Defender
THE GOOD
Local control for frac sand mines retained
Two separate bills failed to be adopted this session to strip away local control over frac sand mines. Both efforts were led by Senator Tom Tiffany, also the author of the bad iron mining bill (see “Ugly” below), but this time, his bills quickly fizzled after immense outcry. In addition, the budget bill also added two new positions at DNR to monitor frac sand mining operations.
Spring 2014
wejoinbelieve everyone us: deserves clean water and clean air
The legislative session that began in January 2013 has just ended, and legislators will now turn their attention to re-elections and preparing bills for the next session that begins in January 2015. Here’s a look back at the actions that helped — or hurt — our natural resources.
Attempts to rollback groundwater protections failed
Rather than discussing how we can add more groundwater protections into our state laws due to dried-up lakes, rivers and streams, the Legislature instead debated SB 302, to rollback some the few protections that do exist. Fortunately, thanks to a huge effort this bill was not voted on by either the Senate or Assembly. In the 10 years since the last groundwater protection bill was enacted, the problems due to overpumping of groundwater have only gotten worse. There are 40% more high-capacity well applications in Wisconsin than just a couple years ago, and the trend does not seem to be slowing. Yet SB 302 sought to limit restrictions that could be placed on these large wells, and even went as far as to essentially undo an important Wisconsin State Supreme Court case that established DNR’s duty to protect our groundwater resources under the constitutional Public Trust Doctrine. While we were able to stop the bill this session, this issue will certainly be at the forefront of discussions about environmental policy for next session.
By Emily Jones, Water Quality Specialist & Amber Meyer Smith, Director of Programs & Government Relations
THE BAD No progress on renewable energy, energy efficiency
Several bills were introduced this session that would have increased Wisconsin’s commitment to renewable energy, but were not acted on by the legislature. Luckily, the Legislature also refused to move on other bills that would have rolled back our Renewable Energy Portfolio. Our work is stopping egregious policies from passing, but Wisconsin is quickly being left in the dust by other states that have chosen to prioritize a clean energy future. A Clean Energy Choice bill (LRB 4412) was introduced that would have allowed developers to own a renewable energy system on a home, business or farm and sell the energy continued on page 3
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WATERED DOWN
NEW PHOSPHORUS BILL DILUTES WATER CLEAN-UP EFFORTS By Clean Wisconsin Staff By Clean Wisconsin Staff
Also in this issue
A top Clean Wisconsin priority is reducing polluted runoff, which leads to ugly algae blooms in our waters. Since the passage of rules to limit phosphorus in Wisconsin’s waters in 2010, we’ve been working statewide to bring local partners together around collaborative water improvement efforts. The legislature seemed to be supporting the phosphorus rule, too. Two good bills, Act 7 and Act 70, passed that would have made the rules easier to work through and supported communities weighing the most cost-effective options for phosphorus control. Meanwhile, multiple communities in Wisconsin have started laying groundwork for phosphorus reduction projects. But in January, SB 547/AB 680, a bill that threatened to pull the rug out from the phosphorus rule, was introduced. Currently awaiting the Governor’s signature, this bill creates a new option for phosphorus dischargers (such as sewage treatment plants and paper mills) to meet lower limits by paying counties to engage sources of polluted runoff (such as farms and urban surfaces) in reductions. As originally introduced, the bill continued on page 3
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