Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 13, September 23, 2024
Subpart 1.
Eligibility.
Replacement plan applicants who have completed the local
government unit process and the board appeal process, and the replacement plan
has not been approved as submitted, may apply to the board for compensation
under Minnesota Statutes, section
103G.237.
Subp. 2.
Application
requirements.
A. An application for
compensation under this part must identify the applicant, locate the wetland,
and refer the board to its appeal file in the matter.
B. An application must include an agreement
that, in exchange for compensation, the applicant shall convey to the state a
perpetual conservation easement in the form required by Minnesota Statutes,
section
103F.516.
The applicant must provide an abstract of title demonstrating the ability to
convey the easement free of any prior title, lien, or encumbrance. Failure to
provide marketable title negates the state's obligation to
compensate.
C. The applicant must
submit official documentation from the United States Army Corps of Engineers,
the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the watershed district or water
management organization, if any, the county, and the town or city, as
applicable, that the proposed impact and the proposed subsequent use of the
wetland are lawful under their respective legal requirements.
D. The landowner must demonstrate that the
proposed impact is a feasible and prudent project and that the replacement plan
as proposed is a reasonable good faith effort to fulfill the wetland
replacement, construction, and monitoring requirements of this chapter and the
act.
E. If the replacement plan was
approved, but with conditions or modifications, the applicant must show that
the conditions or modifications make the replacement unworkable or not
feasible. A plan is unworkable or not feasible if the replacement must be on
land that the applicant does not own, the applicant has made good faith efforts
to acquire a replacement site and not succeeded, and there is not a qualifying
replacement available in a wetland bank. A plan is also unworkable or not
feasible if it is not possible to carry out for engineering reasons. The
applicant must show that forgoing the proposed project will cause the applicant
damages and that disallowing the proposed use will enhance the public value of
the wetland.
F. The applicant must
submit to the board the requirements in this part in writing, by certified
mail. The applicant must indicate on the application whether the applicant
wants to make oral argument to the board. The board may require that the
applicant appear before the board.
Subp. 3.
Board action.
If the board finds that the applicant has submitted a
complete application and proved the requirements in this part, the board must
compensate the applicant as required by law within 90 days after the board
received a completed application, provided that within the same time period the
applicant conveys to the board a conservation easement in the form required by
Minnesota Statutes, section
103F.516.
If the board does not provide the required compensation in exchange for the
conservation easement, the applicant may impact the wetland in the manner
proposed, without replacement.
