Jerry Burnes/Iron Range Today

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz saw the indicators at a recent governors’ meeting: Permitting energy projects was materializing as a top-of-mind and increasingly bipartisan issue among state leaders.

It was in Washington, D.C., too, where the Biden Administration and Congress recently approved modest tweaks to the federal permitting process as part of the debt ceiling bill, providing an unexceptional — yet palatable — starter for states like Minnesota to consider.

The state has stood as a locally-sourced hotbed for permitting reform in recent years, but it wasn’t until the intersection of clean energy mandates and stalled mining projects that the conversation started to move to St. Paul in earnest. 

Minnesota lawmakers this year approved an ambitious clean energy policy that seeks carbon-free emissions by 2040, with a cluster of transmission lines and precious metals mines in the hopper at different stages that could help propel Minnesota industries toward those lofty goals.

But permitting and environmental review processes have left some of those projects in the lurch, due in part to bureaucratic delays or the political clashes from both sides of the aisle and opposing interest groups.

During a recent interview with Iron Range Today, Walz said he believed changes to the permitting process will have a place in the legislative session next year and that Minnesota has a path to streamline projects toward the state’s clean energy goals.

“We need to make an honest effort to move these things faster,” he said. “We need to be clear, less burdensome, without jeopardizing the environment and safety. I do think we can do that.”

Minnesota has a separate environmental review and permitting process that runs parallel to its federal counterparts, creating a dual path of timelines and regulatory signoff for prospective projects that often intersect along the way.

Changes at the federal level included a two-year limit on environmental impact statements and one year on environmental assessments through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that governs how federal agencies authorize large projects. Congress also approved a lead agency designated to oversee environmental reviews and work within those timelines, and allow project sponsors to petition the court if deadlines are missed.

Walz said Minnesota can “absolutely” build off the work of Congress at the state level, with growing support from Democrats on an issue that has primarily been a Republican talking point in recent years.

“It doesn’t give us the excuse to be slow on things,” the governor added. “We should have regulatory humility and shouldn’t assume everyone seeking a permit is a bad actor. Our job is to verify. It’s valid to be looking at outcomes in other states, and if they’re seeing the same results on the environment and safety, and doing it in less time and less cost, I think we can do it better.”

Walz and Minnesota lawmakers head into the 2024 session on the heels of approving a sweeping agenda made possible by the DFL’s trifecta in the 2022 election, taking control of the House, Senate and executive branch for the first time in more than a decade.

While the monolithic power structure in St. Paul helped Democrats check off nearly every to-do list item this past session, tackling the broader concept of permitting reform presents a different challenge. 

Republicans and rural Democrats, especially those on the Iron Range, are poised to seek faster, more predictable outcomes for pipeline projects and prospective mines, the ladder of which they have argued will help build on the carbon-free goals set by the state this year.

Metro area Democrats and environmental groups would likely oppose those efforts in force, but instead look to faster permitting for transmission lines across the state. With the carbon free law in place, utilizing alternative energy forms like wind and solar will become necessary, and moving that power from its origin to other areas of the state requires a transmission build out.

Balancing those differing interests has become trickier in the Legislature, with the House makeup consisting of more lawmakers based near the Twin Cities and a one-seat majority in the Senate, where Range area DFLer Grant Hauschild held the swing vote on a number of issues this year. 

“I think the challenge, of course, is the devil is in the details and it’s about individual projects,” said Aaron Klemz, chief strategy officer for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA). “The environmental reviews most Minnesotans are familiar with, they’ve been extensive and very public processes, and they’re also really unusual, to be honest.”

The typical environmental reviews, he said, are less stringent and take up less time, with most finishing under current permitting deadlines set under state statute. 

Klemz pointed to the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line project approved by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) in 2011. It’s been stuck in litigation for years, but a recent federal court ruling put it one step closer to completion. MCEA was involved in lawsuits over the project, arguing in its favor, as a cog in the clean energy transition.

“There are some areas where we share concerns about timelines for environmental review and permitting, including with transmission projects,” Klemz added. “I think that was an area where there was widespread and potential bipartisan agreement, but rather than go into that area, [Congress] didn’t do anything about transmission or renewable development, and I think that’s an area for future consideration, both at the state and federal level.”

Mining supporters have pushed for Minnesota to become a leader in providing minerals for the nation’s clean energy efforts, but to do that, they say regulators need to streamline the three precious metals mines trying to operate near the Iron Range.

Permitting work on the Twin Metals Minnesota copper-nickel project near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness was halted last year when the Biden Administration canceled federal mineral leases, and earlier this year enacted a 20-year moratorium on mining near the BWCA. 

Talon Metals hasn’t officially submitted its project yet, but has received federal funding for electric vehicle battery development, but also moved the processing plant for its Tamarack Mine to North Dakota, where it will face fewer regulatory challenges. Talon has an agreement with Tesla to provide 165 million pounds of nickel from the mine, and is also exploring precious metals in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. 

NewRange Copper Nickel (formerly PolyMet) became the state’s first fully-permitted precious metals mine but has seen numerous permits kicked back to state following litigation, and earlier this week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers revoked a critical federal water permit. 

Mining proponents said the permitting process is too unpredictable and often politically motivated, with the Biden Administration playing favorites among the three projects. 

“In issuing this ruling, the Biden administration has ignored nearly two decades of positive movement by PolyMet — jumping through every single hoop — to earn approval for the project based on science and the law,” said State Rep. Dave Lislegard (DFL-Aurora), following the revocation of NewRange’s permit. 

As one of two elected Democrats left on the Iron Range, a historically blue area of the state that has shifted red over the years and most dramatically in 2016, he’s been among those arguing for more certain permitting timelines and harnessing litigation after permits are approved.

Eighth District Congressman Pete Stauber (R-Minnesota) introduced the PERMIT-MN bill this session that would, among other things, set limits on environmental reviews and streamline the federal process, but also ban lawsuits 120 days after permits were issued.

Some of those changes were included in the debt ceiling bill, but Congress declined to exclude permits from judicial review. Stauber, on Twitter, said the enacted change “modernizes the onerous permitting process for projects.”

No matter where Minnesota lawmakers ultimately land on permitting next year, Walz said they have a responsibility to balance the environment and the supply of rare earth metals.

But, the governor added, people ultimately expect regulators to follow the law, process and science behind the environmental reviews and permitting stages. 

“These cannot be arbitrary decisions,” Walz said. “The law is written and the permits are to be followed according to that law.”