Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 07/11/2019

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2. Similarly, MMB does not have well-versed solar energy experts on their staff, which makes them hesitant to recommend solutions to the complexities of approval for solar projects on CLP sites with General Obligation bonding restrictions 3. Minnesota is the only state that does General Obligation bonding for closed landfills, which may threaten the bonding status of the site if used for a separate, private purpose, such as solar development. New England, on the other hand, is developing large closed landfills with solar and serving the load of adjacent towns and cities with streamlined permitting and other approval processes, with access to private Superfund PRP funding 5. With the entry of Freeway Landfill into the Closed Landfill Program there are now 113 closed landfills in the program. There is 1 more facility that is eligible but has not yet entered the program, enhancing a significant market opportunity in Minnesota for renewable reuse 6. Only about half of the 110 landfills are constrained by the use of state General Obligation bonds, but data is lacking on which portion of each site is GO bond restricted, and what percentage of the land coverage of each site is GO bonded Overview of the New Opportunity: “MN Solar on Closed Landfills Study” On May 31, 2019, Governor Tim Walz signed Minnesota’s two-year budget into state law to take the necessary second step: financing a study to overcome the identified barriers. As a part of the Environment and Natural Resources Appropriations portion of the budget (Sect. 2, Subd. 9), the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) was given a one-time appropriation of $300,000 from the PCA’s remediation fund to “…conduct a study of the potential to deploy solar photovoltaic devices on closed landfill program sites.” By December 1, 2020, the EQB and PCA must consult with the state’s Administration, Commerce, and Management & Budget agencies to provide a “report on the use of properties in the state's closed landfill program for solar energy production. The report must include: 1. identification and assessment of properties in the closed landfill program with the highest potential for solar energy production; 2. identification of potential barriers to solar energy production and potential ways to address those barriers; and 3. policy recommendations that would facilitate solar energy production on closed landfill program sites in a manner that would contribute to state and local government sustainability goals.” These three components are straightforward, but there are many potential barriers to realizing them. The third, and final step, to realize Minnesota’s brightfield goals requires three primary, interrelated functions to be performed as a part of the Study (See appendix 1 for expanded details): 1.DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS 2.LEGAL REVIEW & ANALYSIS 3.PERMITTING PATHWAY PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT