1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the environment; authorizing acceptance of 
  1.3             dump materials at certain qualified landfills; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  1.5             115B.39, subdivision 2; proposing coding for new law 
  1.6             in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 115B. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  1.9   115B.39, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 2.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) In addition to the definitions 
  1.11  in this subdivision, the definitions in sections 115A.03 and 
  1.12  115B.02 apply to sections 115B.39 to 115B.445, except as 
  1.13  specifically modified in this subdivision. 
  1.14     (b) "Cleanup order" means a consent order between 
  1.15  responsible persons and the agency or an order issued by the 
  1.16  United States Environmental Protection Agency under section 106 
  1.17  of the federal Superfund Act. 
  1.18     (c) "Closure" means actions to prevent or minimize the 
  1.19  threat to public health and the environment posed by a mixed 
  1.20  municipal solid waste disposal facility that has stopped 
  1.21  accepting waste by controlling the sources of releases or 
  1.22  threatened releases at the facility.  "Closure" includes 
  1.23  removing contaminated equipment and liners; applying final 
  1.24  cover; grading and seeding final cover; installing wells, 
  1.25  borings, and other monitoring devices; constructing groundwater 
  1.26  and surface water diversion structures; and installing gas 
  2.1   control systems and site security systems, as necessary.  The 
  2.2   commissioner may authorize use of final cover that includes 
  2.3   processed materials that meet the requirements in Code of 
  2.4   Federal Regulations, title 40, section 503.32, paragraph (a). 
  2.5      (d) "Closure upgrade" means construction activity that 
  2.6   will, at a minimum, modify an existing cover so that it 
  2.7   satisfies current rule requirements for mixed municipal solid 
  2.8   waste land disposal facilities. 
  2.9      (e) "Contingency action" means organized, planned, or 
  2.10  coordinated courses of action to be followed in case of fire, 
  2.11  explosion, or release of solid waste, waste by-products, or 
  2.12  leachate that could threaten human health or the environment. 
  2.13     (e) (f) "Corrective action" means steps taken to repair 
  2.14  facility structures including liners, monitoring wells, 
  2.15  separation equipment, covers, and aeration devices and to bring 
  2.16  the facility into compliance with design, construction, 
  2.17  groundwater, surface water, and air emission standards. 
  2.18     (f) (g) "Decomposition gases" means gases produced by 
  2.19  chemical or microbial activity during the decomposition of solid 
  2.20  waste. 
  2.21     (h) "Dump materials" means nonhazardous mixed municipal 
  2.22  solid wastes disposed at a Minnesota waste disposal site other 
  2.23  than a qualified facility prior to 1973. 
  2.24     (g) (i) "Environmental response action" means response 
  2.25  action at a qualified facility, including corrective action, 
  2.26  closure, postclosure care; contingency action; environmental 
  2.27  studies, including remedial investigations and feasibility 
  2.28  studies; engineering, including remedial design; removal; 
  2.29  remedial action; site construction; and other similar 
  2.30  cleanup-related activities.  
  2.31     (h) (j) "Environmental response costs" means: 
  2.32     (1) costs of environmental response action, not including 
  2.33  legal or administrative expenses; and 
  2.34     (2) costs required to be paid to the federal government 
  2.35  under section 107(a) of the federal Superfund Act, as amended. 
  2.36     (i) (k) "Postclosure" or "postclosure care" means actions 
  3.1   taken for the care, maintenance, and monitoring of closure 
  3.2   actions at a mixed municipal solid waste disposal facility. 
  3.3      (j) (l) "Qualified facility" means a mixed municipal solid 
  3.4   waste disposal facility, including adjacent property used for 
  3.5   solid waste disposal, that: 
  3.6      (1) is or was permitted by the agency; 
  3.7      (2) stopped accepting solid waste, except demolition 
  3.8   debris, for disposal by April 9, 1994; and 
  3.9      (3) stopped accepting demolition debris for disposal by 
  3.10  June 1, 1994, except that demolition debris may be accepted 
  3.11  until May 1, 1995, at a permitted area where disposal of 
  3.12  demolition debris is allowed, if the area where the demolition 
  3.13  debris is deposited is at least 50 feet from the fill boundary 
  3.14  of the area where mixed municipal solid waste was deposited. 
  3.15     Sec. 2.  [115B.403] [ACCEPTANCE OF DUMP MATERIALS TO 
  3.16  AUGMENT CLOSURE OR CLOSURE UPGRADE ACTIVITIES AT QUALIFIED 
  3.17  FACILITIES.] 
  3.18     (a) The commissioner may allow dump materials at qualified 
  3.19  facilities from sites that have been in public ownership on or 
  3.20  after January 1, 1998, provided that the commissioner finds that:
  3.21     (1) accepting the dump materials will not significantly 
  3.22  increase the potential environmental impacts of the qualified 
  3.23  facility; 
  3.24     (2) accepting the dump materials will benefit the qualified 
  3.25  facility by improving final slopes, or in some other tangible 
  3.26  manner, and the materials will be provided to the qualified 
  3.27  facility according to a schedule consistent with closure or 
  3.28  closure upgrade activities at the qualified facility; 
  3.29     (3) the owner of the site where the dump materials were 
  3.30  disposed complies with the requirements of paragraph (b) and 
  3.31  agrees to: 
  3.32     (i) pay any costs of screening and inspection needed at 
  3.33  point of excavation or point of deposit to ensure that 
  3.34  unacceptable materials are not delivered to the qualified 
  3.35  facility; 
  3.36     (ii) secure any permissions necessary from the owner of the 
  4.1   property containing the qualified facility; 
  4.2      (iii) transport the dump materials to the qualified 
  4.3   facility according to a process and schedule acceptable to the 
  4.4   commissioner and, at owner's cost, pay all transportation costs 
  4.5   related to the activity; and 
  4.6      (iv) complete cleanup, final grading, seeding, and other 
  4.7   related activities for the area where the dump existed. 
  4.8      (b) in order to qualify for consideration for disposal of 
  4.9   dump materials at qualified facilities, the owner of the site 
  4.10  where the dump materials were disposed shall notify the 
  4.11  commissioner, in writing, at least six months before closure 
  4.12  activity at the qualified facility indicating the owner's desire 
  4.13  to dispose of the dump material at the qualified facility in 
  4.14  order to allow adequate time for construction planning and 
  4.15  public information activities.  The commissioner shall consider 
  4.16  requests based on the schedule of closure and closure upgrade 
  4.17  activities at qualified facilities.  The commissioner may 
  4.18  require the owner of the site to submit, at the owner's expense, 
  4.19  physical and chemical evaluation data regarding the dump 
  4.20  material including any necessary coring, excavation, or other 
  4.21  sampling data at least six months before closure construction to 
  4.22  assist the commissioner in making the determination whether or 
  4.23  not to accept the material. 
  4.24     (c) The commissioner may reject any and all requests to 
  4.25  dispose of dump materials at qualified facilities. 
  4.26     (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as allowing 
  4.27  unpermitted disposal facilities to be included as qualified 
  4.28  facilities in the closed landfill program.