HF 4135

1st Engrossment - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) Posted on 03/07/2024 03:43pm

A bill for an act
relating to agriculture; extending an agricultural fertilizer research fee and program
by one year; establishing a drinking-water fee for nitrogen fertilizer and a private
well drinking-water assistance program; requiring testing of biosolids for
perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances; requiring reports; appropriating
money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2022, sections 18C.005, by adding
subdivisions; 18C.425, by adding a subdivision; 18C.70, subdivision 5; 18C.71,
subdivision 4; 18C.80, subdivision 2; 18D.301, subdivision 1; Minnesota Statutes
2023 Supplement, section 18C.425, subdivision 6; proposing coding for new law
in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 18C.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 18C.005, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

Subd. 7b.

Diammonium phosphate.

"Diammonium phosphate" or "DAP" means a
fertilizer containing 18 percent total nitrogen and 46 percent available phosphate.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 18C.005, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

Subd. 18b.

Liquid 28.

"Liquid 28" means a liquid nitrogen solution containing 28 percent
total nitrogen.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 18C.005, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

Subd. 18c.

Liquid 32.

"Liquid 32" means a liquid nitrogen solution containing 32 percent
total nitrogen.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 18C.005, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

Subd. 19b.

Monoammonium phosphate.

"Monoammonium phosphate" or "MAP"
means a fertilizer containing ten to 11 percent total nitrogen and 48 to 55 percent available
phosphate.

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 18C.005, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

Subd. 20a.

Nitrogen fertilizer.

"Nitrogen fertilizer" means any fertilizer, soil amendment,
or plant amendment totally or partially comprised of nitrogen, including but not limited to
anhydrous ammonia, urea, liquid 28, liquid 32, DAP, and MAP.

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 18C.005, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

Subd. 37a.

Urea.

"Urea" means a white crystalline solid containing 46 percent nitrogen.

Sec. 7.

Minnesota Statutes 2023 Supplement, section 18C.425, subdivision 6, is amended
to read:

Subd. 6.

Payment of inspection fee.

(a) The person who registers and distributes in the
state a specialty fertilizer, soil amendment, or plant amendment under section 18C.411 shall
pay the inspection fee to the commissioner.

(b) The person licensed under section 18C.415 who distributes a fertilizer to a person
not required to be so licensed shall pay the inspection fee to the commissioner, except as
exempted under section 18C.421, subdivision 1, paragraph (b).

(c) The person responsible for payment of the inspection fees for fertilizers, soil
amendments, or plant amendments sold and used in this state must pay the inspection fee
set under paragraph (e), and until June 30, 2024 2025, an additional 40 cents per ton, of
fertilizer, soil amendment, and plant amendment sold or distributed in this state, with a
minimum of $10 on all tonnage reports. Notwithstanding section 18C.131, the commissioner
must deposit all revenue from the additional 40 cents per ton fee in the agricultural fertilizer
research and education account in section 18C.80. Products sold or distributed to
manufacturers or exchanged between them are exempt from the inspection fee imposed by
this subdivision if the products are used exclusively for manufacturing purposes.

(d) A registrant or licensee must retain invoices showing proof of fertilizer, plant
amendment, or soil amendment distribution amounts and inspection fees paid for a period
of three years.

(e) By commissioner's order, the commissioner must set The inspection fee at no less
than 39 is 44 cents per ton and no more than until June 30, 2025, and increased to 70 cents
per ton on July 1, 2025, and thereafter. The commissioner must hold a public meeting before
increasing the fee by more than five cents per ton.

Sec. 8.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 18C.425, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

Subd. 7.

Private well drinking-water fee.

(a) For nitrogen fertilizer sold or distributed
between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2025, the person required to pay the inspection fee under
subdivision 6 must also pay to the commissioner a private well drinking-water fee of 99
cents per ton of nitrogen sold or distributed in this state, with a minimum of $10 on all
tonnage reports. Notwithstanding section 18C.131, the commissioner must deposit all
revenue from the private well drinking-water fee in the private well drinking-water assistance
account established in section 18C.90.

(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c), for anhydrous ammonia sold or distributed after
June 30, 2025, the private well drinking-water fee under paragraph (a) is increased to $1.39
per ton.

(c) Beginning July 1, 2026, and each July 1 thereafter, if total statewide sales and
distribution of nitrogen increase over the prior reporting year, the commissioner must
increase the private well drinking-water fee under paragraph (b). The commissioner must
increase the fee by an amount equal to the percentage increase in sales and distribution
year-over-year, rounded to the nearest cent, and calculated as the difference between total
statewide sales and distribution of nitrogen for the latest reporting year minus total statewide
sales and distribution of nitrogen for the prior reporting year, with this difference divided
by total statewide sales and distribution of nitrogen for the prior reporting year. If total
statewide sales and distribution of nitrogen decrease or remain constant relative to the prior
reporting year, the commissioner must not adjust the private well drinking-water fee.

Sec. 9.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 18C.70, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Expiration.

This section expires June 30, 2025 2026.

Sec. 10.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 18C.71, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Expiration.

This section expires June 30, 2025 2026.

Sec. 11.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 18C.80, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Expiration.

This section expires June 30, 2025 2026.

Sec. 12.

[18C.90] PRIVATE WELL DRINKING-WATER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

Subdivision 1.

Account; appropriation.

A private well drinking-water assistance account
is established in the agricultural fund. Money in the account, including interest earned, is
appropriated to the commissioner for aid payments to community health boards under
subdivision 2.

Subd. 2.

Aid payments.

(a) At least annually, the commissioner must make aid payments
to community health boards established under chapter 145A and located in Dodge, Fillmore,
Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha, or Winona County for purposes of assisting
eligible residents under subdivision 3.

(b) The commissioner must award proportional aid payments to eligible community
health boards based on each board's share of total private drinking-water wells in the
eight-county area with documented nitrate in excess of ten milligrams per liter, as determined
by the commissioner in consultation with the commissioners of health and the Pollution
Control Agency.

Subd. 3.

Provision of safe drinking water.

(a) For purposes of this section, "safe
drinking water" means water required for drinking, cooking, and maintaining oral hygiene
that has a nitrate level of no more than ten milligrams per liter.

(b) Community health boards must use aid payments received under subdivision 2 to
assist residents in obtaining safe drinking water when the documented level of nitrate in the
resident's private drinking-water well is more than ten milligrams per liter, with priority
given to pregnant women and children under the age of one.

(c) Community health boards must assist eligible residents in obtaining safe drinking
water through one or more of the following methods:

(1) convenient bottled water distribution or delivery;

(2) reverse osmosis treatment unit acquisition, installation, and maintenance;

(3) connection to a public water system; or

(4) another method, as determined by the commissioner of health, that provides eligible
residents with a sufficient quantity of safe drinking water.

Subd. 4.

Reports.

No later than January 15 each year, the commissioner must report
outcomes achieved under this section and any corresponding recommendations to the chairs
and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over agriculture
and health.

Sec. 13.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 18D.301, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Enforcement required.

(a) The commissioner shall enforce this chapter
and chapters 18B, 18C, and 18F.

(b) Violations of chapter 18B, 18C, or 18F or rules adopted under chapter 18B, 18C, or
18F, or section 103H.275, subdivision 2, are a violation of this chapter.

(c) Upon the request of the commissioner, county attorneys, sheriffs, and other officers
having authority in the enforcement of the general criminal laws shall take action to the
extent of their authority necessary or proper for the enforcement of this chapter or special
orders, standards, stipulations, and agreements of the commissioner.

Sec. 14. ANALYSIS AND REPORT REQUIRED; PFAS IN BIOSOLID
AGRICULTURAL FERTILIZER.

Pursuant to Minnesota Rules, part 7041.1500, subpart 3, and until December 31, 2024,
the commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency must require sewage sludge prepared
for application to agricultural land in Minnesota to be analyzed for the presence of
perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). No later than February 1, 2025, the
commissioner must report the commissioner's findings and recommendations, including
but not limited to an appropriate ceiling concentration and cumulative pollutant loading
rate, to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over agriculture and the environment.

Sec. 15. EFFECTIVE DATE.

Sections 1 to 14 are effective the day following final enactment.