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A state law awaiting the governor’s signature could exempt comprehensive plans from environmental review, freeing the plan from recent lawsuits.
The embattled Minneapolis 2040 Plan could finally move forward despite a series of lawsuits, reports Madison McVan in Minnesota Reformer. The news comes after the legislature signed a 1400-page bill that includes an exemption from environmental review for comprehensive plans.
According to McVan, “The law applies retroactively to the most recent comprehensive plans created in the seven-county metro area, including the Minneapolis 2040 Plan, which has been stymied in recent years by environmental lawsuits.” The law does not apply to individual buildings, which will still undergo environmental review.
As McVan explains, “The law passed Sunday night is a compromise between environmental groups, which seek to protect the integrity of the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act, and city governments, including Minneapolis, which want all comprehensive plans statewide to be exempt from environmental review.”
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