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State Representative Dan Fabian
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-9635
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
NEWS RELEASE
Rep. Dan Fabian Author’s House File 1 - Bill to Streamline the Permitting and Environmental Review Process
St. Paul - Rep. Dan Fabian (R-Roseau) is the author of House File 1, which will come to the House floor for a vote next week, to streamline the permitting and environmental review process.
"Many jobs have been lost that could have been in Minnesota," said Fabian. "These jobs have been moved to North Dakota, Iowa or Wisconsin due to over-regulation. It is my goal with this bill to bring about a common sense way to create jobs and stimulate business growth here in Minnesota."
Rep. Dan Fabian, a teacher and an owner of a crop insurance adjusting business, is serving his first term in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Fabian said business owners and farmers in his northwest Minnesota district have long struggled with the complex, cumbersome and uncertain permitting process for new businesses or business expansion. House File 1 is comprised of six initiatives that will shorten the amount of time it takes to get a permit to operate in Minnesota. The bill will:
• Establish a 150 day goal for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to issue permits and require a report on applications not meeting that goal.
• Eliminate district court review of environmental review decisions and send all appeals directly to the Court of Appeals.
• Allow a project proposer the option prepare the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), rather than a regulated government unit such as a state agency or local government.
• Require that final decisions on permits be made within 30 days – rather than 90 days – of the final approval of an EIS.
• Repeal MPCA rule prohibiting construction before permit issuance for projects requiring NPDES water permits.
• Require MPCA rulemaking for air, water and hazardous wastes that adopts standards more stringent than any similar federal standard to include documentation that the federal standard does not provide adequate protection for public health and the environment as well as a comparison of the proposed standard with standards in border states and the states within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5.
"Industries throughout state need a clear and certain process for permitting and environmental review. We cannot afford to lose businesses to our border states because of the length of time and uncertainty involved in the state’s current permitting process," said Fabian. "Several of these ideas have received bipartisan support. I look forward to working with House Republicans and Democrats on supporting these common sense initiatives that will encourage job creation while continuing to protect Minnesota’s natural resources."
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