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Committee sends bill to repeal a repetitive EQB reporting requirement to general register
Summary
The committee recommended House File 1362, which would repeal a triennial mandatory category report produced by EQB, MPCA, DNR and MnDOT, sending it to the general register by voice vote.
The Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee on March 6, 2025, unanimously recommended House File 1362 to the general register. The bill would eliminate a requirement that the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB), the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and MnDOT jointly produce a triennial report listing mandatory Environmental Assessment Worksheet and Environmental Impact Statement categories and recommending whether those categories should be modified.
Kathryn Neuschler, executive director of the EQB, explained the agencies have produced the report several times (2013, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2024) and believe it produces repetitive information while consuming staff time. She cited the board's 2023 adoption of a continuous improvement process intended to evaluate the whole environmental review program — beyond just mandatory categories — and recommended repealing the statute requiring the triennial report.
Neuschler told the committee the continuous improvement process includes engagement with responsible governmental units, partners and stakeholders and evaluates program objectives reflected in the rules: usable information, public engagement, responsibility allocation, and reducing duplication. The committee had no substantive questions and carried the motion by voice vote.
Committee action summary: House File 1362 was moved, explained by EQB staff, and recommended to the general register by voice vote.
