Purpose

To remove an ongoing requirement that guided how Minnesota agencies categorize and review environmental assessments and impact statements. Specifically, the bill repeals a provision that forced certain state agencies to periodically identify and analyze which project categories must prepare Environmental Assessment Worksheets (EAW) or Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), and to report those categories and analyses to the Governor and legislative chairs.

Main Provisions

• Repeals Minnesota Statutes 2024 section 116D.04 subdivision 5b in full.
• Eliminates the requirement that by December 1, 2018 and every three years thereafter, the Environmental Quality Board (EQB), Pollution Control Agency (PCA), Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and Department of Transportation (DOT), after consulting with political subdivisions, submit to the Governor and the chairs of the relevant House and Senate environment committees:
  • A list of mandatory EAW and mandatory EIS categories for which the agency or a political subdivision is designated as the responsible government unit.
  • For each category, a document that includes:
  • Intended historical purposes of the category.
  • Whether projects in that category are subject to local, state, or federal permits.
  • An analysis of and recommendations on whether the category should be modified, eliminated, or unchanged, based on its outcomes and its relationship to existing permits or other laws.
• Removes the entire process of creating and submitting these category lists and analyses.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Ends the periodic (every three years) review and public-facing documentation of environmental review categories.
• Eliminates the formal process involving EQB, PCA, DNR, and DOT—along with consultation with political subdivisions—for designating mandatory EAW/EIS categories.
• Reduces mandated oversight and transparency around which projects must undergo EAW or EIS review and how those categories are evaluated over time.

Context and Implications (Notes for readers)

• The change affects how environmental review thresholds are determined and reviewed, potentially altering the workflow for projects that would require EAWs or EISs.
• The repeal shifts responsibility away from structured, government-wide category reviews to whatever processes (if any) agencies or legislative bodies pursue outside of this statutory requirement.

Relevant Terms environmental assessment worksheet (EAW); environmental impact statement (EIS); environmental review; responsible government unit; Environmental Quality Board (EQB); Pollution Control Agency (PCA); Department of Natural Resources (DNR); Department of Transportation (DOT); mandatory categories; environmental permitting; Minnesota Statutes 2024 section 116D.04 subdivision 5b; December 1, 2018; three years; Governor; legislative chairs; political subdivisions.