DNR to hold public information meetings on Mississippi River rules

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News Releases
DNR to hold public information meetings on Mississippi River rules
(Released September 3, 2010)


The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will hold two public information meetings on the rulemaking currently underway for the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area (MRCCA).

 
The public information meetings will provide an opportunity for people who are not members of the DNR’s work groups to learn about the rulemaking and provide early input.

The meetings will be held on:

Wednesday, Sept. 15, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Bunker Hills Activity Center (Oak & Maple Rooms)
550 Bunker Lake Blvd. NW, Andover, Minn., 55304
 
Wednesday, Sept. 29, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Schaar’s Bluff Gathering Center (in Spring Lake Park Reserve)
8395 127th Street East, Hastings, MN, 55033
The DNR will present the same information at each meeting. The meetings will be in an open house format.

Interested parties are invited to stop in anytime between 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. to learn more about the MRCCA rulemaking, and provide “on the record” feedback on draft districts and standards. Comments received at these meetings are not part of the formal rulemaking record, but will be considered as draft rules are developed. “On the record” comments will be noted if the DNR formally proposes the rule for adoption.

The 2009 Legislature directed the DNR to initiate rulemaking for the MRCCA (Laws of Minnesota 2009, Chapter 172) and required the DNR to establish new districts and standards for managing land within the MRCCA. Local governments in the MRCCA will incorporate the new districts and standards into their land use plans, zoning, and regulations, and will be responsible for overseeing development in the MRCCA corridor within their communities.

As part of the rulemaking, the DNR published a request for comments; developed preliminary bluff maps; met with more than 25 communities that have been administering MRCCA plans and regulations in the corridor for the past 30 years; and convened four geographically-based work groups to provide input at key points as the draft rules are developed.

The DNR plans to complete a draft rule and statement of need and reasonableness (SONAR) by the end of the year. Public hearings likely will be held during early to mid 2011. The meetings would be followed by an administrative law judge review and rule adoption, possibly as soon as July 2011.