The Senate having already passed its Omnibus Environment and Natural Resources Bill, the House is closer to finalizing its version.
The House Ways and Means Committee amended the language of HF4492 into SF4062. As amended, the bill was passed by an 18-10 vote from the party-line vote. It now moves to the House Floor.
SponsoredRep. SponsoredRep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul), The Omnibus Environment and Natural Resources Supplement Finance and Policy Bill contains fiscal year 2023 supplemental Budget Appropriations for the Pollution Control Agency and Department of Natural Resources, Board of Water and Soil Resources and others.
It also includes any statutory or other changes to the environment and natural resource, including the DNRspolicy.
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Hansen has spoken many times about righting past wrongs.
Hansen said that the surplus gives us a unique opportunity to correct past wrongs, resolve current problems, and build a foundation for the next.
The bill would restore funding to the Metropolitan Landfill Contingency Action Trust. It would also restore the lottery in lieu of tax to be used for the environment. Hansen stated that the tax, which is a percentage of the sales of lottery tickets, was originally 97% dedicated towards the environment.
The percentage was previously reduced to 72%, with the rest of the tax going towards the General Fund.
Some of these wrongs took place almost two decades ago during World War II. [Gov. Tim]Hansen stated that during the Pawlenty administration, we had to make cuts to existing programs. One of those programs, the Metropolitan Landfill Contingency Action Trust or MLCAT, was one of them. The budget was balanced with $13 million and a promise to repay it. It has never been repaid. This bill pays it back with interest.
Why is this important? This fund was created to clean up a number of metropolitan landfill sites. These funds are not possible to be used as these landfills age. They also leak as landfills get older.
The bill also includes an article that would ban perfluoroalkyl (PFAS) in carpet, textiles, cookware and cosmetics.
Hansen stated that legislators have dealt with PFAS for many decades. We have provisions that protect Minnesota from these toxic forever chemicals.
The bill was passed by a party-line vote. However, Rep. Marion O’Neill (R.Maple Lake), disagrees with the implementation.
ONeill stated, “You’d be surprised at how much you and me actually agree on this,” I think we have diverted from the agreement in what we were doing. So these things should be federal to ensure consistency across the United States. I fully agree with the bill’s impetus. We want healthy soil and healthy water. We don’t want chemicals in our products.
I was just chatting with you about the implementation. The fact that Minnesota does it and North Dakota does not, South Dakota does not, Iowa doesnt and Wisconsin doesnt makes it difficult. This is my concern. I would like to see these things happen at the federal level and not in a patchwork state.
Sponsored BySen. Bill Ingebrigtsen(R-Alexandria), SF4062Passed 37-29The Senate on April 21. To resolve the differences, a conference committee will be required.
