1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to natural resources; motor vehicles; 
  1.3             establishing special critical habitat license plates; 
  1.4             requiring a study and a report to the legislature; 
  1.5             appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, 
  1.6             section 84.943, subdivisions 3 and 5; proposing coding 
  1.7             for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 168. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 84.943, 
  1.10  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 3.  [APPROPRIATIONS MUST BE MATCHED BY PRIVATE 
  1.12  FUNDS.] Appropriations transferred to the critical habitat 
  1.13  private sector matching account and money credited to the 
  1.14  account under section 168.1296, subdivision 5, may be expended 
  1.15  only to the extent that they are matched equally with 
  1.16  contributions to the account from private sources or by funds 
  1.17  contributed to the nongame wildlife management account.  The 
  1.18  private contributions may be made in cash or in contributions of 
  1.19  land or interests in land that are designated by the 
  1.20  commissioner of natural resources as program acquisitions.  
  1.21  Appropriations transferred to the account that are not matched 
  1.22  within three years from the date of the appropriation shall 
  1.23  cancel to the source of the appropriation.  For the purposes of 
  1.24  this section, the private contributions of land or interests in 
  1.25  land shall be valued in accordance with their appraised value. 
  1.26     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 84.943, 
  2.1   subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  2.2      Subd. 5.  [PLEDGES AND CONTRIBUTIONS.] The commissioner of 
  2.3   natural resources may accept contributions and pledges to the 
  2.4   critical habitat private sector matching account.  A pledge that 
  2.5   is made contingent on an appropriation is acceptable and shall 
  2.6   be reported with other pledges as required in this section.  In 
  2.7   the budget request for each biennium, the commissioner shall 
  2.8   report the balance of contributions in the account and the 
  2.9   amount that has been pledged for payment in the succeeding two 
  2.10  calendar years. 
  2.11     Money in the account is appropriated to the commissioner of 
  2.12  natural resources only for the direct acquisition or improvement 
  2.13  of land or interests in land as provided in section 84.944.  To 
  2.14  the extent of available appropriations other than bond proceeds, 
  2.15  the money matched to the nongame wildlife management account may 
  2.16  be used for the management of nongame wildlife projects as 
  2.17  specified in section 290.431.  Acquisition includes:  (1) 
  2.18  purchase of land or an interest in land by the commissioner; or 
  2.19  (2) acceptance by the commissioner of gifts of land or interests 
  2.20  in land as program projects.  Money credited to the account 
  2.21  under section 168.1296 may be used only for the purposes for 
  2.22  which the matching private contributions are made. 
  2.23     Sec. 3.  [168.1296] [SPECIAL CRITICAL HABITAT LICENSE 
  2.24  PLATES.] 
  2.25     Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES.] The 
  2.26  registrar shall issue special critical habitat license plates to 
  2.27  an applicant who: 
  2.28     (1) is an owner or joint owner of a passenger automobile, 
  2.29  pickup truck, or van; 
  2.30     (2) pays a fee determined by the registrar to cover the 
  2.31  costs of handling and manufacturing the plates; 
  2.32     (3) pays the registration tax required under section 
  2.33  168.013; 
  2.34     (4) pays the fees required under this chapter; 
  2.35     (5) contributes $30 annually to the Minnesota critical 
  2.36  habitat private sector matching account established in section 
  3.1   84.943; and 
  3.2      (6) complies with laws and rules governing registration and 
  3.3   licensing of vehicles and drivers. 
  3.4      Subd. 2.  [DESIGN.] After consultation with interested 
  3.5   groups, the commissioner of natural resources and the registrar 
  3.6   shall jointly select a suitable symbol for use by the registrar 
  3.7   to design the special plates. 
  3.8      Subd. 3.  [NO REFUND.] Contributions under this section 
  3.9   must not be refunded. 
  3.10     Subd. 4.  [PLATE TRANSFERS.] Notwithstanding section 
  3.11  168.12, subdivision 1, on payment of a transfer fee of $5, 
  3.12  plates issued under this section may be transferred to another 
  3.13  passenger automobile, pickup truck, or van owned or jointly 
  3.14  owned by the person to whom the special plates were issued. 
  3.15     Subd. 5.  [CONTRIBUTION AND FEES CREDITED.] Contributions 
  3.16  collected under subdivision 1, clause (5), must be credited to 
  3.17  the Minnesota critical habitat private sector matching account 
  3.18  established in section 84.943.  The fees collected under this 
  3.19  section must be deposited in the highway user tax distribution 
  3.20  fund.  
  3.21     Subd. 6.  [RECORD.] The registrar shall maintain a record 
  3.22  of the number of special plates issued under this section. 
  3.23     Sec. 4.  [STUDY.] 
  3.24     The commissioner of public safety shall conduct a study of 
  3.25  the issuance of special honorary and fundraising license 
  3.26  plates.  The study must include: 
  3.27     (1) existing categories of special license plates, 
  3.28  including numbers issued, total costs, and costs recovered; 
  3.29     (2) projections for numbers of special plates issued in the 
  3.30  future; 
  3.31     (3) special production problems involved in special license 
  3.32  plates; and 
  3.33     (4) recommendations concerning future state policy on 
  3.34  special license plates. 
  3.35     In conducting the study the commissioner shall establish an 
  3.36  advisory committee that includes, but is not limited to, members 
  4.1   of the legislative committees and divisions with jurisdiction 
  4.2   over license plate policy and department of public safety 
  4.3   funding.  The commissioner shall report to the legislature by 
  4.4   February 1, 1996, on the results of the study. 
  4.5      Sec. 5.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  4.6      $100,000 is appropriated from the highway user tax 
  4.7   distribution fund to the commissioner of public safety for costs 
  4.8   of handling and manufacturing special license plates under 
  4.9   section 3.