Legislative Update

A pair of bills advanced in the House and Senate this week that re-write appropriations for the State’s Clean Water Fund. These bills:

• Undermine the Clean Water Council’s recommendations;
• Violate the Legislature’s 2015 promise to taxpayers on buffer funding; and
• Reduce or eliminate funding for drinking water, agricultural conservation, water monitoring and other core clean water programs. 

A bill poised to pass the Minnesota House with minimal hearings would make it possible for a single legislative committee to block or hamstring state agencies from adopting or even proposing rules to protect Minnesotans' environment, natural resources, health, and safety. Written by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, the bill explicitly elevates the interests of corporate polluters and other regulated entities above all other regulatory considerations.

FMR strongly supports a bill introduced by Rep. Paul Torkelson (R – Hanska) to allocate the Minnesota’s Clean Water Fund (Legacy Amendment) money as recommended by the state’s 28-member Clean Water Council. FMR applauds Rep. Torkelson for his leadership on this issue, and looks forward to working with him to help HF 1731 earn Gov. Mark Dayton’s signature.

In yet another attack on state agency authority, SF 1283 requires legislative approval of most state water quality rules and standards and suspends Minnesota’s hard-won river phosphorus standards pending legislative approval.

SF 1283 (Newman, Ingebrigtsen, Utke, Eken, Tomassoni)
Status: Introduced and referred to Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Legacy Finance

Another bill has come forward at the Minnesota legislature aiming to undermine environmental rulemaking by state agencies.
SF 769: (Kiffmeyer)
HF1285: (Pugh)

A bill recently introduced in the Minnesota Legislature aims to make dramatic rollbacks to Minnesota’s environmental review and permitting processes while eliminating the Environmental Quality Board.

A handful of rollbacks to Governor Dayton’s landmark 2014 Buffer Rule continue to capture legislative attention at the Minnesota Capitol this session.

A bill introduced by Republican Rep. Steve Green (Fosston) would require the state to conduct a new referendum to replace the Legacy Amendment with funds for a narrow list of highway and bridge projects and bar Clean Water Fund spending on most clean-up and restoration projects.