28L.1 State interagency Missouri river authority created — duties.
1. A state interagency Missouri river authority is created. The members of the authority shall include the governor or the governor’s designee, the secretary of agriculture or the secretary’s designee, the chairperson of the utilities board or the chairperson’s designee, and the directors of the department of natural resources, the state department of transportation, and the economic development authority or the directors’ designees. The governor shall serve as chairperson. The director of the department of natural resources or the director’s designee shall serve as the coordinator of the authority’s activities and shall serve as chairperson in the absence of the governor.
2. The authority shall be responsible for representing the interests of this state with regard to its membership in the Missouri river association of states and tribes and to promote the management of the Missouri river in a manner that does not negatively impact landowners along the river or negatively impact the state’s economy, and in a manner that positively impacts this state’s many interests along, in, and on the river. The Missouri river association of states and tribes is an interstate association of government representatives formed to seek consensus solutions to issues impacting the Missouri river basin.
3. The director of the department of natural resources or the director’s designee shall coordinate regular meetings of the state interagency Missouri river authority to determine the state’s position before any meeting of the Missouri river association of states and tribes or before a substantive proposal or action is voted upon at such meeting. The members of the state interagency Missouri river authority shall attempt to achieve consensus on the state’s position regarding any substantive proposal or action being considered by the Missouri river association of states and tribes. Regardless of whether a consensus can be achieved, a vote of the members shall be taken. The state interagency Missouri river authority shall not vote to approve or disapprove a substantive proposal or action being considered by the Missouri river association of states and tribes without the approval of a majority of the members of the authority. The director of the department of natural resources or the director’s designee shall cast the votes for the state interagency Missouri river authority that are reflective of the position of the authority.
4. The state interagency Missouri river authority shall seek input from stakeholder groups in this state with regard to issues impacting the Missouri river basin.
2002 Acts, ch 1009, §1; 2008 Acts, ch 1150, §1; 2011 Acts, ch 118, §85, 89