The 433-page package includes funding for every environmental or energy-related state agency, and extensive new policy and mandates related to those areas of law.
The House and Senate both passed the environment, natural resources, climate, and energy omnibus finance and policy bill, HF 2310*/SF 2438. The authors were Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) and Sen. Foung Hawj (DFL-St. Paul).
The final bill passed the House and Senate with bipartisan votes of 72-57 and 35-32, respectively. The bill provides the ongoing budgets, one-time program funding, and dedicated account appropriations for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, and the Energy Resources division of the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
Combined from all sources, the bill spends more than $1.7 billion in during the 2024-25 biennium, boosted by one-time spending of the budget surplus, and $1.1 billion in ongoing biennial spending.
Major themes
A more thorough breakdown of the final omnibus bill will be included in the League of Minnesota Cities Law Summaries that will be published in late June, but some major themes and particular items of city interest include:
- More than $100 million for planning and implementation of local climate adaptation plans.
- Significant new authority for the DNR to enforce administrative penalty orders related to water appropriations and to restrict where surface water levels are negatively impacted.
- Clarification of how municipal water appropriations can be managed in the region affected by the court decision related to White Bear Lake.
- Numerous provisions related to PFAS compounds, including phased-in bans on many products, $25 million for addressing PFAS in municipal drinking water, and new water quality standards and health risk limits for certain PFAS compounds.
- $8 million per year for the ReLeaf program to deal with emerald ash borer and other community forest issues.
- A definition provided for ‘environmental justice.’ Areas containing census tracts meeting that definition will be prioritized for accessibility to many state grants, program focus, and other funding.
- Extensive new policy related to community solar gardens.
- $2 million per year for the Lawns-to-Legumes program.
- $27 million to restore fund balances drained by the state in 2003 from the Metropolitan Landfill Contingency Action Trust, which assures that closed landfills in the metro area are managed properly by the state in perpetuity.
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