MN HF2052

$500,000 appropriated in fiscal year 2016 from the clean water fund to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for a grant to the Red River Basin Commission to develop a water quality strategic plan for the Red River of the North.

Appropriation must be matched by equal amounts from North Dakota and Manitoba and a proportionate amount from South Dakota.

Water quality strategic plan must include consistent water quality goals and objectives for the Red River of the North and pollution reduction allocations for both point and nonpoint sources.

Red River Basin Commission must involve local, state, and federal government, business and industry, environmental groups, and Red River basin landowners and must report progress to legislature by February 15 in 2016 and 2017, with completed plan due by December 31, 2017.

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency cannot require current permittees discharging to the Red River of the North to meet water quality standards above the minimum standards set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and applicable in North Dakota until the strategic plan is completed.