Agenda - Planning Commission - 02/02/2017

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governments when preparing plans and regulations to guide development within those districts. By the early 1980s, all local governments within the MRCCA had adopted MRCCA plans, and all but a few had adopted MRCCA ordinances. Cities and townships without adopted MRCCA ordinances are subject to the Interim Development Regulations contained in Executive Order 79-19. In 1988, Congress established the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA), a unit of the National Park System. MNRRA shares the same boundaries as the MRCCA. In establishing MNRRA Congress found that "the Mississippi River Corridor within the Saint Paul -Minneapolis Metropolitan Area represents a nationally significant historical, recreational, scenic, cultural, natural, economic, and scientific resource" and that there was a national interest in the "preservation, protection and enhancement of those resources for the benefit of the people of the United States." (16 U.S.C. §460 zz (a) (emphasis added)). The National Park Service, in its 1995 Comprehensive Management Plan for the MNRRA, determined it would not acquire significant land holdings or establish land use regulations for the MNRRA but would instead rely on state and local administration of Executive Order 79-19 to protect the resources. In 1991, the Minnesota Legislature reaffirmed its commitment to a permanent MRCCA designation by recognizing the MNRRA as a state -designated critical area. Minn. Stat. § 116G.06 (1985) 1991, ch. 303, § 8, 1991 Minn. Laws (page 63) codified at Minn. Stat. § 116G.15 (1991). In 1995, Governor Arne Carlson issued Reorganization Order 170 transferring administrative responsibility for the MRCCA from the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) to the DNR. This order transfers rulemaking authority for the management of the MRCCA to the DNR, and provides that all rules adopted by EQB remain in effect until they are amended or repealed by the DNR. More recently, citizens and interest groups have raised concerns around the adequacy of the MRCCA program regulatory framework, perceptions of inconsistent regulation of development in the MRCCA, and the belief that key resources within the MRCCA are not always protected. Report to Legislature, 2008 Based on the concerns noted above, in 2007 the Legislature directed the DNR to prepare a report on the status of the MRCCA. The report summarized the status of local governments' MRCCA plans and ordinances and their experiences with the program, and identified several approaches to accomplish the preservation and protection goals for the MRCCA as set forth by the Legislature in Minn. Stat. § 116G.15 (1995). The DNR delivered the report to the Legislature in 2008. Rulemaking Project, 2009-2011 In 2009, the Legislature amended Minn. Stat. § 116G.15 and directed the DNR to establish rules for the MRCCA. 2009, ch. 172, art. 2, §27, subd. 4, 2009 Minn. Laws (pages 2484 - 2485). The DNR launched the rulemaking process by creating a project website and notifying local government within the MRCCA by letter of the rulemaking and requesting their assistance with outreach. In December 2009, the DNR published a Request for Comments on the scope of the proposed MRCCA rules. The DNR accepted public comments through March 22, 2010. 3