1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to environment; requiring water quality strategic plan for Red River of 
1.3 	the North; requiring minimum water quality standards; appropriating money.
1.4 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.5 	Section 1. APPROPRIATION; RED RIVER OF THE NORTH WATER 
1.6 	QUALITY STRATEGIC PLAN.
 1.7 	(a) $500,000 is appropriated in fiscal year 2016 from the clean water fund to the 
1.8 	commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for a grant to the Red River 
1.9 	Basin Commission for development of a water quality strategic plan for the Red River of 
1.10 	the North, in cooperation with the Red River Board of the International Joint Commission. 
1.11 	The appropriation must be matched by equal amounts from both North Dakota and 
1.12 	Manitoba and a proportionate amount from South Dakota.
1.13 	(b) The plan must include, but is not limited to, consistency in water quality goals and 
1.14 	objectives for the Red River of the North and pollution reduction allocations for both point 
1.15 	and nonpoint sources on the Red River of the North and for individual major watersheds 
1.16 	tributary to the Red River of the North. The Red River Basin Commission must involve 
1.17 	the interests of local, state, and federal government, business and industry, environmental 
1.18 	groups, and Red River basin landowners. The Red River Basin Commission must report 
1.19 	progress on the plan to the house of representatives and senate committees and divisions 
1.20 	with jurisdiction over environment policy and finance by February 15 in 2016 and 2017 
1.21 	and must submit the completed plan by December 31, 2017.

1.22 	Sec. 2. MINIMUM WATER QUALITY STANDARDS.
 2.1 	Until the Red River of the North water quality strategic plan is completed and 
2.2 	submitted to the legislature according to section 1, the Minnesota Pollution Control 
2.3 	Agency must not require a current permittee that discharges to the Red River of the North 
2.4 	to meet standards above the minimum standards for water quality that are set by the 
2.5 	United States Environmental Protection Agency and that are applicable in North Dakota.