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Get river news, FMR updates and event calendars twice a month.
FMR is proud to be a leading voice in protecting the water of our Big River and all the people and wildlife who depend on it.
From the banks of the Mississippi to the halls of the Legislature, our Water program strives to keep you up to date on important water-quality issues. (For political animals, here are all FMR posts related to legislative advocacy.)
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POSTS
March 9, 2017
March 7, 2017
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.
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March 2, 2017
An unexpected amendment to the state's buffer law undermines Gov. Mark Dayton’s landmark buffer initiative by removing 50-foot buffers from as many as 48,000 miles of Minnesota streams.
March 1, 2017
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
February 27, 2017
February 27, 2017
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.
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February 26, 2017
A handful of rollbacks to Governor Dayton’s landmark 2014 Buffer Rule continue to capture legislative attention at the Minnesota Capitol this session.
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February 10, 2017
Water quality standards must be based on expert science and public input. We need to reject rulemaking by judges and oppose this legislation.
Read moreFebruary 9, 2017
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.
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February 2, 2017
Under H.F. 551, the MPCA and DNR would no longer have any rulemaking authority and all their existing rules would expire by 2022 unless the Minnesota legislature chose to enact them. The bill likely precedes others that will seek to give the legislature veto power over agency rulemaking, a move that will deny the public a voice in regulatory decisions.
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