Minnesota Administrative Rules
Agency 167 - Pollution Control Agency
Chapter 7000 - PROCEDURAL RULES
GENERALLY
Part 7000.0500 - BOARD MEETINGS

Subpart 1. Regular and annual meetings.

Twelve regular monthly meetings of the board shall be held each calendar year. The annual meeting, also conducted as a regular meeting, shall be held during the month of July of each year. The date, time, and place of each regular meeting, including the annual meeting, shall be designated by the commissioner. The commissioner may direct that a regular meeting be postponed or advanced to accommodate a state holiday, weather emergency, or scheduling conflicts of board members.

Subp. 2. Special meetings.

Upon concluding that a special meeting would assist the board in accomplishing its work or upon receiving a request for a special meeting from three board members, the commissioner shall call a special meeting of the board. The date, time, and place of the special meeting shall be designated by the commissioner. In setting the time and place of a special meeting, the commissioner shall consider the extent to which time is of the essence and whether it would be unreasonable or unfair to interested persons for the board to postpone consideration of the agenda for the special meeting to allow as much notice as would be required for a regular meeting of the board.

Subp. 3. [Repealed, 19 SR 1310]

Subp. 3a. Committee meetings.

The committee chair or the commissioner shall call a committee meeting when either concludes that a committee meeting would assist the board in accomplishing its work or upon receiving a request for a committee meeting from a member of the board committee. The date, time, and place of the committee meeting shall be designated by the commissioner after consultation with the committee chair.

Subp. 3b. Informational meetings.

Part 7001.0120 addresses informational meetings on permits. For all other matters, the board or commissioner shall call a public informational meeting upon concluding that a public informational meeting would provide the board or commissioner with information that would assist it in accomplishing its work or would otherwise be in the public interest. The date, time, and place of the informational meeting shall be designated by the commissioner.

Subp. 4. [Repealed, 19 SR 1310]

Subp. 5. [Repealed, 19 SR 1310]

Subp. 6. [Repealed, 19 SR 1310]

Subp. 7. [Repealed, 19 SR 1310]

Subp. 8. Quorum necessary for regular and special meetings.

A majority of the members of the entire board constitutes a quorum, and a quorum must be present for the transaction of business. A committee meeting or an informational meeting may be held with less than a quorum of the board.

Subp. 9. Presiding officer.

The commissioner shall preside at all regular and special meetings of the board. The vice-chair shall preside in the commissioner's absence. If the commissioner and vice-chair are both absent, the remaining members shall designate one of the board members present to preside over the meeting until the commissioner or vice-chair arrives.

Subp. 10. Adoption of and consideration of matters on board agenda.

As the first order of business at a regular, special, or committee meeting, the board or committee shall review its proposed agenda, amend or modify it if appropriate, and then adopt it. Thereafter, the board shall act on board matters at the approximate times shown on its adopted agenda. However, by consensus of all board members present, the board may group noncontroversial agenda items or agenda items ministerial in nature for approval by a single board vote.

Subp. 11. [Repealed, 19 SR 1310]

Subp. 12. [Repealed, 19 SR 1310]

Subp. 13. Open meetings.

Except as provided by law, all meetings of the board must be open to the public.

Subp. 14. [Repealed, 19 SR 1310]

Subp. 15. [Repealed, 19 SR 1310]

Subp. 16. Record of meetings.

The board shall keep full and accurate minutes of all meetings, including a record of all votes of individual board members.

Subp. 17. Parliamentary procedure.

Except as specifically provided in this chapter, Robert's Rules of Order, as amended, shall govern any question of parliamentary procedure that may arise at any meeting of the board.

Subp. 18. Continuation or recess of board meetings.

The board may continue or recess a board meeting to a later time or date if necessary to allow for the drafting of findings of fact as directed by board members or further discussion or deliberation concerning a matter on a meeting agenda. If a board meeting is continued or recessed and the time, date, and place for reconvening is announced and recorded at the time the meeting is recessed or continued, no further notice of the reconvening is necessary. If the board provided an opportunity for public comments on a specific matter before a meeting is recessed or continued, the commissioner may rule that no further comments will be heard when the meeting is reconvened. However, board members may ask questions of agency staff and interested persons even when no further public comment is to be taken.