NOTICE OF SUBMISSION OF RULES PROPOSED FOR ADOPTION WITHOUT A PUBLIC HEARING TO THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
Amendments to Rules Governing the Metropolitan Solid Waste Landfill Fee, Minnesota Rules, parts 821.0300, 8121.0400, and 8121.0500; Revisor’s ID Number R-D4539.
TO: ALL INTERESTED PERSONS
In accordance with Minnesota Statutes, section 14.388, subdivision 2, this Notice is being sent to all persons who have registered their name with the agency under Minnesota Statutes, section 14.14, subdivision 1a. This notice is also posted on the website of the Department of Revenue.
The Department is using the good cause exemption process under Minnesota Statutes, section 14.388, subdivision 1, clauses (3) and (4), as authority for proposing the rule amendments cited above.
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the above‑cited proposed rule amendments will be submitted to the Office of Administrative Hearings on the date of this notice, November 12, 2019. A copy of the proposed rule changes is attached to this notice.
Also attached is the “Findings & Statement of Supporting Reasons,” which explain why the rule amendments qualify for the good cause exemption from rulemaking. The same “Findings & Statement of Support Reasons” was incorporated by reference into the Commissioner’s proposed order adopting the rule, which was submitted to the Office of Administrative Hearings.
All interested persons have five business days after the date of this notice to submit comments to the Office of Administrative Hearings via its eComments website at https://minnesotaoah.granicusideas.com/discussions or via its mailing address at 600 N. Robert Street, P.O. Box 64620, St. Paul, MN 55164-64620. To be considered, comments must be received by OAH no later than 4:30 p.m. on November 19, 2019.
The agency contact person is Jim Jordan, Department of Revenue, 600 N. Robert St., St. Paul, MN 55146-2220, (651) 556-4080, jim.jordan@state.mn.us. Please contact this agency contact person with questions about this proposed rulemaking or for a special accommodation.
Signed by: Jim Jordan, Esq., Appeals and Legal Services Division
November 12, 2019
FINDINGS & STATEMENT OF SUPPORTING REASONS
I. Background
Operators of mixed municipal solid waste disposal facilities in the metropolitan area are required to collect fees from waste haulers and remit those fees to the state. The statute imposing this requirement was enacted in 1984 and is found at Minnesota Statutes, section 473.843. The Department of Revenue first promulgated rules to clarify this statute in 1985. The clarifying rules are found in Minnesota Rules, Chapter 8121.
Minnesota Statutes, section 473.843, has been amended multiple times since 1984. The proposed amendments to Minnesota Rules, Chapter 8121 will bring the Chapter 8121 rules into conformity with these statutory changes. The amendments also update the rule’s recordkeeping requirements.
II. Amendments Exempt Because They Reflect Statutory Change
Minnesota Statutes, section 14.388, subdivision 1 (3), provides a good cause exemption to the regular rulemaking process for changes that conform a rule to changed statutory requirements. Or, as the statute describes it, the exemption is provided for amendments that “incorporate specific changes set forth in applicable statutes when no interpretation of law is required.” Minnesota Statutes, section 14.388, subdivision 1 (3).
The following proposed amendments qualify for the good cause exemption because they bring Chapter 8121 into conformity with statutory change:
- Minnesota Rules, part 8121.0300, subpart 1, is being amended to reflect statutory change consistent with the current version of Minnesota Statutes, section 473.843, subdivision 1. Under 1984 Minnesota Statutes, section 473.843, the fee was fifty cents per ton or fifty cents per cubic yard of waste. The fee based on volume was increased in 1989 to $2.00 per cubic yard. (1989 Minn. Laws ch. 325, s. 60). The fee based on weight was increased in 1994 to $6.66. (1993 Minn. Laws ch. 585, s. 45). The proposed amendments replace the outdated re-statement of statutory fees with a cross reference to Minnesota Statutes, section 473.843, subdivision 1, which continues to define current fees. This better ensures future consistency.
- Minnesota Rules, part 8121.0400, subpart 1, is being amended to update the rule’s penalty and enforcement provisions so that they reflect statutory change consistent with the current version of Minnesota Statutes, section 473.843, subdivision 5. Specifically, the current rule adopts the failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalty provisions of Minnesota Statutes, sections 290.46, 290.47, and 290.53. These statutes were repealed in 1990. (1990 Minn. Laws, ch. 480, art. 1, s. 45). We propose eliminating these outdated statutory cross references. No replacement language is proposed because the current statutory language regarding penalties and enforcement in Minnesota Statutes, section 473.843, subdivision 5, is accurate and does not require clarification.
- Minnesota Rules, part 8121.0500, subpart 1, is being amended to reflect statutory change consistent with the current version of Minnesota Statutes, section 473.843. First, the rule’s current reference to a “50 percent reduction” in the fee is deleted because a 1991 amendment to Minnesota Statutes, section 473.843, subdivision 3, increased the fee reduction to 100%. (1991 Minn. Laws, ch. 291, s. 12). Second, Minnesota Statutes, section 473.843, subdivision 1, was amended in 1989 to allow recycling facilities to apply for the fee exemption that had previously been offered only to energy and resource recovery facilities. (1989 Minn. Laws, ch. 325, s. 60). Given this expansion in facility eligibility for the fee exemption, we propose: 1) adding a reference to recycling facilities after the first reference to energy and resource recovery facilities in both the subpart 1 header and text; 2) deleting “energy and resource recovery” from all other references to “facilities” in subpart 1 to clarify that facilities, when not modified, includes both energy resource recovery facilities and recycling facilities.
III. Amendments Exempt Because They Do Not Alter Sense, Meaning or Effect of the Rule
Minnesota Statutes, section 14.388, subdivision 1 (4), provides a good cause exemption to “changes that do not alter the sense, meaning or effect of a rule.” The following proposed amendments qualify under this provision:
- Minnesota Rules, part 8121.0400, subpart 1, is being amended to eliminate references to recordkeeping technology that are unnecessary or that have lost relevance due to technological advances. The changes to the recordkeeping language, which has not been updated since the rule was first promulgated in 1985, do two things. First, they eliminate all of the fourth paragraph of Minnesota Rules, Part 8121.0400, subpart 1, which contains clarifications that are either largely outdated (e.g., references to microfilm) or less relevant because of technological change (e.g., a provision requiring “adequate record retention facilities” for documents supporting “electronic data processing accounting systems”). Second, in light of the elimination of the fourth paragraph of subpart 1, the proposed amendments also clarify that: 1) the foundational recordkeeping requirements announced in the second paragraph of Minnesota Rules, Part 8121.0400, subpart 1, apply to both “original and electronic” records; and 2) the records must be sufficient to both document “and verify” tax return information. These changes preserve the essential recordkeeping requirements found in the current rule and better ensure that the rule will not continue to lose relevance as technology advances.
