North Dakota Senate concurs on military zones measure

Apr. 2—BISMARCK — A plan to create "impact zones" around military installations and a committee to give consideration to developments that could impact missions cleared one more legislative step on Wednesday.

The North Dakota Senate voted 46-1 to concur on the final version of Senate Bill 2398, intended to create more collaboration, conversation and oversight for projects planned near Air Force bases at Minot and Grand Forks, as well as Camp Grafton and the Cavalier Space Force Station in northeast North Dakota.

The Senate's decision to concur — after the chamber voted 47-0 on Feb. 19 to pass an earlier version and after

the House passed the new version last week — means SB 2398 now will head to the desk of Gov. Kelly Armstrong. The only dissenting vote on Wednesday was from Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg.

During a committee hearing in early March

, Sen. Jeff Barta, R-Grand Forks, said the intent of SB 2398 is to get various stakeholders "seated around a table to say 'this is what has to be done in order for you to operate here.' "

Originally, as previously reported by the Grand Forks Herald, SB 2398 included

predetermined "impact zones" that stretched 25 miles

in each direction from the Air Force bases in Grand Forks and Minot.

That led to initial hesitation from the Grand Forks City Council

, whose members were concerned that the long reach of the impact zone could jeopardize future development in and around the city. Grand Forks Air Force Base is about 18 miles from downtown Grand Forks.

The size of the impact zones was amended, now to be "

established by an assessment in a compatible use study and contingent upon the missions of each military base

."

The committee's makeup also changed over the past two months. Originally, it included the governor among its members; now, members include the state agriculture commissioner, as well as a representative from each county within the boundaries of a zone, to be selected by local county commissions; a township representative, to be selected by the boards of township supervisors; a city representative, to be selected by affected city councils; and, on a voluntary basis, the commander of each military installation, or a designee.

During comments on the Senate floor Wednesday, Barta said "the way it originally was written the concern was, given the areas that this might encompass, that there would be too many people at the table." Barta said the goal was to create a committee that would be "stealthy enough" but still able to make important decisions.

The House passed the amended version on Thursday, March 27, in a 73-19 vote, pushing SB 2398 back to the Senate for its members to concur.