House passes clarified buffers bill

Last year’s 11th-hour negotiations that resulted in new buffer requirements for the state’s public ditches and waters left many with questions about how the new law would be implemented and where exactly it would apply.

The House took action to settle some of those uncertainties Thursday, passing HF3000/SF2503* by a vote of 105-24. The Senate passed the bill April 14, 61-0. It now heads to Gov. Mark Dayton for his consideration.

Rep. Paul Torkelson

Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska), the bill’s sponsor, said it would create more certainty about what last year’s buffer legislation does and how it works.

“The language was subject to misunderstanding and raised questions that needed to be answered with clear and concise language,” Torkelson said. “We did our best to clarify [the bill] so it wouldn’t be misunderstood by the current administration or any future administrations.”

The bill would give local units of government the opportunity to oversee buffer requirements in their jurisdictions. Counties could administer the program using ordinances, or watershed districts could administer it using rules. But if control and enforcement is not taken at the local level, the Board of Water and Soil Resources would assume jurisdiction.

Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) questioned the process that led to last year’s legislation, saying the bill had been passed quickly and without much public input. “Here we are, a year of drama later, having to do clarifications to a bill that was done not in public, but in the dark of night,” Hansen said.

He also questioned a provision in the bill that limits the fines BWSR can levy to $500. He said weakened enforcement of the buffer legislation would not be fair to the counties and landowners who implement the buffers.

But Rep. Denny McNamara (R-Hastings) said the legislation would increase participation in the buffers program.

“This bill before us today is to minimize the litigation and maximize the implementation,” McNamara said.

Some key provisions of HF3000/SF2503* include:

• the definition of public waters in the legislation are the waters on the county public water inventories approved by the DNR commissioner;
• existing laws are being used for the definition of vegetative cover and used to measure ditch widths;
• BWSR’s APO (Administrative Penalty Orders) authority regarding buffers is limited to $500;
• landowners who are compensated for loss of revenue from the installation of buffers will receive payments based on the value of the land before the buffers were installed; and
• money that could be withheld from local units of government for non-compliance are to be BWSR funds, not all state funds.