1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to public utilities; providing for 
  1.3             notification to property owners when trees are to be 
  1.4             trimmed or removed; providing penalties; proposing 
  1.5             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 216B.
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [216B.70] [TREE TRIMMING AND REMOVAL BY A 
  1.8   UTILITY.] 
  1.9      (a) A public utility must ensure that a property owner is 
  1.10  notified before a tree on the owner's property is trimmed or 
  1.11  removed by the utility or by the utility's agent.  The 
  1.12  notification must inform the property owner that the trimming or 
  1.13  removal will occur unless the owner contacts the utility or the 
  1.14  utility's agent before a specified time to request a written 
  1.15  agreement with respect to the trimming.  If the owner makes such 
  1.16  a request, a representative of the utility or the utility's 
  1.17  agent must arrange to visit the property at a time agreed to by 
  1.18  the property owner.  The representative of the utility or the 
  1.19  utility's agent must then enter into a written agreement, signed 
  1.20  by a witness, with the property owner as to which trees will be 
  1.21  trimmed or removed, the extent of the trimming, and when the 
  1.22  trimming or removal will occur. 
  1.23     (b) If the utility or the utility's agent fails to enter 
  1.24  into an agreement after a property owner's request and proceeds 
  1.25  to trim the tree, or if the terms of the agreement are violated, 
  2.1   the utility has committed trespass and is liable for damages 
  2.2   under section 561.04. 
  2.3      (c) At the owner's request, the utility or the utility's 
  2.4   agent must remove all brush, stumps, tree parts, and other 
  2.5   debris related to the trimming or removal, regardless of whether 
  2.6   the property owner has requested the written agreement described 
  2.7   in paragraph (a). 
  2.8      (d) If the utility or the utility's agent fails to trim the 
  2.9   tree to the property owner's satisfaction, the utility or the 
  2.10  utility's agent must, at the option of the property owner: 
  2.11     (1) remove the tree at no expense to the property owner; or 
  2.12     (2) pay a tree trimming service of the owner's choice to 
  2.13  retrim the tree.