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Statutes and Regulations
Minnesota Statutes and Regulations
In 2013, the Minnesota legislature passed the Omnibus Environmental, Natural Resources, and Agriculture Finance Bill (HF976/SF1170) during the 2013 Legislative Session setting up different measures addressing the environmental and public health impacts associated with silica sand mining.
The 2013 Omnibus Bill created four new sections incorporated in the Laws of Minnesota, Chapter 114, Sections 66, 91, 92 and 93:
103G.217 Driftless Area; Water Resources (requires a silica sand mining trout stream setback permit for excavation or mining operations in Minnesota’s drift-less area);
116C.99 Silica Sand Mining Model Standard and Criteria (requires the Environmental Quality Board to establish silica sand mining model standards);
116 C.991 Environmental Review; Silica Sand Projects (requires environmental reviews for silica sand projects);
116C.992 Ordinance and Permit Library (requires the Environmental Quality Board to create and maintain a library on local government ordinances and local government permits that have been approved for regulation of silica sand projects).
The Environmental Quality Board issued the sand mining model standards in March 2014:
Tools to Assist Local Governments in Planning for and Regulating Silica Sand Projects (approved on March 19, 2014).
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Health and Environmental Quality Board are agencies responsible for enacting or amending silica sand mining rules, pursuant to the 2013 Laws of Minnesota, Chapter 114, Article 4, Section 105.
The 2013 Laws of Minnesota requires the state Commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency to adopt rules relating to the control of particulate emissions from silica sand projects and reclamation f silica sand mines. On May 9, 2016, the Department of Natural Resources issued a revised preliminary draft rule pertaining to silica sand mine reclamation; however, in June 2019, the Department released the following notice on its website:
“Notice as of June 2019: We have closed this rulemaking case. The DNR had not yet formally proposed rules. By Minnesota Laws 2019, 1st Special Session, Chapter 4, Article 3, Section 108, the legislature replaced the rulemaking authority with a requirement that the DNR develop a model ordinance. The DNR intends to use material from the rule development efforts for that new purpose.”
