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S.F. No. 2893 - Omnibus Agriculture and Housing (Second Engrossment)
 
Author: Senator Torrey N. Westrom
 
Prepared By:
 
Date: April 20, 2018



 

ARTICLE 1. AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATIONS

Please see the spreadsheet for this article.

ARTICLE 2. AGRICULTURE STATUTORY CHANGES

Section 1 [Aquaculture permits] provides that Pollution Control Agency (PCA) permits for saltwater aquatic farms must be classified as permits for agricultural operations.

Sections 2 to 4 [Definitions] define "saltwater aquaculture," "saltwater aquatic farm," and "saltwater aquatic life" for the purposes of regulation by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the PCA.

Section 5 [Transportation and importation of saltwater aquatic life] provides for transportation and importation of saltwater aquatic life into Minnesota that is in lieu of the general transportation and importation of aquatic life under the aquaculture statutes, since saltwater aquatic life will be unable to live in waters of the state.

Section 6 [Noxious weeds] eliminates the requirements for approval by the Commissioner of Agriculture before a weed inspector may bill an agency for noxious weed control on public lands.

Sections 7 to 10 [AFREC extension] extends the Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council (AFREC) and the 40 cent per ton fertilizer fee to pay for the work for an additional ten years.  The fee is extended to 2029 and the council to 2030.

Section 11 [Grass and wildflower seed permits] removes commercial labelers of native grasses that produce commercial or agricultural quantities from being treated the same as seed packed for use in homes and gardens for the purposes of the seed permit fee.  They will be treated the same as labelers of agricultural seeds.

Section 12 [Advanced biofuel producer payments; minimum production level] decreases the minimum advanced biofuel production level to 1,500 million metric British thermal units (MMbtu) from 23,750 MMbtu to be eligible for producer payments.

Section 13 [Advanced biofuel producer payments; raw materials] adds oil and animal fats as raw materials that may be used to produce advanced biofuel and be eligible for producer payments.

Section 14 [Renewable chemical producer payments; minimum production level] decreases the minimum renewable chemical production level to 250,000 pounds from 750,000 pounds to be eligible for producer payments.  This section also moves back the allowable start of production date January 1, 2013, from January 1, 2015, and makes technical changes.

Section 15 [Renewable chemical producer payments; priority] provides that entities starting production after 2015 have priority over entities starting production before 2015 for renewable chemical producer payments.

Section 16 [Water resource protection requirements; nitrogen fertilizer] requires specific approval by law before the Commissioner of Agriculture can adopt water resource protection requirements for nitrogen fertilizer.

ARTICLE 3. HOUSING STATUTORY CHANGES

Section 1 [Definition] defines “modular home” for the purposes of the manufactured home park law as single-family dwellings that are substantially manufactured or constructed at an off-site location with final on-site assembly and attached to a permanent foundation site.

Section 2 [Placement of modular homes] provides that modular homes may be placed in manufactured home parks and classified as a manufactured home with prior approval of a manufactured home park owner and is subject to all rights, obligations, and duties of a manufactured home under state law.  A modular home placed in a manufactured home park shall be taxed as a manufactured home.

Section 3 [Manufactured home park closing; neutral third party] provides that a qualified neutral third party for the purposes of manufactured home park closings must be familiar with manufactured housing and the closing provisions of Minnesota law.  The neutral third party must keep a detailed accounting of all payments from the manufactured home trust fund and provide the information to the manufactured park owner, the municipality, and the Housing Finance Agency.

Section 4 [Manufactured home park closing; right of first refusal] requires manufactured homeowners who are making an offer to meet the cash price for the manufactured home park to covenant and warrant that the land will be continued as a manufactured home park for at least six years after sale.

Section 5 [Manufactured home relocation trust fund] increases the minimum balance amount in the manufactured home relocation trust fund to trigger an assessment on manufactured homes to $3 million from $1 million.  This section also waives the annual assessment for any manufactured home park owner who has not received an assessment from the Commissioner of Management and Budget by August 30.

Section 6 [Relocation expenses; report] increases the maximum relocation payment for relocation of a single manufactured home section within a 25-mile radius to $9,000 from $7,000.  This section also:

  1. requires the neutral third party to process reimbursement payments within 14 days;
  2. increases the maximum amount that may be deducted for demolition and removal of a manufactured home to $3,000 from $1,000 when a manufactured home owner tenders title to the home in lieu of moving;
  3. moves the date required for the manufactured home relocation trust fund annual report to August 15 each year; and
  4. provides additional information on the annual manufactured home relocation trust fund annual report.

Section 7 [Reporting on manufactured home parks] requires the Department of Health and delegated local authorities to annually report to the Department of Management and Budget with the names, addresses, and other data on manufactured home parks licensed by the department or local authority.

Section 8 [Manufactured home park redevelopment program] broadens the use of the manufactured home park redevelopment program to include all ownership types.

Section 9 [Manufactured home park infrastructure grants] adds land acquisition as qualifying for manufactured home park infrastructure grants.

Sections 10 and 11 [Economic development and housing challenge grants; manufactured housing] make manufactured housing eligible for economic development and housing challenge grants.

Section 12 [Housing infrastructure bonds; definition] adds a definition of “senior” for the purposes of housing infrastructure bonds.

Section 13 [Housing infrastructure bonds; manufactured and senior housing] adds manufactured home parks and senior housing as eligible for financing from housing infrastructure bonds.  This section also provides for priorities for senior housing based on affordability, leverage, and services provided to seniors; directs the Housing Finance Agency to balance the loans between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.

Sections 14 to 20 [Definitions] define “preservation project,” “30 percent AMI residential rental project,” “50 percent AMI residential rental project,” “100 percent LIHTC project,” “20 percent LIHTC project,” “AMI” (area median income), and “aggregate bond limitation” for the purpose of issuing residential rental housing bonds under the Minnesota Bond Allocation Act for the purpose of financing residential rental projects.  Note that the definition for “aggregate bond limitation” provides a 55 percent limit on use of the bonds for residential rental projects.

Section 21 [Single-family housing allocation reservation] moves up the date for the single-family housing allocation reserved of the bond allocations to the last Monday in June instead of the last Monday of July.

Section 22 [Entitlement reservations] moves up the date for return of an entitlement issuer amounts returned to be reallocated to the housing pool to July 1 from July 15.  Any amounts returned by an entitlement issuer on or after July 1 will be allocated through the unified pool.

Section 23 [15-year agreement] requires a developer to agree to maintain the type of residential rental project as part of the 15-year agreement for use of the bonds.

Section 24 [Allocation application; small issue and public facilities pools] makes the allocation application process apply only to the small issue and public facilities pools and modifies the dates to reflect the change in the single-family housing allocation reservation.  This section also eliminates any reference to the housing pool that is being created separately in the next section and the requirement to specify if it will be senior housing.

Section 25 [Allocation application; housing pool] establishes a separate process for applying for allocations from the housing pool for residential rental projects.

Section 26 [Housing pool allocation] moves up the date for housing pool allocations for residential rental housing to June 15 from July 15, and eliminates the prohibition on allocations to senior housing prior to May 15.  This section also provides for random award of allocation when there is insufficient bonding authority for two or more projects in the allocation at the same priority level, increases the time period to 180 days or 18 months from 120 days for use of the allocation, and provides a 24-month carryforward for residential rental projects.  To increase the time period to 18 months from 180 days, the issuer must submit one percent of the allocation amount within 180 days after the allocation date.

Sections 27 and 28 [Small issue and public facilities pool allocations] modify the dates for small issue and public facilities pool allocations to reflect the change in the single-family housing allocation reservation.

Section 29 [Return of allocation; small issue and public facilities pools] makes the return of allocations apply only to the small issue and public facilities pools and modifies the dates to reflect the change in the single-family housing allocation reservation.  This section also eliminates any reference to the housing pool that is covered separately in the next section.

Section 30 [Return of allocation; housing pool] provides a separate process for return of a housing pool allocation.

Section 31 [Higher education bonds] clarifies that none of the time limitations on bonds apply to higher education bonds, even when it is not a 120-day period.

Section 32 [Unified pool amount] modifies the dates to reflect the change in the single-family housing allocation reservation.

Section 33 [Application for residential rental projects; unified pool] modifies the general application process for the unified pool to apply to residential housing projects and moves the general process, other than residential rental housing, to the next section.

Section 34 [Application process for all other types of qualified bond; unified pool] moves the general application process for the unified pool to a new subdivision.

Section 35 [Allocation procedure; unified pool] moves up the unified pool allocation to the first Monday in July to reflect the change in the single-family housing allocation reservation.  This section also removes the lack of priority for nonsenior housing projects; includes 24-month carryforward  for residential rental projects; and provides a priority for housing projects based on whether it is a:  (1) preservation project; (2) 30 percent AMI residential rental project; (3) 50 percent AMI residential rental project; (4) 100 percent LIHTC project; (5) 20 percent LIHTC project; (6) other residential rental projects with up to 55 percent financing; or (7) other residential rental projects exceeding 55 percent of financing that apply after September 1.

Section 36 [Return of allocation; unified pool] updates this section to reflect that residential rental housing have longer than 120 days to be issued and provides for a portion of the application deposit for residential rental project allocation based on when the bonding authority is returned.

Section 37 [Final allocation carryforward] directs the Housing Finance Agency to allocate its bonding authority to utilize the carryforward requirements prior to current year's allocation.

Section 38 [Note of issue] makes technical changes related to the application deposit.

Section 39 [Deadline for issuance of qualified bonds] establishes a separate process for deadlines for residential rental projects requiring that the Housing Finance Agency reserve any carryforward for the residential rental project described in the original application.

Sections 40 and 41 [Technical] are technical changes related to other changes to the Minnesota Bond Allocation Act in the bill.

Section 42 [Advances to the manufactured home relocation trust fund] allows for advances from state appropriations to the manufactured home relocation trust fund, if the balance in the fund is insufficient to pay all claims.  All advances would be reimbursed.

Section 43 [Housing affordability fund set aside in 2019] establishes for 2019 a ten percent set-aside in the housing affordability fund, pool 3, for single-family housing in municipalities with a population under 10,000 and for manufactured housing.

Section 44 [Report on the costs of local requirements on affordable housing] directs the Commissioner of MHFA to report by January 15, 2019, on local regulatory, fee, and zoning decisions that raise the cost of affordable housing.

 

 
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