1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to natural resources; modifying restrictions 
  1.3             on off-highway vehicle trail designation; modifying 
  1.4             restitution requirements; appropriating money; 
  1.5             amending Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, section 
  1.6             84.780; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.7             Statutes, chapter 84. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  [84.778] [OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE TRAIL 
  1.10  DESIGNATION.] 
  1.11     (a) Before the designation of an off-highway vehicle trail, 
  1.12  an annual budget must be prepared at the regional level for:  
  1.13  enforcement, public notification, monitoring trail conditions, 
  1.14  and actively managing the trail by repairing damage and closing 
  1.15  or altering trails as needed. 
  1.16     (b) The budget shall be based on explicit and documented 
  1.17  estimates of trail volume and the landscape conditions through 
  1.18  which the proposed trail would pass. 
  1.19     Sec. 2.  [84.779] [OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE GRANT-IN-AID 
  1.20  ACCOUNTABILITY.] 
  1.21     (a) The commissioner shall develop a system for recording, 
  1.22  tracking, and addressing complaints and grant-in-aid trail 
  1.23  program violations. 
  1.24     (b) Local government off-highway vehicle trail sponsors 
  1.25  shall report to the department on any complaints or program 
  1.26  violations.  Failure to do so shall constitute a program 
  2.1   violation.  The commissioner shall report similar information to 
  2.2   local government trail sponsors. 
  2.3      (c) Regional field offices of the department shall annually 
  2.4   collect from off-highway vehicle clubs and keep on file 
  2.5   up-to-date lists of landowners for each off-highway vehicle 
  2.6   trail and a map that shows trail alignment, trail alignment 
  2.7   changes, and trail segments that will receive significant 
  2.8   maintenance work in the upcoming year. 
  2.9      (d) The commissioner shall establish a schedule of 
  2.10  reductions in future grants to grant-in-aid recipients for 
  2.11  violations of off-highway vehicle program requirements, 
  2.12  including not following federal, state, and local regulations. 
  2.13     (e) The commissioner shall develop explicit criteria for 
  2.14  determining the type of grant-in-aid off-highway vehicle project 
  2.15  that will be reviewed by all Department of Natural Resources 
  2.16  divisions and procedures for addressing and settling concerns 
  2.17  raised during these reviews. 
  2.18     (f) The commissioner shall provide the information 
  2.19  necessary for local government trail sponsors to develop a 
  2.20  required off-highway vehicle trail management plan.  Local 
  2.21  government trail sponsors shall be evaluated annually on their 
  2.22  performance in meeting the criteria of the plan. 
  2.23     (g) The commissioner shall prohibit a local government 
  2.24  sponsor from assigning responsibility for oversight of 
  2.25  off-highway vehicle trail grants to a local government official 
  2.26  who is also an officer or the bookkeeper of the off-highway 
  2.27  vehicle club receiving the grant. 
  2.28     (h) The commissioner shall require club officials to 
  2.29  participate in periodic training concerning grant processes and 
  2.30  federal, state, and local regulations that affect the 
  2.31  development and maintenance of trails. 
  2.32     (i) The commissioner shall require off-highway vehicle 
  2.33  grant-in-aid recipients to provide landowners with a written 
  2.34  project description before any substantial work is done on their 
  2.35  land and provide landowners the opportunity to walk the project 
  2.36  area with an off-highway vehicle club official and the 
  3.1   contractor. 
  3.2      (j) The commissioner shall require off-highway vehicle 
  3.3   grant-in-aid recipients to annually contact each of the 
  3.4   landowners that have granted them permission to use their land 
  3.5   to verify that nothing has changed in ownership and to provide 
  3.6   the landowner an opportunity to ask questions or raise concerns. 
  3.7      (k) When an off-highway vehicle grant-in-aid recipient 
  3.8   proposes moving earth on any off-highway vehicle trail or 
  3.9   creating a new off-highway vehicle trail, the commissioner shall 
  3.10  require the club to have the alignment inspected for wetlands by 
  3.11  a trained wetland delineator before the project proceeds. 
  3.12     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, section 
  3.13  84.780, is amended to read: 
  3.14     84.780 [OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE DAMAGE ACCOUNT.] 
  3.15     (a) The off-highway vehicle damage account is created in 
  3.16  the natural resources fund.  Money in the off-highway vehicle 
  3.17  damage account is appropriated to the commissioner of natural 
  3.18  resources for: 
  3.19     (1) the repair or restoration of property damaged by the 
  3.20  operation of off-highway vehicles in an unpermitted area after 
  3.21  August 1, 2003,; 
  3.22     (2) the repair or restoration of driveways that have been 
  3.23  damaged from the legal operation of off-highway vehicles within 
  3.24  a public road right-of-way; and 
  3.25     for (3) the costs of administration for this section. 
  3.26     (b) Before the commissioner may make a payment from this 
  3.27  account, the commissioner must determine whether the damage to 
  3.28  the applicant's property was caused by the unpermitted use of 
  3.29  off-highway vehicles, that the applicant has made reasonable 
  3.30  efforts to identify the responsible individual and obtain 
  3.31  payment from the individual, and that the applicant has made 
  3.32  reasonable efforts to prevent reoccurrence.  By June 30, 2005, 
  3.33  the commissioner of finance must transfer the remaining balance 
  3.34  in the account to the off-highway motorcycle account under 
  3.35  section 84.794, the off-road vehicle account under section 
  3.36  84.803, and the all-terrain vehicle account under section 
  4.1   84.927.  The amount transferred to each account must be 
  4.2   proportionate to the amounts received in the damage account from 
  4.3   the relevant off-highway vehicle accounts or by the legal 
  4.4   operation of off-highway vehicles within a public road 
  4.5   right-of-way. 
  4.6      (b) This section expires July 1, 2005. 
  4.7      Sec. 4.  [GAS TAX ALLOCATION TASK FORCE; APPROPRIATION.] 
  4.8      (a) A task force of five members is created to examine and 
  4.9   report on the purpose and appropriateness of the legislation 
  4.10  that permits gas tax revenue to be allocated to the three 
  4.11  off-highway vehicle dedicated accounts.  The task force shall 
  4.12  include in the report information on who is paying into these 
  4.13  funds and who is benefiting from these funds. 
  4.14     (b) The task force shall be composed of: 
  4.15     (1) the commissioner of natural resources or the 
  4.16  commissioner's designee; 
  4.17     (2) the commissioner of transportation or the 
  4.18  commissioner's designee; 
  4.19     (3) the commissioner of revenue or the commissioner's 
  4.20  designee; 
  4.21     (4) a member of the senate appointed by the chair of the 
  4.22  senate committee having jurisdiction over transportation policy; 
  4.23  and 
  4.24     (5) a member of the house of representatives appointed by 
  4.25  the chair of the house committee having jurisdiction over 
  4.26  transportation policy. 
  4.27     (c) The commissioner of revenue or the commissioner's 
  4.28  designee shall chair the committee and provide appropriate 
  4.29  staffing. 
  4.30     (d) $200,000 is appropriated from the natural resources 
  4.31  fund to the commissioner of revenue for the purpose of the task 
  4.32  force, and of this amount, $100,000 is from the all-terrain 
  4.33  vehicle account, $70,000 is from the off-road vehicle account, 
  4.34  and $30,000 is from the off-highway motorcycle account.