Earlier Friday, Bluestem had posted House, Senate strike bargain on environment, natural resources supplemental spending bill.
This evening, the House repassed the bill:
#mnhouse repasses HF3911, as amended in conference committee, by a 70-56 vote. The environment and natural resources supplemental budget bill now goes to the Senate. #mnleg pic.twitter.com/AbktycSsMi
— MNHouseInfo (@MNHouseInfo) May 18, 2024
just as I finished drafting this post, the Minnesota Senate repassed the bill on a 37-30 vote.
WIth a 37-30 bipartisan final vote, the Minnesota Senate has passed HF 3911, the supplemental environmental budget and it will now go to @GovTimWalz for his signature.
— @MCEA1974 (@MCEA1974) May 18, 2024
Congratulations to Chairs @founghawj and @reprickhansen!
How did your Senator vote? pic.twitter.com/sWaNuwDsJb
House Environment and Natural Resources chair, South St. Paul DFLer Rick Hansen issued a press release on the passage of the conference committee's report:
Minnesota House Passes 2024 Environment and Natural Resources Budget and Policy Conference Committee Report
Tonight, the Minnesota House of Representatives re-passed HF 3911, the 2024 Environment and Natural Resources Budget and Policy bill, as amended by the conference committee report. The bill passed on a vote of 70-56.
The legislation, authored by Representative Rick Hansen (DFL – South St. Paul), includes significant investments in tree planting and addressing emerald ash borer, a public water inventory update, policies strengthening and enforcing Minnesota’s air quality statutes, a regulatory framework for helium gas production, and nation-leading extended producer responsibility legislation for packaging recycling.
The Environment and Natural Resources Budget and Policy bill invests over $46 million in protecting Minnesota’s water, air, soil, and wildlife. The bill includes over $12 million in trees and tree planting grants throughout Minnesota, with a focus on environmental justice areas. It includes additional funding for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for oversight and enforcement, funding for the Department of Natural Resources that includes improvements to ATV trails in greater Minnesota, and funding for the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR), including $800,000 in funding for the Lawns to Legumes Program, and creates a dedicated pollinator account to increase pollinator habitat statewide.
“Our conference committee report reflects the DFL’s commitment to taking strong action to protect our environment and natural resources,” said Rep. Hansen, Chair of the Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee. “This year the legislature is investing over $12 million in trees, increasing oversight and penalties for repeat polluters, and passing nation-leading extended producer responsibility legislation to address our solid waste issue.”
The bill includes significant policy provisions aimed at environmental protection and pollution prevention. The bill increases the MPCA’s enforcement authority, increases civil penalties for repeat polluters, and sets goals to reduce the use of road salt and nitrogen fertilizer.
The legislation also includes a nation-leading Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) bill, Representative Sydney Jordan’s Packaging Waste and Cost Reduction Act. The EPR provisions are a major step forward in dealing with solid waste by ensuring that packaging producers are responsible for the waste they create and are incentivized to increase recycled content.
“Across Minnesota, we are inundated with packaging, from our doorsteps to store shelves. Packaging waste and printed paper now account for 40% of our garbage,” said Rep. Jordan, Vice Chair of the Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee. “The burden of managing this ever-growing deluge of packaging waste currently falls on local governments - and taxpayers. Today’s bill takes steps to ensure the producers of this waste are paying their fair share.”
This year’s Environment and Natural Resources bill builds on last year’s historic legislation that invested over $670 million in new environment and natural resources funding. That bill included a nation-leading PFAS prevention package, addressed issues like chronic wasting disease, emerald ash borer, and aquatic invasive species, and added stronger protections for Minnesotans in environmental justice areas.
The bill first passed the House on May 1 on a vote of 68-63, and the Senate on May 7 on a vote of 40-27. Documents from the conference committee can be found here. A recording of the floor debate and final vote can be found here. The bill now heads to the Senate for further action.
I'll embed the Minnesota House Information Services YouTube of the floor action on the conference committee report when the floor session ends.
Note: This post was updated with the embedded @MCEA1974 X post on the final Senate passage. And now this note on the bipartisan vote in the Senate:
The MN Senate re-passed the environment omnibus bill containing EPR for packaging with 3 GOP votes even. House re-passed earlier Friday night. pic.twitter.com/AdJ7mIEWbY
— Paul Gardner (@CleanWaterCMN) May 18, 2024
Screenshot: Hansen speaks to the conference committee report on the floor of the Minnesota House. Source: MCEA X post.
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