HF1071 Summary

• Modifies pesticide control laws by clarifying storage safeguards, establishing backflow prevention requirements for water supplies used in pesticide application equipment, and restricting pesticide handling near surface water and groundwater.

• Reforms noxious weed law by creating four regulatory categories (prohibited, restricted, specially regulated, and county noxious weeds), clarifying definitions of "control" and "eradicate," and establishing new procedures for weed designation and management.

• Changes biofuel requirements from ethanol-only to allow multiple biofuel types, establishing tiered petroleum replacement goals requiring biofuel to comprise 14-30 percent of gasoline sold in Minnesota by specified years through 2025.

• Updates agricultural resource loan and Rural Finance Authority provisions, including restructured loan payment terms and bond requirements for grain warehouse operators.

• Extends expiration dates for the Minnesota Organic Advisory Task Force (to 2016) and NextGen Energy Board (to 2015), and directs the board to examine biobased chemical production from agricultural and forestry feedstocks.