New Minnesota Governor, Mark Dayton, issued an executive order
on Jan. 24, 2011 requiring environmental review and permitting to
be accelerated and simplified. Executive Order No. 11-04
establishes two timing goals for the Minnesota Pollution Control
Agency (PCA) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and two
permit process review requirements for the PCA.
In order to accelerate the permitting process, the first of the two
timing goals requires that the agencies decide whether to issue an
environmental or natural resources permit within 150 days of
determining that a permit application is complete. The PCA and DNR
Commissioners are to submit a progress report on meeting the goal
and any administrative recommendations to reduce decision times to
the Governor by July 24, 2011.
The second timing goal requires the Commissioners to decide whether
to issue a permit within 30 days after a final environmental impact
statement (EIS) is approved. If the agencies do not meet the goal,
the Commissioners must report promptly to the Governor.
In addition to establishing the timing goals, the Executive Order
also seeks to simplify the permitting process and requires PCA to
review its rules and regulations for consistency with similar
federal standards. Specifically, with respect to water discharge
permitting, the Executive Order requires that the PCA submit a
report to the Governor with recommendations to amend Minnesota
Statute section 115.07, and applicable rules, to be more consistent
with federal regulations. Further, when adopting any rules for air
quality or hazardous waste or water quality standards, the PCA must
also include an analysis of proposed standards that are more
stringent than federal standards and a comparison to similar
standards in states boarding Minnesota and states within
Environmental Protection Agency Region 5.
The Executive Order seeks to support economic development in the
state by improving the environmental permitting process; however,
the Executive Order may be rescinded at any time. Consequently, two
proposals to amend Minnesota law are before the Legislature (H.F. 1
and S.F. 1). The proposed legislation would go further toward
streamlining the permitting process. For example, the legislation
mandates a permitting decision in 30 days of a final EIS, as
opposed to providing an option for the agency to explain why the
30-day goal was not met.
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