HF 645 Summary

• Amends Minnesota Statutes section 16A.151, subdivision 2, to add a new exception for money recovered from environmental permit violations.

• Requires the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to distribute 40 percent of civil penalties recovered ($250,000 or more) from permit violations to the community health board where the permitted facility is located.

• Community health boards must meet with affected residents to identify their concerns and implement projects that benefit residents using the distributed funds.

• Community health boards may recover reasonable administrative costs from the transferred funds, and this provision does not grant intervention rights in litigation or settlements.

• Effective the day after final enactment and applies retroactively to all MPCA litigation actions or settlements recovering $250,000 or more on or after that date.