| 1 | 1 | | 1.1 A bill for an act |
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| 2 | 2 | | 1.2 relating to environment; modifying provisions for permitting efficiency; amending |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1.3 Minnesota Statutes 2024, sections 115.542; 116.03, subdivision 2b; 116.07, |
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| 4 | 4 | | 1.4 subdivision 4a. |
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| 5 | 5 | | 1.5BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: |
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| 6 | 6 | | 1.6 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 115.542, is amended to read: |
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| 7 | 7 | | 1.7 115.542 NOTICE REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLICLY OWNED WASTEWATER |
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| 8 | 8 | | 1.8TREATMENT FACILITIES. |
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| 9 | 9 | | 1.9 Subdivision 1.Definitions.For the purpose of this section, the following terms have |
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| 10 | 10 | | 1.10the meanings given: |
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| 11 | 11 | | 1.11 (1) "permit" means a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit |
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| 12 | 12 | | 1.12or state disposal system (SDS) permit; and |
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| 13 | 13 | | 1.13 (2) "permit applicant" means a person or entity submitting an application for a new |
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| 14 | 14 | | 1.14permit or renewal, modification, or revocation of an existing permit for a publicly owned |
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| 15 | 15 | | 1.15wastewater treatment facility. |
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| 16 | 16 | | 1.16 Subd. 2.Applicability.This section applies to all draft permits and permits for publicly |
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| 17 | 17 | | 1.17owned wastewater treatment facilities for which the commissioner of the Pollution Control |
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| 18 | 18 | | 1.18Agency makes a preliminary determination whether to issue or deny. |
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| 19 | 19 | | 1.19 Subd. 3.Prepublic notice review requirements.Unless waived by the permit applicant, |
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| 20 | 20 | | 1.20the commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency must provide a permit applicant with a |
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| 21 | 21 | | 1.21copy of the draft permit and any fact sheets required by agency rules at least 30 days before |
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| 22 | 22 | | 1.22the distribution and public notice of the permit application and preliminary determination. |
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| 23 | 23 | | 1Section 1. |
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| 24 | 24 | | REVISOR EB/ES 25-0035401/15/25 |
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| 25 | 25 | | State of Minnesota |
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| 26 | 26 | | This Document can be made available |
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| 27 | 27 | | in alternative formats upon request |
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| 28 | 28 | | HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 29 | 29 | | H. F. No. 1208 |
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| 30 | 30 | | NINETY-FOURTH SESSION |
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| 31 | 31 | | Authored by Fischer02/19/2025 |
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| 32 | 32 | | The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy 2.1 Subd. 4.Permitting efficiency Public notice requirements.The commissioner must |
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| 33 | 33 | | 2.2prepare and issue a public notice of a completed application and the commissioner's |
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| 34 | 34 | | 2.3preliminary determination as to whether the permit should be issued or denied. The public |
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| 35 | 35 | | 2.4comment period must be at least 60 days for permit applications under this section but may |
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| 36 | 36 | | 2.5be reduced to 30 days if: |
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| 37 | 37 | | 2.6 (1) a request for the reduction is made by the permit applicant; and |
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| 38 | 38 | | 2.7 (2) the commissioner approves the request based on consideration of public or Tribal |
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| 39 | 39 | | 2.8interest in the permit action. |
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| 40 | 40 | | 2.9 Subd. 5.Permitting efficiency.Notwithstanding section 116.03, it is the goal of the |
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| 41 | 41 | | 2.10state that tier 2 permits for publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities be issued or |
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| 42 | 42 | | 2.11denied within 210 days following submission of a permit application. |
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| 43 | 43 | | 2.12 Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 116.03, subdivision 2b, is amended to read: |
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| 44 | 44 | | 2.13 Subd. 2b.Permitting efficiency.(a) It is the goal of the state that environmental and |
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| 45 | 45 | | 2.14resource management permits be issued or denied within 90 days for tier 1 permits or 150 |
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| 46 | 46 | | 2.15days for tier 2 permits following submission of a permit application. The commissioner of |
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| 47 | 47 | | 2.16the Pollution Control Agency shall establish management systems designed to achieve the |
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| 48 | 48 | | 2.17goal. For the purposes of this section, "tier 1 permits" are permits that do not require |
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| 49 | 49 | | 2.18individualized actions or public comment periods, and "tier 2 permits" are permits that |
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| 50 | 50 | | 2.19require individualized actions or public comment periods. |
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| 51 | 51 | | 2.20 (b) The commissioner shall prepare an annual permitting efficiency report that includes |
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| 52 | 52 | | 2.21statistics on meeting the goal in paragraph (a) and the criteria for tier 2 by permit categories. |
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| 53 | 53 | | 2.22The report is due August 1 each year. For permit applications that have not met the goal, |
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| 54 | 54 | | 2.23the report must state the reasons for not meeting the goal. In stating the reasons for not |
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| 55 | 55 | | 2.24meeting the goal, the commissioner shall separately identify delays caused by the |
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| 56 | 56 | | 2.25responsiveness of the proposer, lack of staff, scientific or technical disagreements, or the |
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| 57 | 57 | | 2.26level of public engagement. The report must specify the number of days from initial |
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| 58 | 58 | | 2.27submission of the application to the day of determination that the application is complete. |
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| 59 | 59 | | 2.28The report must aggregate the data for the year and assess whether program or system |
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| 60 | 60 | | 2.29changes are necessary to achieve the goal. The report must be posted on the agency's website |
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| 61 | 61 | | 2.30and submitted to the governor and the chairs and ranking minority members of the house |
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| 62 | 62 | | 2.31of representatives and senate committees having jurisdiction over environment policy and |
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| 63 | 63 | | 2.32finance. |
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| 64 | 64 | | 2Sec. 2. |
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| 65 | 65 | | REVISOR EB/ES 25-0035401/15/25 3.1 (c) The commissioner shall allow electronic submission of environmental review and |
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| 66 | 66 | | 3.2permit documents to the agency. |
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| 67 | 67 | | 3.3 (d) Within 30 business days of application for a permit subject to paragraph (a), the |
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| 68 | 68 | | 3.4commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency shall notify the permit applicant, in writing, |
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| 69 | 69 | | 3.5whether the application is complete or incomplete. If the commissioner determines that an |
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| 70 | 70 | | 3.6application is incomplete, the notice to the applicant must enumerate all deficiencies, citing |
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| 71 | 71 | | 3.7specific provisions of the applicable rules and statutes, and advise the applicant on how the |
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| 72 | 72 | | 3.8deficiencies can be remedied. If the commissioner determines that the application is complete, |
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| 73 | 73 | | 3.9the notice must confirm the application's tier 1 or tier 2 permit status. If the commissioner |
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| 74 | 74 | | 3.10believes that a complete application for a tier 2 construction permit cannot be issued within |
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| 75 | 75 | | 3.11the 150-day goal, the commissioner must provide notice to the applicant with the |
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| 76 | 76 | | 3.12commissioner's notice that the application is complete and, upon request of the applicant, |
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| 77 | 77 | | 3.13provide the permit applicant with a schedule estimating when the agency will begin drafting |
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| 78 | 78 | | 3.14the permit and issue the public notice of the draft permit. This paragraph does not apply to |
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| 79 | 79 | | 3.15an application for a permit that is subject to a grant or loan agreement under chapter 446A. |
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| 80 | 80 | | 3.16 (e) If, after notifying the permit applicant that the application is complete, the |
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| 81 | 81 | | 3.17commissioner determines that additional information is needed, the commissioner must |
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| 82 | 82 | | 3.18notify the applicant. Upon notice under this paragraph, counting days toward the 90- or |
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| 83 | 83 | | 3.19150-day goal described in paragraph (a) stops until the applicant has responded with the |
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| 84 | 84 | | 3.20additional information. Once the applicant has responded with all the additional information |
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| 85 | 85 | | 3.21required, counting resumes from where it stopped. The applicant has 30 business days to |
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| 86 | 86 | | 3.22provide the additional information to the commissioner, but the commissioner may extend |
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| 87 | 87 | | 3.23the time upon the applicant's request. |
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| 88 | 88 | | 3.24 (e) (f) For purposes of this subdivision, "permit professional" means an individual not |
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| 89 | 89 | | 3.25employed by the Pollution Control Agency who: |
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| 90 | 90 | | 3.26 (1) has a professional license issued by the state of Minnesota in the subject area of the |
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| 91 | 91 | | 3.27permit; |
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| 92 | 92 | | 3.28 (2) has at least ten years of experience in the subject area of the permit; and |
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| 93 | 93 | | 3.29 (3) abides by the duty of candor applicable to employees of the Pollution Control Agency |
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| 94 | 94 | | 3.30under agency rules and complies with all applicable requirements under chapter 326. |
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| 95 | 95 | | 3.31 (f) (g) Upon the agency's request, an applicant relying on a permit professional must |
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| 96 | 96 | | 3.32participate in a meeting with the agency before submitting an application: |
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| 97 | 97 | | 3Sec. 2. |
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| 98 | 98 | | REVISOR EB/ES 25-0035401/15/25 4.1 (1) at least two weeks prior to the preapplication meeting, the applicant must submit at |
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| 99 | 99 | | 4.2least the following: |
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| 100 | 100 | | 4.3 (i) project description, including, but not limited to, scope of work, primary emissions |
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| 101 | 101 | | 4.4points, discharge outfalls, and water intake points; |
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| 102 | 102 | | 4.5 (ii) location of the project, including county, municipality, and location on the site; |
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| 103 | 103 | | 4.6 (iii) business schedule for project completion; and |
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| 104 | 104 | | 4.7 (iv) other information requested by the agency at least four weeks prior to the scheduled |
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| 105 | 105 | | 4.8meeting; and |
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| 106 | 106 | | 4.9 (2) during the preapplication meeting, the agency shall provide for the applicant at least |
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| 107 | 107 | | 4.10the following: |
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| 108 | 108 | | 4.11 (i) an overview of the permit review program; |
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| 109 | 109 | | 4.12 (ii) a determination of which specific application or applications will be necessary to |
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| 110 | 110 | | 4.13complete the project; |
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| 111 | 111 | | 4.14 (iii) a statement notifying the applicant if the specific permit being sought requires a |
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| 112 | 112 | | 4.15mandatory public hearing or comment period; |
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| 113 | 113 | | 4.16 (iv) a review of the timetable established in the permit review program for the specific |
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| 114 | 114 | | 4.17permit being sought; and |
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| 115 | 115 | | 4.18 (v) a determination of what information must be included in the application, including |
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| 116 | 116 | | 4.19a description of any required modeling or testing. |
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| 117 | 117 | | 4.20 (g) (h) The applicant may select a permit professional to undertake the preparation of |
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| 118 | 118 | | 4.21the permit application and draft permit. |
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| 119 | 119 | | 4.22 (h) (i) If a preapplication meeting was held, the agency shall, within seven business days |
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| 120 | 120 | | 4.23of receipt of an application, notify the applicant and submitting permit professional that the |
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| 121 | 121 | | 4.24application is complete or is denied, specifying the deficiencies of the application. |
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| 122 | 122 | | 4.25 (i) (j) Upon receipt of notice that the application is complete, the permit professional |
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| 123 | 123 | | 4.26shall submit to the agency a timetable for submitting a draft permit. The permit professional |
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| 124 | 124 | | 4.27shall submit a draft permit on or before the date provided in the timetable. Within 60 days |
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| 125 | 125 | | 4.28after the close of the public comment period, the commissioner shall notify the applicant |
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| 126 | 126 | | 4.29whether the permit can be issued. |
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| 127 | 127 | | 4.30 (j) (k) Nothing in this section shall be construed to modify: |
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| 128 | 128 | | 4Sec. 2. |
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| 129 | 129 | | REVISOR EB/ES 25-0035401/15/25 5.1 (1) any requirement of law that is necessary to retain federal delegation to or assumption |
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| 130 | 130 | | 5.2by the state; or |
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| 131 | 131 | | 5.3 (2) the authority to implement a federal law or program. |
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| 132 | 132 | | 5.4 (k) (l) The permit application and draft permit shall identify or include as an appendix |
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| 133 | 133 | | 5.5all studies and other sources of information used to substantiate the analysis contained in |
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| 134 | 134 | | 5.6the permit application and draft permit. The commissioner shall request additional studies, |
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| 135 | 135 | | 5.7if needed, and the permit applicant shall submit all additional studies and information |
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| 136 | 136 | | 5.8necessary for the commissioner to perform the commissioner's responsibility to review, |
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| 137 | 137 | | 5.9modify, and determine the completeness of the application and approve the draft permit. |
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| 138 | 138 | | 5.10 Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 116.07, subdivision 4a, is amended to read: |
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| 139 | 139 | | 5.11 Subd. 4a.Permits.(a) The Pollution Control Agency may issue, continue in effect or |
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| 140 | 140 | | 5.12deny permits, under such conditions as it may prescribe for the prevention of pollution, for |
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| 141 | 141 | | 5.13the emission of air contaminants, or for the installation or operation of any emission facility, |
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| 142 | 142 | | 5.14air contaminant treatment facility, treatment facility, potential air contaminant storage |
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| 143 | 143 | | 5.15facility, or storage facility, or any part thereof, or for the sources or emissions of noise |
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| 144 | 144 | | 5.16pollution. |
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| 145 | 145 | | 5.17 (b) The Pollution Control Agency may also issue, continue in effect or deny permits, |
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| 146 | 146 | | 5.18under such conditions as it may prescribe for the prevention of pollution, for the storage, |
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| 147 | 147 | | 5.19collection, transportation, processing, or disposal of waste, or for the installation or operation |
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| 148 | 148 | | 5.20of any system or facility, or any part thereof, related to the storage, collection, transportation, |
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| 149 | 149 | | 5.21processing, or disposal of waste. |
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| 150 | 150 | | 5.22 (c) The agency may not issue a permit to a facility without analyzing and considering |
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| 151 | 151 | | 5.23the cumulative levels and effects of past and current environmental pollution from all sources |
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| 152 | 152 | | 5.24on the environment and residents of the geographic area within which the facility's emissions |
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| 153 | 153 | | 5.25are likely to be deposited, provided that the facility is located in a community in a city of |
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| 154 | 154 | | 5.26the first class in Hennepin County that meets all of the following conditions: |
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| 155 | 155 | | 5.27 (1) is within a half mile of a site designated by the federal government as an EPA |
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| 156 | 156 | | 5.28superfund site due to residential arsenic contamination; |
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| 157 | 157 | | 5.29 (2) a majority of the population are low-income persons of color and American Indians; |
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| 158 | 158 | | 5.30 (3) a disproportionate percent of the children have childhood lead poisoning, asthma, |
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| 159 | 159 | | 5.31or other environmentally related health problems; |
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| 160 | 160 | | 5Sec. 3. |
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| 161 | 161 | | REVISOR EB/ES 25-0035401/15/25 6.1 (4) is located in a city that has experienced numerous air quality alert days of dangerous |
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| 162 | 162 | | 6.2air quality for sensitive populations between February 2007 and February 2008; and |
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| 163 | 163 | | 6.3 (5) is located near the junctions of several heavily trafficked state and county highways |
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| 164 | 164 | | 6.4and two one-way streets which carry both truck and auto traffic. |
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| 165 | 165 | | 6.5 (d) The Pollution Control Agency may revoke or modify any permit issued under this |
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| 166 | 166 | | 6.6subdivision and section 116.081 whenever it is necessary, in the opinion of the agency, to |
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| 167 | 167 | | 6.7prevent or abate pollution. |
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| 168 | 168 | | 6.8 (e) The Pollution Control Agency has the authority for approval over the siting, expansion, |
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| 169 | 169 | | 6.9or operation of a solid waste facility with regard to environmental issues. However, the |
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| 170 | 170 | | 6.10agency's issuance of a permit does not release the permittee from any liability, penalty, or |
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| 171 | 171 | | 6.11duty imposed by any applicable county ordinances. Nothing in this chapter precludes, or |
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| 172 | 172 | | 6.12shall be construed to preclude, a county from enforcing land use controls, regulations, and |
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| 173 | 173 | | 6.13ordinances existing at the time of the permit application and adopted pursuant to Minnesota |
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| 174 | 174 | | 6.14Statutes 2020, sections 366.10 to 366.181, or sections 394.21 to 394.37, or 462.351 to |
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| 175 | 175 | | 6.15462.365, with regard to the siting, expansion, or operation of a solid waste facility. |
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| 176 | 176 | | 6.16 (f) Except as prohibited by federal law, a person may commence construction, |
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| 177 | 177 | | 6.17reconstruction, replacement, or modification of any facility prior to the issuance of a |
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| 178 | 178 | | 6.18construction permit by the agency. |
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| 179 | 179 | | 6.19 (g) For the purposes of this subdivision, the Pollution Control Agency may require the |
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| 180 | 180 | | 6.20owners and operators of any emission facility, air containment treatment facility, treatment |
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| 181 | 181 | | 6.21facility, potential air containment storage facility, or storage facility, or any part thereof, to |
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| 182 | 182 | | 6.22conduct air dispersion modeling of air contaminants. |
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| 183 | 183 | | 6Sec. 3. |
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| 184 | 184 | | REVISOR EB/ES 25-0035401/15/25 |
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