HF1 would require the DNR and MPCA to issue or deny environmental and resource management permits within 150 days of a submitted application. The bill also would allow the judicial review process to be done by the Court of Appeals rather than a district court. As of Feb. 8, the bill was in the hands of the House Judiciary Policy and Finance Committee.
Zellers reported that the caucus values small businesses and wants to make compliance easier and to help businesses stretch their dollars farther.
Zellers also talked about House File 2 requiring zero-based budgeting and that a sunset advisory commission and sunset process is established for state agencies.
When asked about the Governor’s bonding bill that was announced that morning, he said that it’s something the governor is very interested in and added that “we need to look at projects that haven’t been completed over the past three years and cancel them.”
He told the members that the caucus likes roads, not light rail or high speed rail, and is looking at ways to maximize the use of federal dollars for roads projects.
Finally, he said his priority is to balance the budget "in a way that we get out of these peaks and valleys.”
Since Zellers met with us, Governor Dayton issued an executive order that aligned closely with the suggestions in HF1. The order directs the Commissioner of Natural Resources and the Commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency to
• Accelerate and simplify environmental review and permitting by enabling electronic submission of applications.
• Establish a goal to decide, within 150 days after the agency determines that an environmental or natural resource permit application is complete, whether to issue the permit.
• Establish a goal to decide, within 30 days after an environmental impact statement is finally approved, whether to issue a permit.
Of particular interest to ARM members are two directives in the executive order specifically for the Pollution Control Agency:
• To evaluate and provide the governor, within 60 days, recommendations about amending section 115.07 to be more consistent with federal regulations that, under certain circumstances, permit construction to commence before a water discharge permit is issued and
• To include an analysis of proposed standards that are more stringent that similar federal standards including justification for them and a comparison to the standards of border states and states with the EPA’s region 5.
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