Signed by Governor Doug Burgum

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to adopt a conference report that establishes an environmental impact mitigation fund.

Highlights:

• Establishes the environmental impact mitigation fund for the mitigation of agricultural land impacted by development, with the funds to be continually appropriated to the commissioner for distribution by the agriculture commissioner to landowners (Sec. 2).

• Requires that funding only be used for (Sec. 2):

• The consultation services of environmental scientists or engineers for the implementation of mitigation necessitated by the impact of development; and

• The reclamation or mitigation of adverse impacts from development.

• Requires the federal environmental law impact review committee to (Sec. 2):

• Establish criteria for the disbursement of environmental impact funds;

• Make determinations for the disbursement of grants; and

• Provide a biennial report to the legislative management.

• Prohibits the commission from identifying prime farmland, unique farmland, or irrigated land as exclusion or avoidance areas when evaluating and designating geographical areas for site, corridor, or route suitability (Sec. 3).

• Amends the individuals involved in the federal environmental law impact review committee by removing the member from the lignite energy council and the member from the North Dakota petroleum council, and adding (Sec. 1):

• One individual from the North Dakota farm bureau;

• One individual from the North Dakota farmers union;

• The chairman of the public service commission or the chairman’s designee;

• The state engineer or the state engineer’s designee;

• The director of the game and fish department, or the director’s designee;

• The director of the department of transportation, or the director’s designee;

• The director of the department of environmental quality, or the director’s designee;

• One representative of an investor-owned utility company;

• One representative from the North Dakota association of rural electric cooperatives; and

• Two individuals from the energy community appointed by the commissioner.

• Prohibits the commission from conditioning the issuance of a certificate or permit on the applicant providing a mitigation payment assessed or requested by another state agency or entity to offset a negative impact on wildlife habitat (Sec. 4).

• Authorizes applicants to pay to mitigate any assessed adverse direct environmental impacts of a proposed site, corridor, route, or facility (Sec. 5).

• Appropriates $5 million, or so much of the sum as may be necessary, from the environmental impact mitigation fund to the agriculture commissioner for providing grants to political subdivisions that will engage in the mitigation of environmental impacts, for the biennium starting July 1, 2019, and ending June 30, 2021 (Sec. 6).

Full Bill Text