HF 5159

05/07/26   REVISOR  CKM/BH  26-08594
This Document can be made available
in alternative formats upon request  State of Minnesota
  HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
  NINETY-FOURTH SESSION
  H. F. No.  5159
05/17/2026     Authored by Falconer, Kraft and Kozlowski
  The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy
1.1A bill for an act
1.2relating to natural resources; prohibiting nonferrous mining if sulfate levels increase
1.3in waters within the Rainy River headwaters; establishing penalties; amending
1.4Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 84.523; proposing coding for new law in
1.5Minnesota Statutes, chapter 84.
1.6BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.7Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 84.523, is amended to read:
1.884.523 BWCA; MANAGING MINERALS AND RELATED RESOURCES.
1.9Subdivision 1. Definition. (a) For the purposes of this section and section 84.5235, the
1.10term following terms have the meanings given.
1.11(b) "Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness" means that area of lands and waters
1.12included within the boundaries designated in federal regulation REG U-3, Code of Federal
1.13Regulations, title 36, section 293.16, as that regulation provided on January 1, 1975. Public
1.14Law 95-495.
1.15(c) "Rainy River headwaters" means that area of land and waters included within the
1.16Rainy River headwaters of the Rainy River basin designated on the Department of Natural
1.17Resources map entitled Minnesota's Watershed Basins as identified in Minnesota Rules,
1.18part 7050.0470, subpart 2, item A, subitem (1), and designated on the map of Minnesota's
1.19Major Watersheds under Minnesota Rules, part 7050.0469 (HUC 09030001).
1.20Subd. 2. Intent. The legislature finds that a combination of state legislative and
1.21administrative actions and court decisions have established a public policy of primarily
1.22wilderness management for state lands and waters within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
1.23Wilderness. This state policy, together with a similar federal policy and international actions
Section 1.  1
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2.1  consistent with these state and federal policies, has created an area of hundreds of thousands
2.2  of acres of land and water containing myriad lakes and streams, wooded shores, virgin
2.3  forests, and other natural attractions of surpassing scenic beauty and solitude, free from
2.4  substantially all commercial activities and artificial development such as hydroelectric dams
2.5  and power lines, resorts, roads, sawmills, and timber harvesting in no-cut zones.
2.6      Subd. 3. Mining; prohibition. (a) Except with the prior approval of the legislature in
2.7  those cases of national emergency which that have been declared by the Congress and which
2.8  that direct the need for exploration and mining of federal lands within the Boundary Waters
2.9  Canoe Area, Wilderness and after an investigation and determination by the commissioner
2.10 of natural resources pursuant to subdivision 5, no state-owned or administered land may be
2.11 leased for exploration or mining of minerals, and no state permits, licenses or leases shall
2.12 be issued to use any other state natural resources for any mineral exploration or mining
2.13 operations in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
2.14     (b) The commissioner of natural resources may not issue a permit to mine nonferrous
2.15 metallic minerals within the Rainy River headwaters unless:
2.16     (1) the level of sulfate in potentially affected surface water or groundwater is not estimated
2.17 to increase as a result of the mine by more than zero parts per million;
2.18     (2) the permit to mine prohibits mining operations if the level of sulfate in affected
2.19 surface water or groundwater increases as a result of the mine by more than zero parts per
2.20 million; and
2.21     (3) the permit to mine requires the water quality of surface waters that may be affected
2.22 by the mining operations to be monitored and the monitoring results to be made available
2.23 through the Pollution Control Agency's surface water data access website.
2.24     Subd. 4. Peat harvesting; prohibition. Except with prior approval of the legislature in
2.25 those cases of national emergency which that have been declared by the Congress and which
2.26 that direct the need for exploitation of peat deposits on federal land within the Boundary
2.27 Waters Canoe Area, Wilderness and after an investigation and determination by the
2.28 commissioner of natural resources pursuant to subdivision 5, no state-owned or administered
2.29 land may be leased for the purpose of harvesting peat, and no state permits, licenses or
2.30 leases shall be issued to use any other state natural resources for the purpose of harvesting
2.31 peat in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
2.32     Subd. 5. Investigation and determination. In the event of a national emergency declared
2.33 by Congress which that requires, for the protection of national interests, exploitation of
2.34 natural resources of the type found in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the
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3.1  commissioner of natural resources shall investigate and determine if there are reasonable
3.2  alternative methods for providing the needed resources. If the investigation shows there are
3.3  reasonable alternatives to exploitation of natural resources in the area, no permit for
3.4  development shall be issued. If the commissioner of natural resources determines there is
3.5  a need to provide resources from within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Wilderness and
3.6  that there is no reasonable alternative available to meet the need, a permit may be issued
3.7  upon approval by the state legislature.
3.8      Subd. 6. State-owned lands. Acquired lands owned by the state within the Boundary
3.9  Waters Canoe Area Wilderness defined in subdivision 1 are designated as state wilderness
3.10 areas under section 86A.05, subdivision 6.
3.11     EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.
3.12   Sec. 2. [84.5235] RAINY RIVER HEADWATERS NONFERROUS MINING;
3.13 SULFATE.
3.14     (a) Notwithstanding section 93.481, subdivision 4, if the commissioner of natural
3.15 resources determines that an increase in sulfate in surface water or groundwater in excess
3.16 of zero parts per million has occurred as a result of a nonferrous metallic mineral mine
3.17 within the Rainy River headwaters, the commissioner must order the permittee to suspend
3.18 operations under the permit to mine. The commissioner must assess a civil penalty in the
3.19 amount of $500,000,000 for violating the terms of the permit established under section
3.20 84.523, subdivision 3, paragraph (b), clause (2).
3.21     (b) A permittee ordered to suspend operations under paragraph (a) must immediately
3.22 suspend operations. The permittee may resume operations only after the commissioner has
3.23 reinstated the permit under paragraph (c).
3.24     (c) The commissioner of natural resources may reinstate the permit to mine after the
3.25 commissioner determines that the permittee has demonstrated that:
3.26     (1) the increase in sulfate has been remedied by providing the results of three years of
3.27 continuous water-quality monitoring conducted by a third party approved by the
3.28 commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency; and
3.29     (2) future mining operations will not increase the level of sulfate in surface water or
3.30 groundwater by more than zero parts per million.
3.31     (d) The permittee must provide all access to the mine that is necessary to conduct
3.32 water-quality monitoring required under paragraph (c) and cover all costs of the third party
3.33 conducting the water-quality monitoring.
Sec. 2.  3
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4.1     EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.
      Sec. 2.  4