1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the environment; conforming the definition 
  1.3             of sewage sludge to federal language; providing for 
  1.4             mediation of wastewater treatment disputes; providing 
  1.5             for rules regarding permit fee increases; amending 
  1.6             Minnesota Statutes 1994, sections 115.49, subdivision 
  1.7             1; 115A.03, subdivision 29; and 116.07, subdivision 4d.
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 115.49, 
  1.10  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subdivision 1.  If the agency determines after a hearing on 
  1.12  the subject matter that cooperation between two or more 
  1.13  municipalities is necessary to provide for areawide waste 
  1.14  management and treatment, in accordance with the Federal Water 
  1.15  Pollution Control Act, as amended, or to prevent, control, or 
  1.16  abate pollution, it the commissioner may issue an order 
  1.17  requiring those parties to enter into nonbinding mediation 
  1.18  conducted by a neutral third party.  If mediation is not 
  1.19  successful in achieving a waste treatment agreement, the agency 
  1.20  shall conduct a hearing on the subject matter.  Upon completion 
  1.21  of the hearing, the agency may adopt a resolution so declaring 
  1.22  that cooperation between the parties is necessary and 
  1.23  determining whether it will be feasible to secure such 
  1.24  cooperation by contract between the municipalities 
  1.25  concerned.  If a hearing is conducted, the participating 
  1.26  municipalities shall incur the expenses of conducting the 
  2.1   hearing, including agency and attorney general staff time.  
  2.2   Funds reimbursed to the agency shall be deposited to an account 
  2.3   in the special revenue fund and are appropriated to the agency. 
  2.4      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 115A.03, 
  2.5   subdivision 29, is amended to read: 
  2.6      Subd. 29.  [SEWAGE SLUDGE.] "Sewage sludge" means the 
  2.7   solids and associated liquids in municipal wastewater which are 
  2.8   encountered and concentrated by a municipal wastewater treatment 
  2.9   plant solid, semi-solid, or liquid residue generated during the 
  2.10  treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment works.  It includes, 
  2.11  but is not limited to, scum or solids removed in primary, 
  2.12  secondary, or advanced wastewater treatment processes and a 
  2.13  material derived from sewage sludge.  Sewage sludge does not 
  2.14  include ash generated during the firing of sewage sludge in a 
  2.15  sewage sludge incinerator residues and or grit, scum, or and 
  2.16  screenings removed from other solids during treatment generated 
  2.17  during preliminary treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment 
  2.18  works. 
  2.19     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116.07, 
  2.20  subdivision 4d, is amended to read: 
  2.21     Subd. 4d.  [PERMIT FEES.] (a) The agency may collect permit 
  2.22  fees in amounts not greater than those necessary to cover the 
  2.23  reasonable costs of reviewing and acting upon applications for 
  2.24  agency permits and implementing and enforcing the conditions of 
  2.25  the permits pursuant to agency rules.  Permit fees shall not 
  2.26  include the costs of litigation.  The agency shall adopt rules 
  2.27  under section 16A.128 16A.1285 establishing the amounts and 
  2.28  methods of collection of any a system for charging permit fees 
  2.29  collected under this subdivision.  The fee schedule must reflect 
  2.30  reasonable and routine permitting, implementation, and 
  2.31  enforcement costs, and may reflect the amount of pollutants in 
  2.32  the discharge.  The agency may impose an additional enforcement 
  2.33  fee to be collected for a period of up to two years to cover the 
  2.34  reasonable costs of implementing and enforcing the conditions of 
  2.35  a permit under the rules of the agency.  Any money collected 
  2.36  under this paragraph shall be deposited in the special revenue 
  3.1   account. 
  3.2      (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), and section 
  3.3   16A.128 16A.1285, subdivision 1 2, the agency shall collect an 
  3.4   annual fee from the owner or operator of all stationary sources, 
  3.5   emission facilities, emissions units, air contaminant treatment 
  3.6   facilities, treatment facilities, potential air contaminant 
  3.7   storage facilities, or storage facilities subject to the 
  3.8   requirement to obtain a permit under Title V of the federal 
  3.9   Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, Public Law Number 101-549, 
  3.10  Statutes at Large, volume 104, pages 2399 et seq., or section 
  3.11  116.081.  The annual fee shall be used to pay for all direct and 
  3.12  indirect reasonable costs, including attorney general costs, 
  3.13  required to develop and administer the permit program 
  3.14  requirements of Title V of the federal Clean Air Act Amendments 
  3.15  of 1990, Public Law Number 101-549, Statutes at Large, volume 
  3.16  104, pages 2399 et seq., and sections of this chapter and the 
  3.17  rules adopted under this chapter related to air contamination 
  3.18  and noise.  Those costs include the reasonable costs of 
  3.19  reviewing and acting upon an application for a permit; 
  3.20  implementing and enforcing statutes, rules, and the terms and 
  3.21  conditions of a permit; emissions, ambient, and deposition 
  3.22  monitoring; preparing generally applicable regulations; 
  3.23  responding to federal guidance; modeling, analyses, and 
  3.24  demonstrations; preparing inventories and tracking emissions; 
  3.25  providing information to the public about these activities; and, 
  3.26  after June 30, 1992, the costs of acid deposition monitoring 
  3.27  currently assessed under section 116C.69, subdivision 3. 
  3.28     (c) The agency shall adopt fee rules in accordance with the 
  3.29  procedures in section 16A.128, subdivisions 1a and 2a 16A.1285, 
  3.30  subdivision 5, that will result in the collection, in the 
  3.31  aggregate, from the sources listed in paragraph (b), of the 
  3.32  following amounts: 
  3.33     (1) in fiscal years 1992 and 1993, the amount appropriated 
  3.34  by the legislature from the air quality account in the 
  3.35  environmental fund for the agency's air quality program; 
  3.36     (2) for fiscal year 1994 and thereafter, an amount not less 
  4.1   than $25 per ton of each volatile organic compound; pollutant 
  4.2   regulated under United States Code, title 42, section 7411 or 
  4.3   7412 (section 111 or 112 of the federal Clean Air Act); and each 
  4.4   pollutant, except carbon monoxide, for which a national primary 
  4.5   ambient air quality standard has been promulgated; and 
  4.6      (3) for fiscal year 1994 and thereafter, the agency fee 
  4.7   rules may also result in the collection, in the aggregate, from 
  4.8   the sources listed in paragraph (b), of an amount not less than 
  4.9   $25 per ton of each pollutant not listed in clause (2) that is 
  4.10  regulated under Minnesota Rules, chapter 7005, or for which a 
  4.11  state primary ambient air quality standard has been adopted.  
  4.12  The agency must not include in the calculation of the aggregate 
  4.13  amount to be collected under the fee rules any amount in excess 
  4.14  of 4,000 tons per year of each air pollutant from a source. 
  4.15     (d) To cover the reasonable costs described in paragraph 
  4.16  (b), the agency shall provide in the rules promulgated under 
  4.17  paragraph (c) for an increase in the fee collected in each year 
  4.18  beginning after fiscal year 1993 by the percentage, if any, by 
  4.19  which the Consumer Price Index for the most recent calendar year 
  4.20  ending before the beginning of the year the fee is collected 
  4.21  exceeds the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year 1989.  
  4.22  For purposes of this paragraph the Consumer Price Index for any 
  4.23  calendar year is the average of the Consumer Price Index for 
  4.24  all-urban consumers published by the United States Department of 
  4.25  Labor, as of the close of the 12-month period ending on August 
  4.26  31 of each calendar year.  The revision of the Consumer Price 
  4.27  Index that is most consistent with the Consumer Price Index for 
  4.28  calendar year 1989 shall be used. 
  4.29     (e) Any money collected under paragraphs (b) to (d) must be 
  4.30  deposited in an air quality account in the environmental fund 
  4.31  and must be used solely for the activities listed in paragraph 
  4.32  (b).  
  4.33     (f) Persons who wish to construct or expand an air emission 
  4.34  facility may offer to reimburse the agency for the costs of 
  4.35  staff overtime or consultant services needed to expedite permit 
  4.36  review.  The reimbursement shall be in addition to fees imposed 
  5.1   by paragraphs (a) to (d).  When the agency determines that it 
  5.2   needs additional resources to review the permit application in 
  5.3   an expedited manner, and that expediting the review would not 
  5.4   disrupt air permitting program priorities, the agency may accept 
  5.5   the reimbursement.  Reimbursements accepted by the agency are 
  5.6   appropriated to the agency for the purpose of reviewing the 
  5.7   permit application.  Reimbursement by a permit applicant shall 
  5.8   precede and not be contingent upon issuance of a permit and 
  5.9   shall not affect the agency's decision on whether to issue or 
  5.10  deny a permit, what conditions are included in a permit, or the 
  5.11  application of state and federal statutes and rules governing 
  5.12  permit determinations.