2007 Minnesota Statutes

299F.631 INSPECTION FEE; ASSESSMENT, RULES.
    Subdivision 1. Assessment and deposit of fee. From each pipeline operator subject to the
intrastate pipeline inspection authority under sections 299F.56 to 299F.641, the commissioner
shall assess and collect an inspection fee in an amount calculated under subdivisions 2 and 4.
The assessment of the inspection fee must be made no fewer than 30 days after the end of the
quarter. If an operator does not pay the fee within 60 days after the assessment was mailed, the
commissioner may impose a delinquency fee of ten percent of the quarterly inspection fee and
interest at the rate of 15 percent per year on the portion of the fee not paid. Fees collected under
this section must be credited to the pipeline safety account.
    Subd. 2. Calculation of fee. (a) For each quarter that an inspection fee is to be assessed, the
commissioner shall calculate the total actual expenses and obligations incurred by the Office of
Pipeline Safety in implementing sections 299F.56 to 299F.641. The calculation must not include:
(1) expenses that will be reimbursed by the federal government;
(2) expenses attributable to follow-up inspections necessitated by the failure of a pipeline
facility to comply with safety standards;
(3) expenses attributable to investigations of specific pipeline facilities;
(4) expenses attributable to inspections of newly constructed pipelines over 2,000 feet
in length;
(5) expenses attributable to the inspection of facilities carrying liquefied natural gas, and
hazardous liquids;
(6) expenses attributable to the inspection of facilities carrying liquefied petroleum gas, until
the commissioner adopts a rule providing for metered billing of these facilities; and
(7) expenses attributable to seeking and maintaining federal interstate agent status.
(b) The commissioner shall assess each pipeline operator for a pro rata share of the expenses
and obligations calculated under paragraph (a), based on the number of meters in service on
the preceding December 31.
(c) The expenses and obligations described in paragraph (a), clauses (2), (3), (4), and (5),
must be directly charged to the appropriate pipeline operators on a quarterly basis. The expenses
and obligations described in paragraph (a), clause (6), must be directly charged to the appropriate
pipeline operators on a quarterly basis until the commissioner adopts a rule providing for metered
billing of facilities carrying liquefied petroleum gas.
    Subd. 3. Rules. The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement this section.
    Subd. 4. Support costs. The commissioner shall calculate the general support costs of the
Office of Pipeline Safety for the preceding quarter, and add to the inspection fee calculated under
subdivision 2 the share of those costs that is proportionate to the amount of time spent by the
office in implementing sections 299F.56 to 299F.641 with respect to that type of pipeline facility.
History: 1988 c 624 s 17; 1989 c 244 s 16