Minnesota Legislature
Office of the Revisor of Statutes
2007 Minnesota Statutes
This is an historical version of this statute chapter. Also view the most recent published version.
116D.03 ACTION BY STATE AGENCIES.
Subdivision 1. Requirement. The legislature authorizes and directs that, to the fullest extent
practicable the policies, rules and public laws of the state shall be interpreted and administered in
accordance with the policies set forth in sections 116D.01 to 116D.06.
Subd. 2. Duties. All departments and agencies of the state government shall:
(1) on a continuous basis, seek to strengthen relationships between state, regional, local and
federal-state environmental planning, development and management programs;
(2) utilize a systematic, interdisciplinary approach that will insure the integrated use of the
natural and social sciences and the environmental arts in planning and in decision making which
may have an impact on the environment; as an aid in accomplishing this purpose there shall be
established advisory councils or other forums for consultation with persons in appropriate fields
of specialization so as to ensure that the latest and most authoritative findings will be considered
in administrative and regulatory decision making as quickly and as amply as possible;
(3) identify and develop methods and procedures that will ensure that environmental
amenities and values, whether quantified or not, will be given at least equal consideration in
decision making along with economic and technical considerations;
(4) study, develop, and describe appropriate alternatives to recommended courses of action
in any proposal which involves unresolved conflicts concerning alternative uses of available
resources;
(5) recognize the worldwide and long range character of environmental problems and, where
consistent with the policy of the state, lend appropriate support to initiatives, resolutions, and
programs designed to maximize interstate, national and international cooperation in anticipating
and preventing a decline in the quality of the world environment;
(6) make available to the federal government, counties, municipalities, institutions and
individuals, information useful in restoring, maintaining, and enhancing the quality of the
environment, and in meeting the policies of the state as set forth in Laws 1973, chapter 412;
(7) initiate the gathering and utilization of ecological information in the planning and
development of resource oriented projects; and
(8) undertake, contract for or fund such research as is needed in order to determine and
clarify effects by known or suspected pollutants which may be detrimental to human health or
to the environment, as well as to evaluate the feasibility, safety and environmental effects of
various methods of dealing with pollutants.
History: 1973 c 412 s 3; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1986 c 444
Subdivision 1. Requirement. The legislature authorizes and directs that, to the fullest extent
practicable the policies, rules and public laws of the state shall be interpreted and administered in
accordance with the policies set forth in sections 116D.01 to 116D.06.
Subd. 2. Duties. All departments and agencies of the state government shall:
(1) on a continuous basis, seek to strengthen relationships between state, regional, local and
federal-state environmental planning, development and management programs;
(2) utilize a systematic, interdisciplinary approach that will insure the integrated use of the
natural and social sciences and the environmental arts in planning and in decision making which
may have an impact on the environment; as an aid in accomplishing this purpose there shall be
established advisory councils or other forums for consultation with persons in appropriate fields
of specialization so as to ensure that the latest and most authoritative findings will be considered
in administrative and regulatory decision making as quickly and as amply as possible;
(3) identify and develop methods and procedures that will ensure that environmental
amenities and values, whether quantified or not, will be given at least equal consideration in
decision making along with economic and technical considerations;
(4) study, develop, and describe appropriate alternatives to recommended courses of action
in any proposal which involves unresolved conflicts concerning alternative uses of available
resources;
(5) recognize the worldwide and long range character of environmental problems and, where
consistent with the policy of the state, lend appropriate support to initiatives, resolutions, and
programs designed to maximize interstate, national and international cooperation in anticipating
and preventing a decline in the quality of the world environment;
(6) make available to the federal government, counties, municipalities, institutions and
individuals, information useful in restoring, maintaining, and enhancing the quality of the
environment, and in meeting the policies of the state as set forth in Laws 1973, chapter 412;
(7) initiate the gathering and utilization of ecological information in the planning and
development of resource oriented projects; and
(8) undertake, contract for or fund such research as is needed in order to determine and
clarify effects by known or suspected pollutants which may be detrimental to human health or
to the environment, as well as to evaluate the feasibility, safety and environmental effects of
various methods of dealing with pollutants.
History: 1973 c 412 s 3; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1986 c 444
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes