided or indicated by the context. 
           (a) The term "in good operating condition" with reference 
        to an interceptor means that the facility is currently 
        operational and that the pipes or sewer mains portion only of 
        the facility is expected to have structural integrity, as 
        appropriate for the proposed use of the pipe, for a period of 
        ten or more years after the date of a determination or 
        certification of good operating condition under this section. 
           (b) The term "interceptor" has the meaning given it in 
        section 473.121, subdivision 23, and includes a designated 
        portion of an interceptor. 
           (c) The term "local government unit," with respect to an 
        interceptor that is a storm sewer, means a local governmental 
        unit as defined in section 473.121, subdivision 6.  The term 
        local government unit, with respect to an interceptor that is 
        not a storm sewer, means a local government unit as defined in 
        section 473.501, subdivision 3. 
           (d) The term "storm sewer" means a facility that currently 
        carries exclusively water runoff, surface water, or other 
        drainage, rather than sewage. 
           (e) The term "use as a local facility" includes use as 
        either a sanitary sewer or a storm sewer. 
           Subd. 2.  [NONMETROPOLITAN STATUS DETERMINATION.] The 
        council may determine that an interceptor is no longer needed to 
        implement the council's comprehensive plan for the collection, 
        treatment, and disposal of sewage in the metropolitan area.  If 
        the council makes the determination, it may use the procedures 
        in this section to sell, transfer, abandon, or otherwise dispose 
        of the interceptor. 
           Subd. 3.  [LOCAL BENEFIT DETERMINATION; TRANSFER TO 
        BENEFITED COMMUNITY.] (a) If the council uses the procedures in 
        this section, it must, with regard to each interceptor for which 
        the determination is made in subdivision 2, determine whether or 
        not the interceptor continues to be of benefit for use as a 
        local facility for one or more local government units.  If the 
        council determines that the interceptor does not continue to be 
        of benefit as a local facility, it must notify each local 
        government unit in which the interceptor is located, of this 
        determination. 
           (b) Such a government unit may notify the council in 
        writing within 90 days from receipt of notice that it believes 
        the interceptor provides a local benefit to the government unit 
        and that it desires to take possession of the interceptor.  The 
        council may extend the time for a government unit to provide 
        this notice.  If a government unit delivers a written notice to 
        the council in accordance with this paragraph, the council must 
        transfer the interceptor at no cost to the government unit by 
        preparing and transmitting a bill of sale for the facility, and 
        quit claim deeds for any property rights associated with the 
        facility that are no longer needed for the council's purposes.  
        Upon receipt of the bill of sale, the government unit is the 
        owner of the interceptor and thereafter responsible for its 
        operation and maintenance. 
           (c) If the council does not receive notice from a 
        government unit under paragraph (b), the council may sell, 
        transfer, abandon, or otherwise dispose of the interceptor in 
        such manner as it may deem fit. 
           Subd. 4.  [PRELIMINARY COUNCIL DETERMINATIONS; NOTICE TO 
        LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS.] If the council determines that an 
        interceptor continues to be of benefit for use as a local 
        facility for one or more local government units, it must 
        designate those units that are so benefited and the portions of 
        the interceptor that should properly be transferred to the 
        benefited units.  It must also determine whether the interceptor 
        is in good operating condition and, if not, the necessary 
        repairs, and their cost, needed to put the interceptor in good 
        operating condition.  The council must provide written notice to 
        each designated unit of the council's determinations in this 
        subdivision. 
           Subd. 5.  [CONTESTED CASE; ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL 
        REVIEW.] (a) The council's preliminary determinations under 
        subdivision 4 may be contested by a local government unit which 
        has been designated by the council under that subdivision.  The 
        unit has 90 days from receiving notice of the council's 
        determinations under subdivision 4 within which to make a 
        written request to the council for a hearing on the council's 
        determinations.  The unit in its request for hearing must 
        specify the determinations with which it disagrees and its 
        position with regard to those determinations.  If within 90 days 
        no designated unit has requested a hearing in writing, the 
        council's preliminary determinations become its final decision 
        with respect to the determinations under subdivision 4 and the 
        final decision is binding on all designated units.  If a 
        designated unit requests a hearing, the request for hearing must 
        be granted and the hearing must be conducted by the office of 
        administrative hearings in the manner provided by chapter 14 for 
        contested cases.  The subject of the hearing must extend only to 
        those council determinations under subdivision 4 for which a 
        hearing has been requested.  The council and all local 
        government units designated by the council under subdivision 4 
        are parties to the contested case proceeding. 
           (b) Charges of the office of administrative hearings must 
        be divided equally among the council and those parties who 
        requested a hearing under paragraph (a).  Otherwise, each party 
        is responsible for its own costs and expenses in the proceeding. 
           (c) After receipt of the report of the office of 
        administrative hearings, the council must make a final decision 
        with respect to the determinations in subdivision 4.  Any party 
        to the contested case proceeding who is aggrieved by the final 
        decision of the council may make a judicial appeal in the manner 
        provided in chapter 14 for contested cases. 
           Subd. 6.  [COUNCIL OPTIONS.] (a) If the council's final 
        decision after a proceeding under subdivision 5 is that the 
        interceptor does not continue to be of benefit for use as a 
        local facility, it may sell, transfer, abandon, or otherwise 
        dispose of the interceptor in such manner as it may deem fit. 
           (b) If the council's final decision is that the interceptor 
        continues to be of benefit for use as a local facility, but is 
        not in good operating condition, it may either: 
           (1) continue to operate the interceptor until sold, 
        transferred, abandoned, or otherwise disposed of in such manner 
        as it may deem fit; or 
           (2) repair the interceptor as necessary to put the 
        interceptor in good operating condition, certify that it is in 
        good operating condition, and proceed under subdivision 7. 
           (c) If the council's final decision is that the interceptor 
        continues to be of benefit for use as a local facility and is in 
        good operating condition, it must proceed under subdivision 7. 
           Subd. 7.  [TRANSFER AGREEMENT; LOCAL BENEFIT CHARGE; 
        TRANSFER TO BENEFITED COMMUNITY.] (a) This subdivision applies 
        if an interceptor designated in subdivision 2 continues to be of 
        benefit as a local facility and is determined or, after repair 
        is certified, by the council to be in good operating condition.  
           (b) The council and each local government unit that has 
        been determined to have a benefit in accordance with the 
        procedures in this section must negotiate and enter into an 
        agreement governing transfer of an interceptor that has been 
        determined to have benefit for use as a local facility.  
           (c) The agreement may provide for the council to share in 
        the cost of emergency repairs to the transferred interceptor for 
        an agreed warranty period not exceeding ten years beyond the 
        later of: 
           (1) the date of the preliminary council determination of 
        good operating condition in subdivision 4; or 
           (2) the date of the certification in subdivision 6, 
        paragraph (b), clause (2).  
           (d) The agreement may also contain arrangements between one 
        or more local government units concerning shared use, ownership, 
        operation, or maintenance of the transferred interceptor. 
           (e) If the interceptor is not a storm sewer and is not 
        transferred in its entirety to local government units, the 
        council must charge a local benefit charge for the portions of 
        the interceptor not transferred.  
           (f) The charge must begin on the later of: 
           (1) two years from the date of the determination in 
        subdivision 2; or 
           (2) the day after the completion of any contested case 
        proceeding under subdivision 5, including any judicial appeals.  
           (g) The local benefit charge must be:  
           (1) based on the costs of overhead, operation, maintenance, 
        rehabilitation, and debt service of that portion of the 
        interceptor not transferred; 
           (2) charged to all local government units which have not 
        taken ownership of their allocated portion of the interceptor; 
        and 
           (3) allocated in accordance with the final decision of the 
        council under subdivision 5.  
           (h) The local benefit charge is considered a charge payable 
        by the local government unit to the council under section 
        473.521 and must continue to be paid by the local government 
        unit until the interceptor is transferred to it. 
           (i) If the facility is a storm sewer and is not transferred 
        in its entirety to the benefited local government unit or units 
        by the later of: 
           (1) two years from the date of the determination in 
        subdivision 2; or 
           (2) the day after the completion of any contested case 
        proceeding under subdivision 5, including any judicial appeals, 
        then the facility is transferred effective on the later of the 
        dates in clauses (1) and (2), by operation of law, to the unit 
        or units determined to have a benefit in accordance with the 
        procedures under this section.  
           (j) The transfer is not dependent on an agreement between 
        the council and the local government unit or units and is at no 
        cost to the receiving unit.  
           (k) The local government unit is thereafter the owner of 
        the interceptor and responsible for its operation and 
        maintenance.  
           (l) The council must prepare and transmit to the 
        appropriate government unit or units bills of sale for the 
        facility, and quit claim deeds for any property rights 
        associated with the facility which are no longer needed for the 
        council's purposes. 
           Subd. 8.  [POWER TO OPERATE, MAINTAIN, AND REPAIR 
        FACILITY.] Until such time as an interceptor is sold, 
        transferred, abandoned, or otherwise disposed of under this 
        section, the council has all powers under this chapter to 
        operate, maintain, and repair the interceptor.  After transfer 
        of an interceptor, the council has all powers under this chapter 
        to provide emergency repairs under any agreed warranty period 
        incorporated into a transfer agreement under subdivision 7. 
           Sec. 2.  [APPLICATION.] 
           Section 1 applies in the counties of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, 
        Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington. 
           Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           This act is effective on December 31, 2002. 
           Presented to the governor March 22, 2002 
           Signed by the governor March 25, 2002, 2:15 p.m.