water policy

https://wisconsinrivers.org/spills-law-win/

Wisconsin voters wisely reject amending state constitution

On: August 14, 2024

In: water policy

Wisconsin voters wisely reject amending state constitution

On Tuesday, August 13, Wisconsin voters rejected two ballot questions in the statewide primary election that would amend the state constitution to allow more partisan interference in channeling funds to communities by giving outsized power to the state legislature.

River Alliance of Wisconsin came out against these measures and pointed to examples of how partisan divides have slowed help to communities with contaminated drinking water, such as restrictions on our state’s well compensation program and legislative derailment of releasing approved funds to address PFAS pollution.

“Wisconsinites need clean water now. But in the last year, voters watched how partisan bickering prevented meaningful aid from reaching communities facing PFAS pollution in their drinking water,” said Executive Director Allison Werner. “Their strong rejection of amending our state constitution sent a message that partisan divides cannot get in the way of sending urgent state and federal funds when environmental disasters or our fundamental rights to clean drinking water are at stake.”

This message is made possible by generous donors who believe people have the power to protect and restore water. Support our work with your contribution today.

The post Wisconsin voters wisely reject amending state constitution appeared first on River Alliance of WI.

https://wisconsinrivers.org/voters-reject-ajr6/

Here are the two AJR6 questions as they will appear on the ballot.

Vote NO in August on state constitutional amendments

On: June 11, 2024

In: water policy

Vote NO in August on state constitutional amendments

Wisconsin’s primary election this year falls on August 13. On the ballot, besides candidates for office, there will be two state constitutional amendments. It is very important that Wisconsinites vote NO to reject them both.

Constitutional amendments would disrupt co-equal branches of government

Like the federal government, the Wisconsin state government is divided into three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. Also like the federal government, our three branches are supposed to be co-equal. One branch is not more important than the others. This is because they perform different functions which require different expertise. Perhaps more importantly, they are co-equal so they can provide meaningful checks on the other branches. History is rife with terrible examples of what happens when this balance does not exist.

Since 2011, our Republican-led state legislature has been passing laws, and many of its members have espoused the view that the legislature is and should be the dominant branch of government – taking power away from the Executive and Judicial branches. The two questions on the ballot in August are perhaps the boldest move in that direction and hence would be very bad for Wisconsin.

QUESTION 1: “Delegation of appropriation power. Shall section 35 (1) of article IV of the constitution be created to provide that the legislature may not delegate its sole power to determine how moneys shall be appropriated?”

QUESTION 2: “Allocation of federal moneys. Shall section 35 (2) of article IV of the constitution be created to prohibit the governor from allocating any federal moneys the governor accepts on behalf of the state without the approval of the legislature by joint resolution or as provided by legislative rule?”

What the legislature wants these provisions to mean

The first question asserts that the legislature has the sole power to determine how money will be appropriated (the executive branch in particular has always had a role), but that has never been the case so this would be a big power grab by the legislature.

The second question, in a way, validates our position on the first by giving an example of where the legislature does not have the power to direct funds and that is dollars that come to Wisconsin from the federal government. The legislature wants to give itself this power over federal funds because it doesn’t like when the governor acts to help people when the legislature does not. Also make note that under this provision, if passed, the legislature would act using either a resolution or legislative rule neither of which are subject to a veto.

Two real world examples of how these constitutional amendments would be harmful

In practical terms, here are two examples from the environmental arena, but these provisions affect all state agencies and functions.

First, for years Wisconsin has had a well-compensation program in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. This program provides resources to people who can’t use their water because of contamination. This is a big problem in Wisconsin.

There are thousands of residents with private wells who need help. Historically, this was mostly about nutrient contamination but more recently it is also because of PFAS contamination. Unfortunately, this program initially had certain restrictions that severely limited the number of people this program could help. Indeed, the DNR struggles to spend the state money allocated to the program because of these restrictions. The environmental movement (River Alliance included) has advocated for years for these restrictions to be eased or removed but only with limited success. So when Wisconsin received federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, Governor Evers set aside $10 million dollars for a well-compensation program but without the restrictions.

As we knew would happen, this program had so many applications that it quickly allocated all the funds. That means there are hundreds of families that will now have safe water who would not have but for the governor’s use of these dollars because the legislature has repeatedly refused to help them. What makes this particularly bad is the US EPA recently announced that states could use some of their “emerging contaminate” funding for this kind of program which hopefully means the governor could create a similar program for people with PFAS contamination. He could not take this action if these constitutional amendments are passed.

Second, due to climate change Wisconsin is seeing more and more severe weather events from tornados to torrential rains that cause flooding. The governor can apply for federal disaster relief and direct it quickly to the places that need it. Under these constitutional changes, this could not happen until and unless the legislature granted permission. At best, this causes unnecessary delay at the worst of times, and it could mean no help at all if the legislature does not act. Either outcome is unconscionable.

How these will be interpreted by the State Supreme Court

As a lawyer, there is much about these two questions that is vague. When does federal funding “arrive” in the state? What does it mean for those funds to be accepted by the governor? Can the legislature put its own restrictions or conditions on federal funding or must it accept or reject what the governor proposes? Does this process override the state budget?

The fast answer to these questions is that no one knows. It will be the state supreme court that will determine exactly what the scope of these provisions are. At best, this will cause delay as these questions are litigated which under the examples above means people will suffer needlessly. At worst, they will be interpreted to mean what the legislators have said they want them to mean which, as mentioned above, will be a huge power grab by the legislature.

River Alliance will continue to provide information on these amendments through the summer as we get it. But we know enough already to know these are bad for Wisconsin and we urge you not only to vote NO yourself but also to talk to your friends and neighbors about these as well.

– Bill Davis, Senior Legal Analyst

This message is made possible by generous donors who believe people have the power to protect and restore water. Support our work with your contribution today.

The post Vote NO in August on state constitutional amendments appeared first on River Alliance of WI.

https://wisconsinrivers.org/vote-no-august-13/

State legislature’s inaction on PFAS continues

On: April 16, 2024

In: PFAS, water policy

State legislature’s inaction on PFAS continues

Governor Evers addresses reporters in front of empty Joint Finance committee seats. One would be forgiven if you thought that by creating a $125 million in funding to help affected communities deal with PFAS in the budget that the legislature was actually concerned about the issue and ready to act.

Unfortunately, everything they have done since they approved the state budget undercuts that conclusion. Today is the latest example in which the Joint Finance Committee refused to answer the Governor’s call for a special session to allocate this money. This ignores the urgent need to send these funds to affected communities, and the calls from dozens of citizens asking the Committee to act.

This follows more than nine months of the negotiations around SB 312, a critically flawed bill the state legislature authored to direct the DNR on how to deal with PFAS. The bill, SB 312, didn’t specifically include funding. Worse, it gave polluters too many loopholes to avoid accountability. The Governor vetoed the bill and we supported that action.

While legislators debated SB 312, state budget funds were already approved and waiting to be released to the DNR to help affected communities with water testing, research, and provide safe drinking water to Wisconsin families. The Joint Finance Committee has had the power to release these funds, but partisan political power plays are getting in the way of meaningful action.

The funds would have been released pursuant to the Department of Natural Resources’ February request to allow the following:

provide safe drinking water to affected communities,
fund more water testing,
help municipal water treatment facilities and businesses find alternatives for clean
drinking water,
help those with contaminated private drinking wells,
cover costs with disposal of contamination, and
support further research into the PFAS problem.

The DNR’s formal request for state budget funds has clear direction for the agency to take action to reduce or prevent exposure to PFAS chemicals in water. The funding requested is aligned with the programs in SB 312 that everyone agrees with, and which passed both houses of the legislature.

This is an urgent matter that has been waiting for action for more than 280 days. Wisconsinites deserve action, not meaningless arguments about “legislative intent,” and should not have to wait any longer for access to safe water.

Read more about this issue in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin Public Radio, and via the Associated Press.

– Stacy Harbaugh, Communications Director

This message is made possible by generous donors who believe people have the power to protect and restore water. Support our work with your contribution today.

The post State legislature’s inaction on PFAS continues appeared first on River Alliance of WI.

https://wisconsinrivers.org/pfas-inaction-continues/

How to use the Clean Water Act to protect local waters

On: April 2, 2024

In: water policy

How to use the Clean Water Act to protect local waters

In early 2024, River Network, Midwest Environmental Advocates, Wisconsin Lakes, and River Alliance of Wisconsin joined forces to teach clean water advocates how to use the Clean Water Act to protect and restore local waters.

The workshops gave an overview of Clean Water Act programs, how they fit together and how to use River Network’s recently updated Clean Water Act Owner’s Manual. Local advocates shared real-world case studies on how they used the Clean Water Act to protect their waters and communities.

The webinars are now available on YouTube, courtesy of Wisconsin Lakes.

WPDES Permitting Program Implementation

Speaker: Rob Lee, Staff Attorney, Midwest Environmental Advocates
Learn about the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ implementation of the Clean Water Act, Section 404 surface water pollution permitting program (including permitting basics like the length of permit terms, renewals, etc.), identification of regulated substances, development of effluent limits for specific discharges into specific bodies of water, schedules for compliance with and variances to water quality standards, and how the general public can participate in the permitting process.

CAFO Regulation and Wetland Regulation

Speakers: Adam Voskuil, Staff Attorney and Rob Lee, Staff Attorney, Midwest Environmental Advocates 
MEA Staff Attorney Adam Voskuil will discuss large, industrial-agricultural operations called concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and how the Department of Natural Resources regulates CAFOs and their discharges to surface water and groundwater. MEA Staff Attorney Rob Lee will discuss the regulation of wetlands fill in Wisconsin, including the permitting process, substantive permitting standards, and public participation opportunities. Attorney Lee will also discuss the interplay between federal and state wetland regulations and how a recent decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, Sackett v. EPA, impacts that interplay.

Clean Water Act’s TMDLs and Nine-key element plans

Speaker: Bill Davis, Senior Legal Analyst, River Alliance of Wisconsin
Get a general overview of the Clean Water Act before diving into learning about Total Maximum Daily Loads and Nine-Key Element Plans and how local groups and advocates can best use them to drive improvements in their local waters.

This message is made possible by generous donors who believe people have the power to protect and restore water. Support our work with your contribution today.

The post How to use the Clean Water Act to protect local waters appeared first on River Alliance of WI.

https://wisconsinrivers.org/clean-water-act-workshops/

Wisconsin water policy wrap up: when standing still means falling behind

On: March 6, 2024

In: water policy, Wisconsin Water Agenda

Wisconsin water policy wrap up: when standing still means falling behind

When we look back at the 2023-24 legislative session, there was no major erosion of environmental policy in Wisconsin. There weren’t any major advancements either. In that sense, it was pretty quiet. But we saw severe drought conditions in much of our state, punctuated by flooding caused by dramatic and all too-common heavy rain events. And once again, thousands of Wisconsinites still can’t drink their water due to PFAS and nutrient contamination.

When we need leadership in the face of a changing climate and a strong defense of our water, standing still is actually falling behind.

State Budget

The state budget mostly maintained the status quo. It’s good we didn’t see the types of severe budget cuts we have seen in the past. However, considering inflation and a thinning staff, our Department of Natural Resources has less to work with than it did twenty years ago. Meanwhile, the workload has exploded due to PFAS, high-capacity wells, and CAFOs.

A bright spot in the state budget was the $125 million set aside in a PFAS trust fund intended to aid Wisconsinites with contaminated drinking water. However, state legislators did not give the DNR the authority to spend the funds. Instead, Senators Wimberger and Cowles authored Senate Bill 312.

Eyes on PFAS policy: Senate Bill 312

While there is wide agreement that “innocent landowners,” municipalities, and individuals on contaminated private wells need help addressing the PFAS problem, what began as a simple exercise in defining how money should be spent to help Wisconsin families became a tug-of-war over language that could exempt some responsible parties for clean up.

As a result, more costs of dealing with PFAS could be passed along to taxpayers by weakening the ability of the DNR to enforce our spills law. In addition, SB 312 would not actually authorize the expenditure of the $125 million, meaning it would take additional action by the legislature to spend the money even if the bill became law.

That’s why watchdog groups like River Alliance of Wisconsin and those from affected communities had to say “no” to the bill. Fortunately, the DNR and Governor have made it clear that they will reject a bill with such limitations. Ultimately, the frustrating result is that there has been money available since July of last year that could have been helping people but instead is just sitting untouched.

There is a process that exists for the legislature to release the $125 million, and the Governor and DNR have repeatedly asked legislators to do so. To date, the legislature has refused.

Nutrient pollution

Meanwhile, nutrient pollution continues to be a big and worsening problem with no significant action taken by the legislature to address it. Assembly Bill 220 would create a pilot program in Fenwood Creek to address nutrient pollution in that watershed. The bill passed out of committee with the funding cut in half, but It did not pass either house. Another bill that did not pass was AB 655 which would have created a pilot program to encourage farmers to convert to grazing. Both of these bills proposed pilot programs that originated in farmer-led efforts to improve soil health and water quality.

Natural Resources Board

The state Senate continued to reject Governor Evers’ experienced appointees to the DNR’s Natural Resources Board. This board of Wisconsin citizens votes on policy issues, mostly regarding rule-making details and land purchases. The Senate’s actions are an attempt to hamstring the DNR, the end result being a disempowered agency with a more restricted capacity to protect the health of people and our environment.

In public hearings for NRB appointees, the well-qualified volunteers were grilled by Senators over issues including “breaking” the REINS Act, a law passed during the Walker Administration in 2017 when the legislature amended administrative procedures. The act states that if compliance costs of a rule are more than $10 million in any two-year period, the agency must stop work on a rule and ask the legislature to give them permission to proceed.

Rules such as groundwater standards for PFAS and those to replace lead pipes could cost more than $10 million. Urgent solutions to toxins in our drinking water are the expensive result of unchecked pollution. Now our DNR is without a leader, has unconfirmed NRB appointees, and has stopped progress on groundwater standards due to the REINS Act. Yet the legislature has taken no action to make progress. The Governor asked the DNR to put in a formal request and funding plan to the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee to release the $125 million set aside in the budget to address PFAS contamination. There has been no action on this request as of this writing.

Other concerns with land and zoning policies

The legislature did pass a problematic bill that would transfer public trust lakebed lands to private owners. This issue has been around for years, but we do not think giving away public lands, as this bill does, is the way to move forward and hope the Governor will veto the bill.

Another problematic bill that passed both houses would allow towns to withdraw from county zoning. The bill was amended to protect floodplain and shoreland zoning, but there is no similar provision to protect the Farmland Preservation Program which would make it more difficult for farmers to engage in conservation efforts.

Hope for the future: new state Supreme Court and fair maps

Thanks to pressure created by the state’s highest court, we now have more competitive electoral maps, which could change the makeup of the state legislature. Hopefully this will make a path for water policy that helps people rather than creating loopholes for profit-driven pollution.

Ultimately we cannot wait for solutions from the State Capitol. That’s why our Wisconsin Water Agenda-inspired work to create a comprehensive, integrated water plan for the Central Wisconsin Basin is moving forward. The North Central Regional Planning Commission is interested in taking on this idea, so stay tuned.

– Bill Davis, Senior Legal Analyst

This message is made possible by generous donors who believe people have the power to protect and restore water. Support our work with your contribution today.

The post Wisconsin water policy wrap up: when standing still means falling behind appeared first on River Alliance of WI.

https://wisconsinrivers.org/2023-24-legislative-wrap-up/

River Alliance urges Governor Evers to veto PFAS bill

On: February 26, 2024

In: Drinking Water, PFAS, water policy

River Alliance urges Governor Evers to veto PFAS bill

River Alliance of Wisconsin urges Governor Evers to veto Senate Bill 312.

“PFAS is an urgent issue that needs to be addressed in a serious way,” said River Alliance of Wisconsin Executive Director Allison Werner. “Instead we’ve watched the state legislature play partisan games to score political points with special interest groups like Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. Senate Bill 312 is not the progress we need on PFAS.”

To be clear, Senate Bill 312 does not include an appropriation of funds. Without an appropriation, the bill does not spend the $125 million dollars that the Joint Finance Committee added to the state budget. It would take additional action by the legislature to approve the costs of the programs in SB 312. In addition, PFAS are widespread and expensive to clean up. $125 million is nowhere near enough to meet the current needs of homeowners and municipalities with polluted drinking wells.

If approved, SB 312 would make it harder for the state to hold those responsible for pollution accountable, and severely limit the amount of cleanup that can be done. SB 312 would also limit grant programs only to PFAS substances for which there are standards. As we have seen with the Department of Natural Resources’ past attempts to create groundwater standards for PFAS, this legislature has little interest in such standards being created, thus also limiting any potential impact of SB 312.

For those reasons, the Governor should veto SB 312.

For real progress on PFAS, the Joint Finance Committee should approve the DNR’s request from last December that would allow them to do more testing, get clean drinking water to those who need it, and begin cleanups. The state legislature can and should also let the DNR move ahead with improving groundwater standards on PFAS in drinking water.

“When we play a partisan game with our water, all Wisconsinites lose in the protection of our health and our environment,” said Werner.

This message is made possible by generous donors who believe people have the power to protect and restore water. Support our work with your contribution today.

The post River Alliance urges Governor Evers to veto PFAS bill appeared first on River Alliance of WI.

https://wisconsinrivers.org/veto-sb-312/

Exploring environmental justice through a legal lens

On: June 22, 2022

In: Jennifer Hauxwell, legal fellows, Melissa Scanlan, Misbah Husain, Sarah Martinez, water policy

Environmental justice has been a topic of rising prominence in recent years. Through a partnership between Wisconsin Sea Grant and the Center for Water Policy in the School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), two fellows were hired over the 2021-22 year to conduct special projects in this area through a legal lens.

Fellows Misbah Husain (left) and Sarah Martinez (right) pose by a colorful, Milwaukee-themed mural with Center for Water Policy Director Melissa Scanlan (center).

The two Sea Grant UW Water Science-Policy Fellows were Misbah Husain and Sarah Martinez. (Learn more about them in this UWM story from last September.) As their fellowships wound down, the two gave an engaging webinar last month to summarize their work.

The webinar was hosted by the National Sea Grant Law Center and a recording is available here.

During the webinar, Melissa Scanlan, director of the Center for Water Policy, commented that it was “such a pleasure to be able to work with them” over the past year because both Husain and Martinez are “creative thinkers” when it comes to exploring intersections between water policy and environmental justice.

While watching the full session recording is well worth your time, here’s a brief snippet of what each fellow spoke about.

Martinez, a graduate of the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, investigated barriers to what she termed “blue space access”—meaning lakes, rivers and other aquatic spaces. Systemic racism and economic inequality have formed major hurdles in using these blue spaces.

Martinez also talked about hosting a conversation earlier this year about public rights and Milwaukee’s “Fresh Coast future.” (Here’s public radio coverage of that from WUWM.) The public’s right to access our waters is written into the state’s constitution in the form of the Public Trust Doctrine, which asserts Wisconsinites’ right to navigation, recreation, water quality and the enjoyment of scenic beauty.

Martinez is working on a policy brief on related to Milwaukee’s Fresh Coast future with the Center for Water Policy, as well as two forthcoming law review articles.

Husain, a Boston College Law School graduate who also holds a master’s in social work, spent his fellowship year focusing on links among climate change, disadvantaged communities and flooding. In this context, “disadvantaged communities” can refer to their proximity to pollution, language barriers and other factors.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of his fellowship, said Husain, was working with a wide range of people, from those in academia to government, non-governmental organizations and other entities. He’s currently preparing a law review article with Scanlan.

After the webinar, I checked in with Sea Grant Associate Director Jen Hauxwell, who explained how this partnership between Sea Grant and UWM came about.

“For several years, Sea Grant has been interested in supporting law fellows, but we lacked the legal expertise to provide quality mentorship,” recounted Hauxwell. “Partnering with Melissa Scanlan, a leading legal scholar in water policy, helped us turn our interest into a real possibility.”

Support from Wisconsin Sea Grant and the UW Water Resources Institute also helped bring this idea to life.

“I’m so pleased that we have been able to recruit outstanding new lawyers like Misbah and Sarah to tackle a variety of Wisconsin water challenges, including water justice issues,” said Hauxwell.

The fellowship program will continue in 2022-23. Fellows arriving this fall will be Anya Janssen (JD/MA, University of San Diego) and Andrian Lee (JD, Boston College Law School), both 2022 graduates.

The post Exploring environmental justice through a legal lens first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.