The Clean Water Council, by statute, makes recommendations on the use of the Clean Water Fund by Dec. 1 each even-numbered year. In recent years, the Council has submitted funding recommendations through the Governor’s budget process so that the Governor’s recommendations (for state agencies) and the Council’s recommendations are the same. Assuming this to be the case in 2020, the Council plans to submit recommendations to the Governor’s office by August, with the potential for slight modifications by October to be ready for the 2021 legislative session.
To maintain this timeline, the Council will hear proposals from agencies, the University of Minnesota, and other entities from March until June. The full Council will hear general concepts for programs at its meetings on March 16, April 20 and May 18 (all Mondays). Then the Budget & Outcomes Committee (BOC) will review detailed proposals at its meetings on April 3, May 1, and June 5 (all Fridays).
The Council will post proposals online and post a schedule for presentations. The public is welcome to attend or view via WebEx. After hearing all the proposals and before assembling its recommendations, the Council would like to hear public comments on the proposals on Monday, June 15 at 2 p.m. at the MPCA in addition to any direct communications at any point.
The BOC will propose draft recommendations at its July 10 meeting and seek public input until its August 7 meeting when final draft recommendations will be issued. The full Council will act on the recommendations at its August 17 meeting.
Please contact Paul Gardner, Administrator, at paul.gardner@state.mn.us or 651-757-2384 if you have any questions or comments.You can see a spreadsheet with a list of dates mentioned above for easy reference here