Dayton Signs Minn. Business Permit Bill Into Law
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Gov. Mark Dayton signed a new law Thursday designed to accelerate environmental reviews and business permits, brushing off objections from Democrats and environmental groups and handing Republicans who run the Legislature one of their signature job initiatives.
The Democratic governor said he shares their desire to improve Minnesota's business climate and job market.
"We agree that too many possible business expansions have been delayed unnecessarily in recent years," Dayton said in a letter to the bill's sponsors, Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, and Rep. Dan Fabian, R-Roseau.
The law sets a goal of 150 days for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Department of Natural Resources to rule on permit applications. It would allow businesses to commission or write their own initial draft environmental reviews, which could save government agencies time and expense but has also raised concerns about conflicts of interest. Appeals of permit decisions would go directly to the state Court of Appeals instead working their way through district courts.
Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo, said regulatory reform was key to improving the state's economy and praised Dayton for supporting it.
"It was one of our top priorities and we got a signature," Koch said.
The law takes effect immediately.
A report earlier this week from Legislative Auditor James Nobles found unevenness in environmental reviews by the Pollution Control Agency and Department of Natural Resources, with waits of more than a year for some hazardous waste permits. The new law aims to speed that up, but it affects only state regulations. Many projects are also subject to federal environmental requirements.
Environmental advocates and a handful of Democratic legislators tried to sway Dayton to veto the bill before he announced his decision Thursday, his final day to act. They held a Capitol news conference to predict that the proposal would weaken environmental protection, push up court costs for average citizens and take the state in the wrong direction.
"Too often the burden of proof is on the neighbors. Too often the agencies are protecting the businesses and issuing permits not fully knowing or disclosing the harm," said Julie Jansen, an environmental activist who ran with Dayton on a losing gubernatorial ticket in 1998.
Jansen described health problems she and her family suffered in the mid-1990s when hog farms opened next door to their house near Olivia, Minn.
Minnesota Environmental Partnership director Steve Morse said the permit law would create a new loophole by exempting the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board from state environmental review requirements.
Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board Commissioner Tony Sertich said the board isn't a regulatory agency and the language would clarify that the board can put money toward projects that are undergoing environmental review. Regulatory agencies can't do that.
Dayton said he met with the leaders of environmental groups to hear their concerns and considered letters and Facebook messages from constituents while making up his mind.
The governor already put parts of the law in place in January with an executive order directing Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Landwehr and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Paul Aasen to speed up environmental reviews and permits, including the 150-day goal for permit decisions.
Before he announced his action on the bill Thursday, Dayton said his administration intends to carry through on those goals.
"We're going to meet deadlines. We're going to be efficient. We're going to be responsive and responsible, and if not I want to hear about it directly and somebody else will hear about it immediately after. There's no excuse for that," Dayton said.
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