1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to environment finance; authorizing 
  1.3             reimbursement to a county for landfill costs paid; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 115B.42, 
  1.5             subdivision 2.  
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 115B.42, 
  1.8   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 2.  [EXPENDITURES.] Money in the fund may be spent by 
  1.10  the commissioner to: 
  1.11     (1) inspect permitted mixed municipal solid waste disposal 
  1.12  facilities to: 
  1.13     (i) evaluate the adequacy of final cover, slopes, 
  1.14  vegetation, and erosion control; 
  1.15     (ii) determine the presence and concentration of hazardous 
  1.16  substances, pollutants or contaminants, and decomposition gases; 
  1.17  and 
  1.18     (iii) determine the boundaries of fill areas; 
  1.19     (2) monitor and take, or reimburse others for, 
  1.20  environmental response actions, including emergency response 
  1.21  actions, at qualified facilities; 
  1.22     (3) acquire and dispose of property under section 115B.412, 
  1.23  subdivision 3; 
  1.24     (4) recover costs under section 115B.39; 
  1.25     (5) administer, including providing staff and 
  2.1   administrative support for, sections 115B.39 to 115B.445; 
  2.2      (6) enforce sections 115B.39 to 115B.445; 
  2.3      (7) subject to appropriation, administer the agency's 
  2.4   groundwater and solid waste management programs; 
  2.5      (8) pay for private water supply well monitoring and health 
  2.6   assessment costs of the commissioner of health in areas affected 
  2.7   by unpermitted mixed municipal solid waste disposal facilities; 
  2.8      (9) reimburse persons under section 115B.43; 
  2.9      (10) reimburse mediation expenses up to a total of $250,000 
  2.10  annually or defense costs up to a total of $250,000 annually for 
  2.11  third-party claims for response costs under state or federal law 
  2.12  as provided in section 115B.414; and 
  2.13     (11) perform environmental assessments, up to $1,000,000, 
  2.14  at unpermitted mixed municipal solid waste disposal facilities; 
  2.15  and 
  2.16     (12) reimburse, under section 115B.43, a county or its 
  2.17  political subdivisions for amounts paid as part of a final order 
  2.18  or settlement of a lawsuit for environmental response costs at a 
  2.19  mixed municipal solid waste facility, less amounts already paid 
  2.20  by the state and amounts deducted under section 115B.43, if: 
  2.21     (i) the facility is not a qualified facility due to a 
  2.22  choice made by the governmental unit operating the facility to 
  2.23  keep the facility open after April 9, 1994; 
  2.24     (ii) the county or its political subdivisions paid the 
  2.25  amounts required by the final order or settlement by December 
  2.26  31, 1994; and 
  2.27     (iii) the state has already made a number of reimbursement 
  2.28  payments to the county, by making three payments to the county 
  2.29  for this purpose of $85,000 each. 
  2.30  To manage the impact on the solid waste fund, the commissioner 
  2.31  may schedule annual payments under this clause, rather than 
  2.32  making a onetime reimbursement.  The commissioner may also 
  2.33  require the county to use the reimbursement under this clause 
  2.34  for a specified environmental purpose, to be selected in 
  2.35  consultation with the county board.