At Session Daily, Jonathan Mohr reports in Omnibus environment bill spares EQB, but makes significant changes:
The 14-member board that helps oversee environmental permitting and regulatory compliance would survive under the provisions of an omnibus bill now under consideration, but its composition would change significantly, as would its authority.
The House Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee began consideration of HF888 Thursday, immediately adopting a delete-all amendment by a 14-8 roll-call vote to the omnibus environment finance bill, before taking testimony and beginning debate.
Sponsored by Rep. Dan Fabian (R-Roseau), HF888, as amended, would appropriate money to the Department of Natural Resources and Pollution Control Agency, among others, for the upcoming biennium. It would also make a number of policy changes. The companion, SF723, is sponsored by Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen (R-Alexandria) and awaits action by the Senate Finance Committee.
One committee member, Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, tweeted during the hearing:
45 minutes into Round 2! 🥊 https://t.co/FVuF4as4Rk
— Jamie Becker-Finn (@jbeckerfinn) March 23, 2017
20 min of Chamber testifier walking through House omnibus enviro bill, as if he wrote it, repeatedly calls it "a work in progress" 🤔 #mnleg
— Jamie Becker-Finn (@jbeckerfinn) March 23, 2017
Later, she provided a spreadsheet charting the origin of the magic changes in the new bill:
Enviro omnibus: 7 sections from 5 bills never heard + 15 sections never seen before = 22 sections public never heard https://t.co/JfwJfk8fdi
— Jamie Becker-Finn (@jbeckerfinn) March 24, 2017
For our readers' convenience, we've posted the spreadsheet in pdf form on Scribd:
Dan Fabian's Magic Enviro Omnibus Bill HF 888 posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
The Session Daily article also notes this exchange:
Fabian said he has listened to complaints for the last five or six years from small communities and businesses struggling with permitting issues. He said he’d like the EQB to “focus like a laser beam” on remedying those concerns, and that the responsibilities being taken away in the bill could be handled by other government agencies.
“We are not eliminating the EQB, we are trying to reformulate what the EQB does,” Fabian said. “We have a tremendous concern here in the state of Minnesota, particularly in my caucus, with regards to environmental review and permitting, and I really want those issues addressed.”
But Rep. Clark Johnson (DFL-North Mankato) said there is value in the board having authority to initiate discussions, and questioned replacing citizen involvement with work done by others.
“Why not allow the citizens to have a voice through this board and initiate some of these activities,” Johnson said.
Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) expressed concern the board could still be eliminated when the omnibus bill is reconciled with the Senate’s version. He said the PCA Citizen’s Board was abolished in that way.
“I believe the other body’s bill eliminates the EQB,” Hansen said. “So it goes to conference committee and then it’s gone. That’s what we’re worried about.”
Here's the video from most of Thursday morning's hearing (the video ends before the meeting concluded, since the feed switched to a different hearing):
This morning, we listened to more magic as the committee heard more amendments and testimony from the basement, where there was no video camera around, but our friends at the Uptake did livestream the audio. There was also an evening hearing last night, for which the was no public livestream provided.
We'll have more about that meeting--and an updated spreadsheet--in which DFL lead and others raised significant issues with new amendments.
Photo: From a tweet by committee minority lead Rick Hansen, DFL- S. St. Paul, "Lots of lobbyists (stakeholders) in Env Finance Committee this morning. #mnleg – at State Office Building.
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