1998 Minnesota Statutes

     115A.906 Waste tire nuisance; abatement. 

    Subdivision 1.    Nuisance.  A tire dump unreasonably 
 endangers the health, safety, and comfort of individuals and the 
 public and is a nuisance.  

    Subd. 2.    Abatement.  The office may abate a nuisance 
 by processing and removing the tires.  Before taking any action 
 to abate a nuisance, the office shall give notice to the tire 
 collector responsible for the nuisance that the tires to be 
 processed and removed constitute a nuisance and demand that the 
 tires be shredded or chipped or removed within a specified 
 period.  Failure of the tire collector to take the required 
 action within the specified period shall result in the issuance 
 of an office order to abate the nuisance.  The abatement order 
 may include entering the property where the nuisance is located, 
 taking tires into public custody, and providing for their 
 processing and removal.  The office order may be enforced 
 pursuant to the provisions of sections 115.071 and 116.072.  

    Subd. 2a.    Emergency abatement.  (a) The commissioner 
 may take emergency action to abate a waste tire nuisance without 
 following the procedures of subdivision 2 if the commissioner 
 determines that the nuisance constitutes a clear and immediate 
 danger of uncontrollable fire or other hazard requiring 
 immediate action to prevent, minimize, or mitigate damage to the 
 public health and welfare or the environment.  

    (b) Before taking an action under this subdivision, the 
 commissioner shall make all reasonable efforts, taking into 
 account the urgency of the situation and any historical pattern 
 of responses by the tire collector to any past problems or 
 abatement orders, to follow as much of the procedure in 
 subdivision 2 as is practical.  

    (c) Emergency action under this subdivision may include all 
 of the activities authorized for an abatement order. 

    Subd. 3.    Recovery of expenses.  Any reasonable and 
 necessary expenses incurred by the office for abatement costs, 
 and administrative and legal expenses, may be recovered in a 
 civil action brought by the attorney general against any tire 
 collector responsible for the nuisance.  The office's 
 certification of expenses shall be prima facie evidence that the 
 expenses are reasonable and necessary.  

    Subd. 4.    Other abatement.  This section does not 
 change the existing authority of a person or political 
 subdivision to abate a tire dump nuisance.  The office may 
 reimburse a person or political subdivision for the costs of 
 abatement.  

    HIST: 1984 c 654 art 2 s 95; 1988 c 685 s 45; 1989 c 325 s 17; 
 1989 c 335 art 1 s 269; 1991 c 347 art 1 s 18