Bill
HB 1057
The bill would give the Board of University and School Lands authority to award and distribute energy infrastructure and impact grants from the oil and gas impact fund, up to 60% o
Status and origin
- Introduced: November 12, 2024 (by Government and Veterans Affairs Committee at the request of the Department of Trust Lands).
- Final recorded status (per supplied information): Second reading — failed to pass (yeas 0, nays 89).
- Action: Bill would amend and reenact Section 15‑01‑02 of the North Dakota Century Code, which enumerates the powers and control of the Board of University and School Lands.
Purpose and intent
- To clarify and codify the board’s authority over public lands, permanent funds, proceeds, and related administrative actions, and to expressly authorize the board to award and distribute energy infrastructure and impact grants from the oil and gas impact grant fund subject to specified limits and processes.
Key provisions (what the bill would change or add)
- Reaffirms the board’s “full control” over selection, appraisal, rental, sale, disposal, and management of:
- Lands donated/granted for common schools;
- Lands accruing to the state by escheat;
- Lands donated/granted for educational, penal, or charitable institutions;
- Funds acquired by the state by mortgage foreclosure or similar means.
- Confirms the board’s full control of investment of permanent funds derived from land sales and control of proceeds from sales, gifts, and donations for the support of the common schools.
- States that gifts to the state not specifically appropriated must be considered gifts for common schools (i.e., directs their presumptive destination).
- Authorizes the board to expend moneys to make refunds where errors were made in dealings involving lands, minerals, funds, proceeds or other property it manages; refunds must be paid from the same fund/account originally credited.
- New explicit authority: award and distribute energy infrastructure and impact grants from moneys deposited in the oil and gas impact grant fund, with an annual grant cap equal to 60% of the biennial appropriation for those grants. The board may form an advisory committee to assist in grant determinations.
- Grants the board authority to adopt policies and rules necessary to carry out its statutory responsibilities.
Who would be affected
- Board of University and School Lands: additional explicit authority and administrative responsibilities (grant award authority, refund authority, rulemaking).
- Recipients/Applicants of energy infrastructure and impact grants: local governments or entities seeking grants from the oil and gas impact fund would interact with the board under the new authority and possible advisory committee processes.
- State fiscal management: the bill authorizes use of existing oil & gas impact fund moneys for grants (subject to the 60% biennial cap), but does not itself appropriate new funds.
Procedural/timeline notes and impact
- The bill amends and reenacts a core statutory delegation of powers; it does not itself appropriate general‑fund dollars but changes how certain state funds (oil & gas impact fund) may be distributed.
- Because the board’s grant authority is constrained by a percentage cap of the biennial appropriation, the practical fiscal effect depends on future appropriations to the oil and gas impact grant fund and on whether subsequent appropriations or implementing rules are adopted.
- Record indicates the bill did not pass at second reading (yeas 0 / nays 89) per supplied status — if reconsidered, implementing rules and any advisory committee charter would determine operational details.
Notes
- Multiple different bills numbered HB 1057 exist in other states on unrelated topics; this summary is limited to the North Dakota bill that would amend NDCC § 15‑01‑02 (powers of the Board of University and School Lands).
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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