Subdivision 1. Requirement. The legislature authorizes and directs that, to the fullest extent practicable the policies, rules and public laws of the state shall be interpreted and administered in accordance with the policies set forth in sections 116D.01 to 116D.06.

Subd. 2. Duties. All departments and agencies of the state government shall:

(1) on a continuous basis, seek to strengthen relationships between state, regional, local and federal-state environmental planning, development and management programs;

(2) utilize a systematic, interdisciplinary approach that will insure the integrated use of the natural and social sciences and the environmental arts in planning and in decision making which may have an impact on the environment; as an aid in accomplishing this purpose there shall be established advisory councils or other forums for consultation with persons in appropriate fields of specialization so as to ensure that the latest and most authoritative findings will be considered in administrative and regulatory decision making as quickly and as amply as possible;

(3) identify and develop methods and procedures that will ensure that environmental amenities and values, whether quantified or not, will be given at least equal consideration in decision making along with economic and technical considerations;

(4) study, develop, and describe appropriate alternatives to recommended courses of action in any proposal which involves unresolved conflicts concerning alternative uses of available resources;

(5) recognize the worldwide and long range character of environmental problems and, where consistent with the policy of the state, lend appropriate support to initiatives, resolutions, and programs designed to maximize interstate, national and international cooperation in anticipating and preventing a decline in the quality of the world environment;

(6) make available to the federal government, counties, municipalities, institutions and individuals, information useful in restoring, maintaining, and enhancing the quality of the environment, and in meeting the policies of the state as set forth in Laws 1973, chapter 412;

(7) initiate the gathering and utilization of ecological information in the planning and development of resource oriented projects; and

(8) undertake, contract for or fund such research as is needed in order to determine and clarify effects by known or suspected pollutants which may be detrimental to human health or to the environment, as well as to evaluate the feasibility, safety and environmental effects of various methods of dealing with pollutants.

History: 1973 c 412 s 3; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1986 c 444