1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to natural resources; renaming the Minnesota River Basin Joint Powers 
1.3 	Board; clarifying the duties and membership of board;amending Minnesota 
1.4 	Statutes 2008, section 103F.378.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 103F.378, is amended to read:
1.7 	103F.378 MINNESOTA RIVER ~~BASIN JOINT POWERS~~ BOARD.
1.8 		Subdivision 1.Duties. The Minnesota River ~~Basin Joint Powers~~ Board, established 
1.9 	under section 471.59 for the purpose of coordinating efforts to improve water quality in 
1.10 	the Minnesota River ~~and achieving the goal of making the Minnesota River suitable for~~ 
1.11 	~~fishing and swimming by the year 2005~~ Basin by fulfilling a mission to provide leadership, 
1.12 	build partnerships, and support watershed programs in collaboration with the Water 
1.13 	Resources Center at Minnesota State University, Mankato, has the following duties:
1.14 	(1) ~~coordination of~~ compiling and submitting to the governor, the legislature, the 
1.15 	Board of Water and Soil Resources, and all watershed partners:
1.16 	(i) comprehensive water quality improvement and watershed management cleanup 
1.17 	goals for the Minnesota River Basin, prepared by ~~coordinating~~ reviewing and summarizing
1.18 	the work plans of the 12 major watersheds ~~and the member~~, basin counties ~~of the joint~~ 
1.19 	~~powers board~~, state agencies, and ~~the University of Minnesota in cleanup effortsand~~ 
1.20 	~~submission of periodic river cleanup plans for submission to the governor and the~~ 
1.21 	~~legislature~~ other partners active in water quality programming;
1.22 	(ii) a biennial report highlighting the results and progress of projects in the 12 major 
1.23 	watersheds of the Minnesota River Basin; and
1.24 	(iii) periodic basinwide water quality improvement plans;
2.1 	(2) advising on ~~the development and use of monitoring and evaluation systems~~ 
2.2 	~~in the Minnesota River and the incorporation of the data obtained from these systems~~ 
2.3 	~~into the planning process~~ water quality and watershed management projects, including 
2.4 	implementation and coordination of TMDL's under the Clean Water Legacy Act as 
2.5 	provided in chapter 114D, and promotion of data incorporation into the planning processes 
2.6 	associated with county water plans, watershed plans, and, as appropriate, planning and 
2.7 	zoning decisions in the Minnesota River Basin;
2.8 	(3) conducting public meetings of the board on at least a quarterly basis at locations 
2.9 	within the Minnesota River Basin;
2.10 	(4) conducting an ongoing information and education program concerning the status 
2.11 	of the Minnesota River~~, including an annual conference on the state of the Minnesota~~ 
2.12 	~~River~~ Basin and sponsoring and coordinating continuing education opportunities in 
2.13 	cooperation with watershed partners in the basin;
2.14 	(5) providing periodic reports and budget requests to the governor's office ~~and the~~ 
2.15 	~~chairs of the agriculture and environment and natural resources committees of the senate~~ 
2.16 	~~and the house of representatives~~, appropriate committees of the legislature, and the 
2.17 	Board of Water and Soil Resources regarding progress on meeting river water quality 
2.18 	management goals and future funding required for this effort and requesting biennial 
2.19 	legislative funding to provide the services;
2.20 	(6) ~~advising on the development of projects within the 12 major watersheds that are~~ 
2.21 	~~scientifically sound, have landowner support, and reduce inputs of pollutants into the~~ 
2.22 	~~Minnesota River basin~~ coordinating and promoting, in partnership with and on behalf of 
2.23 	water quality and watershed management stakeholders, policy development and project 
2.24 	implementation that impact multiple major watersheds and target reduction of pollutant 
2.25 	inputs into the Minnesota River; ~~and~~
2.26 	(7) ~~administering the distribution of project implementation funds for the 12 major~~ 
2.27 	~~watersheds by approving projects, identifying matching components for each project,~~ 
2.28 	~~and tracking the results achieved for each project.~~ facilitating the identification of and 
2.29 	application for water quality improvement implementation and research funding for 
2.30 	projects that impact multiple major watersheds and benefit local watershed efforts and 
2.31 	providing assistance as requested by local project managers, partners, state agencies, the 
2.32 	legislature, or the governor's office; and
2.33 	(8) advocating to promote and advance basin issues identified by county and 
2.34 	watershed partners at the legislature, among the state agencies, and with the governor; 
2.35 	promoting cooperation among the numerous water quality and watershed management 
2.36 	units in the basin; providing conflict resolution and meeting facilitation services as 
3.1 	requested; and striving to advance basinwide water quality improvements while promoting 
3.2 	both local projects and managing regional initiatives.
3.3 		Subd. 2.Membership; advisory board. (a) Upon acceptance of the joint powers 
3.4 	agreement and payment of annual dues, each member county ~~that agrees to join the~~ 
3.5 	~~board~~ shall have one county commissioner as its delegate to the board and one county 
3.6 	commissioner as an alternate. ~~A technical and citizen~~ The delegates shall elect a chair and 
3.7 	other officers as determined by the board.
3.8 	(b) An advisory ~~committee~~ board, appointed by the chair, shall be established 
3.9 	to ~~advise the board consisting of a technical representative from each of the counties~~ 
3.10 	~~in the basin and citizens who are not county employees but who have an interest in~~ 
3.11 	~~agriculture, conservation, sporting activities, and other relevant areas as determined by~~ 
3.12 	~~the board~~ provide input on policy development, technical advances, continuing education 
3.13 	programs, and other areas of concern identified by the delegates or the advisory board. 
3.14 	The advisory board may consist of representatives from county water planning entities, 
3.15 	county planning and zoning, county environmental services, drainage authorities, soil 
3.16 	and water conservation districts, watershed districts, watershed projects, watershed 
3.17 	management organizations, municipalities, special interest groups, citizens, agricultural 
3.18 	organizations, state agencies, sporting organizations, and other entities as identified by the 
3.19 	advisory board or the delegates. The advisory board serves as an avenue to raise concerns 
3.20 	that the Minnesota River Board should address.