Environment

The Legislature ended up passing a small environment omnibus bill, using last year’s omnibus bill (SF2077) as a vehicle, that primarily contained FY 2027 appropriations from the Outdoor Heritage Fund. As was the case for many other omnibus bills, conference committee members were announced very late in session, and no public meetings were held before each chamber adopted the agreed-on bill language and voted on final passage. Because of the limited nature of this bill and other environment-related bills that passed this session, funding specific to MICA member counties has been called out where applicable.

Article 1, Section 2, Subd. 3(a) contains $12.9 million in funding for St. Louis County as part of an agreement with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to acquire property to use as wildlife management areas, scientific and natural areas, state forests, and county forests. Article 1, Section 2, Subd. 5(d) includes $760,000 in funding for Washington County as part of an agreement with the DNR to acquire permanent conservation easements and to restore and enhance wildlife habitats.

Article 2, Section 5(b) extends the availability of an existing grant to Olmsted County for the Oxbow Park and Zollman Zoo project, originally passed during the 2023 legislative session, through June 30, 2027. Article 2, Section 5(c) extends the availability of a 2023 grant to Stearns County for the Kraemer Lake and Wildwood County Park project, also through June 30, 2027.

Article 4, Section 5, Subd. 2 adds land from Winona County to Great River Bluffs State Park. Article 4, Sections 11 and 12 authorize the private sale of land in St. Louis County.

 

HF3426 (Jordan, DFL), the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund appropriations bill, was signed into law on Monday, May 18. It can also be found under Minnesota Session Laws – 2026 Regular Session, Chapter 104. The bill’s $102 million in appropriations includes funding for research and projects related to PFAS contamination, water pollution in karst regions of Minnesota, aquatic and terrestrial invasive species, and wood waste. Additionally, as part of the final agreement, new oversight mechanisms were added to the Community Grants Program established in 2025 and about to be launched by the DNR.

Section 2, Subd. 4(j) contains $1.2 million for Otter Tail County to construct and equip a facility to store and recycle resource-recovery-generated ash as an alternative to landfilling. Section 2, Subd. 5(m) funds $1.2 million for Washington County for Hardwood Creek Regional Trail. Section 2, Subd. 5(u) adds $2.1 million for Dakota County to support projects at Lebanon Hills Regional Park. Section 2, Subd. 8(a) includes $392,000 for Carver County to restore critical habitats at Lake Minnewashta Regional Park. Finally, Section 2, Subd. 8(p) appropriates $2.8 million to Olmsted County to increase implementation of soil health practices on agricultural fields to prevent nitrate leaching to groundwater in karst regions of southeast Minnesota, which is available until June 30, 2030.

In the final days of session, it appeared there was a deal on final language to establish a new battery product stewardship program, but in the end this legislation didn’t make it across the finish line. Counties will revisit this bill, along with efforts to establish a more comprehensive electronic waste (e-waste) product stewardship program, in advance of the 2027 legislative session.

Neither the cash nor GO bonding bill contained funding to support transition costs associated with new MPCA rules regarding construction and demolition (C+D) landfills. With costs for local government-owned C+D facilities estimated to be around $118 million, this is likely a topic MICA, along with other county groups, will revisit during the 2027 legislation session in hopes a future bonding bill can better address these needs.

The Senate energy omnibus bill, SF4505 (Frentz), contained several appropriations of interest to MICA counties, such as funding for a biomass energy generation plant in Scott County, an anaerobic digester energy system in Scott County and an anaerobic digester or biomass facility in Sherburne County. Yet dynamics between the House Energy committee co-chairs and lack of an omnibus budget bill in that chamber created complications for getting a supplemental funding package passed this year. This is not dissimilar from how end-of-session negotiations played out on an energy bill in 2025.

While it wasn’t expected, counties also didn’t see an increase in solid waste management tax (SWMT) revenue directed to county SCORE grants as part of the narrow tax agreement released and passed on the last day of session. However, there was consistent discussion of the need to better resource county solid waste management activities in various committee hearings throughout session, and MICA will continue to lead on SCORE legislation during the 2027 session.

Finally, legislation that would have placed major limits on the amount of waste processed by the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC), as well as establish new emissions and monitoring standards for the facility, was never heard in either the House or Senate environment committees. However, HF4197 (Lee, F.)/SF4578 (Fateh) was mentioned during an informational hearing held by the Senate Environment, Climate and Legacy committee in April that discussed state oversight of waste incineration and environmental groups’ concerns around resulting air pollution. While there were no outward signs of progress this year, MICA’s work in the interim will focus on lawmaker education and shoring up the support of DFL legislators who have previously shared concerns around how limiting waste to energy (WTE) exacerbates other environmental challenges by increasing landfilling.