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LCCMR directs staff to draft bill to limit DNR approval of ENRTF land purchases, extend review to 30 days
Summary
The commission voted to ask staff to prepare legislation that would limit Department of Natural Resources commissioner approval of Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF) land acquisitions to parcels intended for eventual DNR management and extend the review window from 10 to 30 days.
The Legislative Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources on Nov. 19 directed staff to draft legislative language that would narrow a statutory requirement for the Department of Natural Resources commissioner to approve nonstate land acquisitions purchased with ENRTF money.
By roll call the commission approved Commissioner Michelle Beaman's motion to ask staff to prepare bill language that reverts the statute toward its 2010 scope (applying only when land is intended to be conveyed to the DNR for management) and to lengthen the DNR's review period from the current 10 days to 30 days. The motion passed unanimously on the recorded roll call.
Director Becca Nash told members the statutory requirement dates to 2010 and was later broadened (notably in 2013) to apply more widely to lands acquired with ENRTF funds. Nash said the broader reading created timing confusion and, in some cases, project delays. Staff cited recent examples (2019—2023) when the requirement required DNR review and sometimes slowed acquisition closings.
Supporters of narrowing the statute, including several commissioners and legislators, argued in debate that the original 2010 purpose was to allow DNR to preapprove acquisitions that were meant to eventually convey to and be managed by DNR. Opponents of the statute's current scope said it gives a third party authority to block a transaction 10 days before closing even when the DNR is not the intended manager.
DNR grants manager Catherine Sherman Hohen told the commission the agency could administer whatever legislative change the LCCMR recommended and that the department was neutral about whether the language should remain as written or be revised. Nash said staff would draft language reflecting the commission's direction and return with bill text at the next meeting.
Next steps: staff will draft proposed statutory language to implement the narrower scope and 30-day review timeline for the commission's December meeting; a final recommendation would be forwarded to the legislature if the commission votes to adopt the language.
