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.)
Updates are also shared on social (Facebook and Instagram) and in FMR's Mississippi Messages newsletter.
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.
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
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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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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Water quality standards must be based on expert science and public input. We need to reject rulemaking by judges and oppose this legislation.
Read moreA 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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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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Legislators and testifiers opposed to Minnesota's buffer law continue to claim that the law is unconstitutional because it constitutes a government taking of private property without just compensation to the property owner. These claims are incorrect and misleading. The law would only be unconstitutional if it denied property owners every and all reasonable use of their land.
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Water issues will once again be a hot topic during this year's legislative session. While Gov. Mark Dayton has made water a priority, House and Senate majority parties have signaled intentions to roll back policies and funding essential to protecting Minnesota’s rivers, lakes and streams.
Without a doubt, defending against these rollbacks and securing much-needed funding for critical water infrastructure will be our top priorities during the 2017 legislative session.
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