On May 16, the House passed a bill that will require the Metropolitan Landfill Contingency Action Trust (MLCAT) to be managed to maximize long-term gain through the State Board of Investment (SBI). MLCAT is to provide funding for “necessary and reasonable care” at sites that have closed. Currently the fund has been earning 0.5% interest and the expectation is that it will be earning 4.5% under the new arrangement.
I had introduced HF 2723 at the beginning of this session to accomplish this increase and Senator Jim Carlson has the Senate companion. Representative Denny McNamara, the Chair of the Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee introduced an identical bill, HF 2481 shortly afterwards and it has no Senate companion. This is the bill that Representative McNamara presented yesterday. I am a coauthor on this bill.
Last year, Representative McNamara had legislation to drain some of the money out of the landfill accounts. Fortunately, Governor Dayton vetoed the Environment Bill and changes were made to replace the taking from the surplus later that year.
The money in the account comes from landfill fees, so when emergencies arise, there will be resources available to help correct the problems. From recent experience, we know the corrections are very expensive.