Purpose

To change when a wetland replacement plan is required by law, by exempting certain agricultural lands and farming activities from those requirements. The bill focuses on how wetlands affected by farming and related activities are treated under Minnesota law.

Main Provisions

• Exemption from wetland replacement plan requirements

  • A replacement plan is not required for certain wetland impacts on agricultural land labeled as prior converted cropland.
  • It also applies to wetlands impacted by drainage maintenance activities approved by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) on areas labeled farmed wetland, farmed wetland pasture, and wetland.

• Documentation and verification

  • The land must have a valid final certified wetland determination issued by NRCS (per CFR Title 7 Part 12).
  • The landowner must provide a copy of that NRCS determination and allow NRCS to share related information with the local government and the board to verify those activities are part of normal farming practices.

• Definition of normal farming practices

  • Normal farming practices include farming, silvicultural, grazing, and ranching activities such as plowing, seeding, cultivating, and harvesting for the production of feed, food, and fiber.
  • These practices do not include activities that drain wetlands.

• Additional exemptions for conservation practices

  • Soil and water conservation practices approved by the soil and water conservation district after review by a Technical Evaluation Panel may be exempt from requiring a replacement plan.

• Specific activity exemptions with permitting

  • Wetland impacts from aquaculture (pond excavation and related road and dike work) that are authorized under a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act (Section 404) are exempt, but this does not cover building construction or expansion.
  • Wetland impacts from wild rice production activities (including necessary diking and related work) under a Section 404 permit are exempt.

• Swampbuster and federal agreements

  • Agricultural activities on land subject to the swampbuster provisions of the federal farm program, consistent with agreements between the board and NRCS, are exempt.

• County-specific exemptions

  • For lands located wholly in Clay, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Norman, Roseau, Stearns, or St. Louis County, exemptions apply if the land:
  • was planted with annually seeded crops before July 5 (with limited exceptions for crops normally planted after that date in the recent years), or
  • was in a crop rotation, seeding of pasture grass, cover crops, or legumes, or was left fallow for crop production in eight of the ten most recent years before the impact.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Introduces new exemptions to wetland replacement plan requirements for:
  • certain prior converted cropland and farmed wetland areas,
  • wetlands impacted by specific drainage maintenance and conservation activities,
  • aquaculture and wild rice activities with federal permits,
  • swampbuster-related land under federal farm program rules, and
  • specific counties with historic crop planting/rotation patterns.
• Shifts verification responsibilities to NRCS determinations and allows sharing of information with local government units and the board.
• Adds a process for approving soil and water conservation practices through the Technical Evaluation Panel, expanding which practices can be exempt from replacement plans.

Relevant Terms - wetland replacement plan - prior converted cropland - farmed wetland - farmed wetland pasture - wetland determination - NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) - CFR Title 7 Part 12 - normal farming practices - drainage maintenance - soil and water conservation practices - Technical Evaluation Panel - soil and water conservation district (SWCD) - swampbuster provisions - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Section 404 of the Clean Water Act - aquaculture - pond excavation - diking - wild rice production - memorandum of understanding (MOU) - Lake of the Woods, Clay, Koochiching, Norman, Roseau, Stearns, St. Louis counties - annually seeded crops - crop rotation, pasture grass, cover crops, legumes - fallow