This is the legislature’s final budget bill for environmental and agriculture agencies. The final bill was drafted by a conference committee assigned to resolve differences between the Senate and House proposals. The conference committee report included important funding for conservation agencies including funding for state parks, funding for the Governor’s water quality initiative, and avian flu disaster relief. However, the conference committee also included provisions that:
- Abolish the Citizens’ Board of the Pollution Control Agency
- Require lengthy, expensive, and duplicative review of water quality standards
- Raid dedicated funds needed to ensure that old landfills do not contaminate water supplies
- Impose lengthy and unnecessary rulemaking procedures for basic PCA policies and guidelines
- Delay water quality standards for the Red River until 2025
- Create a polluter amnesty provision for certain violations of environmental standards
- Exempt sulfide mines from solid waste regulations
- Impose a new 3 week delay on discretionary environmental reviews
In addition, the conference committee removed provisions to require reporting of toxic chemicals in children’s products and to phase out plastic microbeads that are polluting our water.
See how the Senate voted on HF 846.
What Would Happen?
On the last day of the legislative session, the House approved the bill 83-50. The Senate voted to approve the bill 35-30. The bill was sent to Governor Dayton on May 20, 2015 and on May 23, 2015, the Governor vetoed the bill, stating that the bill “undermines decades of environmental protections.” The bill will be re-negotiated in a special legislative session.
The bill is not approved and environmental protections are preserved.
How The House Voted
On the last day of the legislative session, the House approved the bill 83-50. The Senate voted to approve the bill 35-30. The bill was sent to Governor Dayton on May 20, 2015 and on May 23, 2015, the Governor vetoed the bill, stating that the bill “undermines decades of environmental protections.” The bill will be re-negotiated in a special legislative session.
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