1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to agriculture; expanding the definition of
1.3 	shade tree; appropriating money; amending Minnesota
1.4 	Statutes 2004, section 18G.16, subdivision 1.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 18G.16,
1.7 	subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.8 		Subdivision 1.Definitions.  (a) The definitions in this
1.9 	subdivision apply to this section.
1.10 	(b) "Metropolitan area" means the counties of Anoka,
1.11 	Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington.
1.12 	(c) "Municipality" means a home rule charter or statutory
1.13 	city or a town located in the metropolitan area that exercises
1.14 	municipal powers under section 368.01 or any general or special
1.15 	law; a special park district organized under chapter 398; a
1.16 	special-purpose park and recreation board organized under the
1.17 	city charter of a city of the first class located in the
1.18 	metropolitan area; a county in the metropolitan area for the
1.19 	purposes of county-owned property or any portion of a county
1.20 	located outside the geographic boundaries of a city or a town
1.21 	exercising municipal powers; and a municipality or county
1.22 	located outside the metropolitan area with an approved disease
1.23 	control program.
1.24 	(d) "Shade tree disease" means Dutch elm disease, oak wilt,
1.25 	or any disorder affecting the growth and life of shade trees.
2.1 	(e) "Wood utilization or disposal system" means facilities,
2.2 	equipment, or systems used for the removal and disposal of
2.3 	diseased shade trees, including collection, transportation,
2.4 	processing, or storage of wood and assisting in the recovery of
2.5 	materials or energy from wood.
2.6 	(f) "Approved disease control program" means a municipal
2.7 	plan approved by the commissioner to control shade tree disease.
2.8 	(g) "Disease control area" means an area approved by the
2.9 	commissioner within which a municipality will conduct an
2.10 	approved disease control program.
2.11 	(h) "Sanitation" means the identification, inspection,
2.12 	disruption of a common root system, girdling, trimming, removal,
2.13 	and disposal of dead or diseased wood of shade trees, including
2.14 	subsidies for trees removed pursuant to subdivision 4, on public
2.15 	or private property within a disease control area.
2.16 	(i) "Reforestation" means the replacement of shade trees
2.17 	removed from public property and the planting of a tree as part
2.18 	of a municipal disease control program.  For purposes of this
2.19 	paragraph, "public property" includes private property within
2.20 	five feet of the boulevard or street terrace in a city that
2.21 	enacted an ordinance on or before January 1, 1977, that
2.22 	prohibits or requires a permit for the planting of trees in the
2.23 	public right-of-way.
2.24 	(j) "Shade tree" means a woody perennial grown primarily
2.25 	for aesthetic or environmental purposes with minimal to residual
2.26 	timber value.

2.27 	Sec. 2. APPROPRIATION.
 2.28 	$15,000,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the
2.29 	commissioner of agriculture for the shade tree pest and disease
2.30 	control program under Minnesota Statutes, section 18G.16.