H.F. No. 973 Summary

• Reinstates the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Citizens Board, which was eliminated in 2015, expanding the agency from the commissioner alone to include 8 governor-appointed members requiring senate confirmation.

• Requires at least one board member to have agriculture expertise and one to represent organized labor, with membership broadly representative of skills necessary to carry out pollution control policy.

• Specifies that the agency board must make final decisions on environmental assessments, environmental impact statements, permit issuance/modification/revocation, agency rules, variances, and decisions to reopen or reverse prior agency decisions.

• Allows the commissioner to make decisions on matters not required to be made by the board, and permits board members or the public to petition for the board to decide additional matters at the commissioner's discretion.

• Repeals Laws 2015, First Special Session chapter 4, article 4, section 149, which had previously eliminated the Citizens Board.