2006 Minnesota Statutes

115C.08 PETROLEUM TANK FUND.
    Subdivision 1. Revenue sources. Revenue from the following sources must be deposited in
the state treasury and credited to a petroleum tank fund:
(1) the proceeds of the fee imposed by subdivision 3;
(2) money recovered by the state under sections 115C.04, 115C.05, and 116.491, including
administrative expenses, civil penalties, and money paid under an agreement, stipulation, or
settlement;
(3) interest attributable to investment of money in the fund;
(4) money received by the board and agency in the form of gifts, grants other than federal
grants, reimbursements, or appropriations from any source intended to be used for the purposes of
the fund;
(5) fees charged for the operation of the tank installer certification program established
under section 116.491; and
(6) money obtained from the return of reimbursements, civil penalties, or other board
action under this chapter.
    Subd. 2. Imposition of fee. The board shall notify the commissioner of revenue if the
unencumbered balance of the fund falls below $4,000,000, and within 60 days after receiving
notice from the board, the commissioner of revenue shall impose the fee established in subdivision
3 on the use of a tank for four calendar months, with payment to be submitted with each monthly
distributor tax return.
    Subd. 3. Petroleum tank release cleanup fee. A petroleum tank release cleanup fee is
imposed on the use of tanks that contain petroleum products defined in section 296A.01. On
products other than gasoline, the fee must be paid in the manner provided in section 296A.15 by
the first licensed distributor receiving the product in Minnesota, as defined in section 296A.01.
When the product is gasoline, the distributor responsible for payment of the gasoline tax is also
responsible for payment of the petroleum tank cleanup fee. The fee must be imposed as required
under subdivision 2, at a rate of $20 per 1,000 gallons of petroleum products, rounded to the
nearest 1,000 gallons. A distributor who fails to pay the fee imposed under this section is subject
to the penalties provided in section 296A.22.
    Subd. 4. Expenditures. (a) Money in the fund may only be spent:
(1) to administer the petroleum tank release cleanup program established in this chapter;
(2) for agency administrative costs under sections 116.46 to 116.50, sections 115C.03 to
115C.06, and costs of corrective action taken by the agency under section 115C.03, including
investigations;
(3) for costs of recovering expenses of corrective actions under section 115C.04;
(4) for training, certification, and rulemaking under sections 116.46 to 116.50;
(5) for agency administrative costs of enforcing rules governing the construction, installation,
operation, and closure of aboveground and underground petroleum storage tanks;
(6) for reimbursement of the environmental response, compensation, and compliance
account under subdivision 5 and section 115B.26, subdivision 4;
(7) for administrative and staff costs as set by the board to administer the petroleum tank
release program established in this chapter;
(8) for corrective action performance audits under section 115C.093;
(9) for contamination cleanup grants, as provided in paragraph (c); and
(10) to assess and remove abandoned underground storage tanks under section 115C.094
and, if a release is discovered, to pay for the specific consultant and contractor services costs
necessary to complete the tank removal project, including, but not limited to, excavation soil
sampling, groundwater sampling, soil disposal, and completion of an excavation report.
(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c), money in the fund is appropriated to the board to
make reimbursements or payments under this section.
(c) $6,200,000 is annually appropriated from the fund to the commissioner of employment
and economic development for contamination cleanup grants under section 116J.554. Of
this amount, the commissioner may spend up to $180,000 annually for administration of the
contamination cleanup grant program. The appropriation does not cancel and is available until
expended. The appropriation shall not be withdrawn from the fund nor the fund balance reduced
until the funds are requested by the commissioner of employment and economic development. The
commissioner shall schedule requests for withdrawals from the fund to minimize the necessity
to impose the fee authorized by subdivision 2. Unless otherwise provided, the appropriation
in this paragraph may be used for:
(1) project costs at a qualifying site if a portion of the cleanup costs are attributable to
petroleum contamination; and
(2) the costs of performing contamination investigation if there is a reasonable basis to
suspect the contamination is attributable to petroleum.
    Subd. 5. Account transfer. The board shall authorize the commissioner of finance to transfer
to the environmental response, compensation, and compliance account the amount requested by
the Pollution Control Agency under section 115B.26, subdivision 4. Transfer of the amount
must be made at the earliest practical date after authorization by the board. If the unencumbered
balance in the account is less than $2,000,000, the transfer must be made at the earliest practical
date after the unencumbered balance in the account exceeds that amount.
History: 1987 c 389 s 8; 1989 c 209 art 1 s 10; 1989 c 226 s 2; 1989 c 325 s 46,47; 1989 c
335 art 4 s 45,106; 1990 c 501 s 3,4; 1991 c 199 art 1 s 28; 1992 c 597 s 2; 1993 c 341 art 1
s 7-10; 1995 c 186 s 119; 1995 c 220 s 130; 1995 c 254 art 1 s 68-70; 1996 c 397 s 1; 1997 c
200 art 2 s 4; 1998 c 299 s 30; 1998 c 408 s 1; 1999 c 203 s 1; 2002 c 379 art 2 s 21,22; 2003 c
128 art 1 s 131; art 13 s 4; 1Sp2003 c 4 s 1