The issue, which came to dominate portions of the 2013 legislative session, has resurfaced in a more subdued manner this year, and it remains to be seen if any substantive legislation might come up for consideration.

It was four minutes to midnight on the final day of session when the Minnesota Senate passed the omnibus tax bill that wrapped up the Legislature’s work on the state’s $38 billion budget for the 2014-15 biennium. The down-to-the-wire finish followed a contentious final two weeks of negotiations between House, Senate and the governor’s office over the terms of final budget and policy deals.

A new proposal has been added to the heap of bills to regulate frac sand mining. The Senate Environment and Energy Committee has passed a game and fish bill that would significantly restrict mining activities in southeastern Minnesota, which is rich in the silica sand that’s a key ingredient in the hydraulic fracturing technique of oil exploration that’s being pursued in western North Dakota.

If DFL majorities in the Minnesota House and Senate are to act on the brewing issue of frac sand extraction, they will first have to overcome internal differences that yawn as large as an open-pit mine.

Silica sand mining has become a booming business in southeastern Minnesota, and as a result it’s also become a burgeoning issue at the Legislature.