Purpose

Sets up a new requirement for reporting on how much money is spent on cultural resources during trunk highway projects, including historic preservation, archaeology, and related cultural resources. It also provides a one-time appropriation to fund the creation of this report.

Key Definitions

• Cultural resources expenditure: an expenditure tied to a specific trunk highway project that relates to historic preservation, archaeological resources, or other cultural resources.
• Reporting period: fiscal years 2020 through 2027.

Main Provisions

• A report must be prepared and submitted by January 31, 2026, by the commissioner of transportation to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over transportation policy and finance.
• The report must include at minimum:
  • An overview of cultural resources expenditures.
  • The total cultural resources expenditure amount or estimate for each fiscal year in the reporting period.
  • A comparison of total budgeted versus actual cultural resources expenditures for each closed fiscal year in the reporting period.
  • The total cultural resources expenditures in each major highway project (as defined in Minnesota Statutes section 174.56 subdivision 1 paragraph b), including:
  • A summary description of the costs involved.
  • A breakout by resource type, including historic properties, archaeological resources, burial grounds, and human remains.

Reporting Period and Timeline Details

• The reporting period spans fiscal years 2020 through 2027.
• The required report focuses on expenditures from trunk highway projects and must break out costs by project and by resource type.

Financial Implications

• A one-time appropriation is provided in fiscal year 2026 from the trunk highway fund to the commissioner of transportation specifically to fund the cultural resources expenditures report under section 1.

Significance and Changes to Law

• Creates a new, formal reporting obligation to improve transparency around how trunk highway projects spend money on cultural resources.
• Establishes a dedicated, one-time funding source for producing the required report.
• Integrates with existing requirements for reporting on major highway projects and uses existing statutory references for defining major highway projects.

How the Report Will Be Used

• The report is intended to inform legislators and stakeholders about actual versus budgeted cultural resources expenses and to detail how funds are spent on historic, archaeological, burial grounds, and related resources in trunk highway projects.

Relevant Terms - cultural resources expenditure - historic preservation - archaeological resources - burial grounds - human remains - trunk highway fund - major highway project - Minnesota Statutes section 174.56 subdivision 1 paragraph b - reporting period - commissioner of transportation - chairs and ranking minority members - fiscal year - one-time appropriation - January 31, 2026 - fiscal years 2020 to 2027