2006 Minnesota Statutes

473.614 ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.
    Subdivision 1. Capital plan; environmental assessments. The commission shall prepare
an assessment of the environmental effects of projects in the commission's seven-year capital
improvement program and plan at each airport owned and operated by the commission. The
assessment must examine the cumulative environmental effects at each airport of the projects
at that airport, considered collectively. The commission need not prepare an assessment for an
airport when the capital improvement program and plan for that airport has not changed from
the one adopted the previous year or when the changes in the program and plan will have only
trivial environmental effects.
    Subd. 2. Capital program; environmental assessment worksheets. (a) The commission
shall prepare environmental assessment worksheets under chapter 116D, and rules issued pursuant
thereto, on the environmental effects of projects in the commission's capital improvement
program at each airport owned and operated by the commission. The scope of the environmental
assessment worksheets required by this section is limited to only those projects in the program for
an airport that meet all of the following conditions:
(1) The project is scheduled in the program for the succeeding calendar period.
(2) The project is scheduled in the program for the expenditure of $5,000,000 or more at
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport or $2,000,000 or more at any other airport.
(3) The project involves: (i) the construction of a new or expanded structure for handling
passengers, cargo, vehicles, or aircraft; or (ii) the construction of a new or the extension of an
existing runway or taxiway.
After adopting its capital program, the commission may amend the program by adding or
changing a project without amending or redoing the worksheets required by this subdivision, if
the project to be added or the change to be made is one that the commission could not reasonably
have foreseen at the time that it completed the worksheets.
(b) For the purpose of determining the need for an environmental impact statement, the
commission shall consider the projects included in the scope of a worksheet as a single project
and shall assess their environmental effects collectively and cumulatively. The commission's
decision on whether an environmental impact statement is needed must be based on the worksheet
and comments. The commission may not base a decision that an environmental impact statement
is not needed on exemptions of projects in state or federal rules. The commission is not required
to prepare an environmental impact statement on an individual project, or to include a project in
the scope of an environmental impact statement that the commission determines is needed, if the
project is shown in the worksheet to have trivial environmental effects or if an environmental
impact statement on the project has been determined to be adequate under state law.
(c) The commission may incorporate into worksheets information from the commission's
long-range plans, environmental assessments prepared under subdivision 1, or other
environmental documents prepared on projects under state or federal law.
    Subd. 2a. Environmental impact report. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision 2,
the commission shall prepare a report documenting the environmental effects of projects included
in the MSP 2010 long-term comprehensive plan. Environmental effects of and costs associated
with, noise impacts, noise mitigation measures, and land use compatibility measures must
be evaluated according to alternative assumptions of 600,000, 650,000, 700,000, and 750,000
aircraft operations at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
    Subd. 3. Procedure. (a) The environmental assessments required under subdivision 1 and
the environmental assessment worksheets required under subdivision 2 must be prepared each
year before the commission adopts its capital improvement plan and program.
(b) The commission shall hold a public hearing on each environmental assessment and
worksheet before adopting the capital improvement plan and program. The commission may
consolidate hearings.
(c) The initial environmental assessments and worksheets must be completed before the
commission adopts its capital improvement plan and program for calendar years 1989 to 1995,
but the initial assessments and worksheets must extend to and incorporate projects under
construction in calendar year 1988. A project that is under construction in 1988 may proceed,
but the project must be included in the environmental review required by this section as if the
project were scheduled for the succeeding calendar year. The commission is not required to
prepare an environmental impact statement on an individual project, or to include a project in the
scope of an environmental impact statement that the commission determines is needed, if: (1)
the project is under construction in 1988, or (2) on April 27, 1988, the project is included in the
commission's capital program for 1988 and 1989 and an environmental review is under way on
the project individually under state or federal law.
    Subd. 4. Other environmental review. Nothing in this section limits the responsibility of
the commission or any other governmental unit or agency, under any other law or regulation, to
conduct environmental review of any project, decision, or recommendation, except that the
environmental assessment worksheets prepared under subdivision 2 satisfy the requirements
under state law or rule for environmental assessment worksheets on individual projects covered
by the worksheets prepared under subdivision 2.
History: 1988 c 664 s 2; 1996 c 464 art 3 s 11