The Omnibus Environment Budget bill is the biennial budget bill for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR), and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). This includes the Keep it Clean program, aimed at eliminating litter and waste left on frozen lakes, the Outdoor Schools for All Program, which will help more students across the state receive environmental education, stricter penalties for abandoning watercraft, and a surcharge on watercraft to help fund aquatic invasive species research. The bill also modifies the MPCA’s permitting process to make it more efficient while still protecting the environment. There are slight modifications to Amara’s Law, the state’s ban on intentionally added PFAS chemicals, exempting products with PFAS only in internal components and children’s recreational products like ATVs and snowmobiles. Other policy changes included will help increase outdoor recreation across the state, creating a continuous open season for bass fishing, eliminating the shotgun zone for deer hunting, reducing certain game and fish license fees for disabled veterans, establishing a sustainable foraging task force, and authorizing a DNR study to connect state park passes with vehicle registrations.
The bill also includes funding from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, including the recommendations of the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) and an appropriation to the DNR to launch the Community Grants Program, helping smaller communities and environmental organizations access these critical funds for their projects.
