Defender
Spring 2018 we believe everyone deserves clean water and clean air
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly By Amber Meyer Smith Vice President of Programs & Government Relations
The 2017-2018 state legislative session ended in March, and it’s time to take stock of laws that were passed and defeated that impact our natural resources. While the new trend seemed to be to try and eliminate state-level protection on several cornerstone environmental protections (see below on air protections and wetland laws), we’re pleased the most egregious rollback attempts were thwarted, and we found ways to enact new protections – even the first new water rules in eight years!
challenge, which was brought because the company seeks to fill 16.25 acres of incredibly rare wetland, and the permit they were granted doesn’t meet the standards of the law. So far, their strong arm tactics to get special legislative treatment have failed, but this company has shown it will stop at nothing to secure their permit. The permit challenge currently awaits an Administrative Law Judge’s decision.
Leading on Lead Bill Signed into Law In late February, a bill authored by Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Allouez) and Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac) to give communities more financial tools to replace lead pipes was signed into law. We know at least 81 water systems in our state have tested positive for unsafe levels of lead, and over the past 20 years, more than 200,000 children were diagnosed with lead poisoning. This funding will help replace lead service lines throughout the state. Manure Spreading Rules Nearing Enactment As of this writing, the state legislature is giving one final review to new rules that will help manage manure on the landscape that is contributing to high contamination rates for drinking water wells in some areas of the state. The effort was initially spurred by a Safe Drinking
The Good
Senate Rejects Special Interest Giveaway for Frac Sand Facility Two different attempts by the state Assembly to allow Atlanta-based Meteor Timber to bypass our challenge to their wetland permit failed as the session came to a close in March. The late night sneaky actions of the Assembly were a response to Clean Wisconsin’s permit
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Court Hears ''Imperiled''
Clean Wisconsin 634 W. Main St., #300 Madison, WI 53703-2500
Nonprofit Org U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 1291 Madison, WI
Wetland Permit Challenge Rare & valuable wetlands should be protected, not destroyed
At an administrative hearing held at the end February in Tomah, Clean Wisconsin made its case that 16.25 acres of pristine wetlands in Northern Monroe By Evan Feinauer, County should not Staff Attorney be destroyed to make room for a frac sand processing facility. Just over 13 acres of this wetland is a White Pine–Red Maple Forested wetland, a unique wetland type that the Wisconsin Natural Heritage Inventory rates “imperiled” in Wisconsin and “insecure” globally, because there are fewer than 80 occurrences remaining in the world. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) issued a permit to fill these wetlands, despite determining
Also in this issue
that these wetlands have “exceptional” value for both humans and the surrounding environment, and over the opposition of the Department’s own expert staff. This case began last June, when Clean Wisconsin challenged DNR’s decision to issue a permit to Meteor Timber LLC, a Georgia-based company seeking to build a frac sand processing and transloading facility through these rare wetlands. Under Meteor Timber’s proposal, sand would be mined elsewhere and trucked to this site, where it would be loaded onto railcars. Under state law, DNR may only issue a wetland fill permit if certain statutory standards are met, including a requirement that continued on Page 9
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