AN ACT to amend and reenact sections 61-04-05.1, 61-16.1-53.1, and 61-32-08 of North Dakota Century Code, relating to hearing and appeals processes of the department of water resources.
SB 2059 revises several North Dakota water-law procedures governing how the Department of Water Resources handles comments, hearings, appeals, and enforcement actions. In the water appropriation process, the bill requires written comments to include the filer’s name and mailing address, requires electronically submitted comments to be signed to be valid, and clarifies how and when a person may request a public hearing. It also specifies notice procedures for hearings and adjudicative proceedings, including certified-mail service and timelines for notice and response.
The bill also updates appeal and enforcement procedures for complaints involving noncomplying dams, dikes, drains, lateral drains, and ditches. It preserves the ability of aggrieved parties to appeal local board decisions to the Department of Water Resources, requires the department to conduct an independent investigation, and sets out options for the department after investigation, including notifying the landowner, returning the matter to the board, or referring it to the state’s attorney. It further details hearing rights, cost assessments for removal or closure work, and the process for collecting those costs through property-tax-like assessments credited to the state contract fund.
The bill amends sections 61-04-05.1, 61-16.1-53.1, and 61-32-08 of the North Dakota Century Code, tightening and clarifying administrative procedures within the Department of Water Resources. It affects applicants for water appropriations, commenters and hearing participants, landowners and tenants involved in drainage or dam/dike compliance disputes, local boards, county auditors, state’s attorneys, and parties seeking judicial review. The changes are procedural rather than substantive in the sense that they do not create new water-rights standards, but they do refine notice, hearing, appeal, and enforcement mechanisms and may affect how quickly and formally disputes are processed.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial in the legislative process. It passed the Senate unanimously and the House with only one dissenting vote, suggesting general agreement that the Department of Water Resources’ hearing and appeal procedures needed clarification or modernization. The absence of committee transcript discussion also suggests limited public controversy or debate in the available record.
The main points of potential contention are procedural rather than policy-based: the bill requires signed electronic comments, imposes specific deadlines for hearing requests and appeals, and formalizes notice requirements that may be viewed as either improving due process or adding administrative burden. Another possible area of concern is the enforcement framework for noncomplying dams, dikes, and drainage structures, especially the department’s authority to order removal or closure, assess costs against property, and refer matters to the state’s attorney. However, the recorded votes indicate little organized opposition, and no specific objections are documented in the available committee materials.