Kara Josephson and Justin Fay
Elections have consequences. Unfortunately, a consequence of the 2016 election for Minnesota’s Legislature was a dire political environment for work to protect our state’s clean water, clean air and the health of our communities. Heavily influenced by corporate interests and an ideological agenda, the legislative majority introduced numerous bills aimed at rolling back bedrock environmental protections, clean energy incentives, funding for public transit and more.
These misguided attacks had Sierra Club staff, volunteers and citizen advocates working overtime this session to hold the line in defense of Minnesota’s natural environment. Together, working with numerous allies, we were able to fight off some of most egregious provisions, but of course, could not stop them all. See below for a list of the major environment, energy, and transit proposals from this session and what the final outcomes were.
All in all, the 2017 session was most certainly a step backwards for our environment. Of those provisions that passed, among the worst was a change that makes it harder for citizens to challenge controversial mining permits through a contested case hearing. Advanced by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and mining industry groups, this provision sets a troubling new precedent: that land ownership status is an acceptable factor for limiting citizen access to legal remedies such as contested case hearings. This leaves Minnesotans who rent, small businesses with a lease, recreational users of public lands and other stakeholders with a steeper climb in order to successfully challenge decisions on permits to mine.
Another deeply troubling provision was a weakening of protections for clean energy customers served by rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities. Back in 2015, the Legislature allowed these utilities to apply fixed charges on clean energy customers who use net metering. Predictably, some utilities immediately began abusing this authority by applying unreasonable and discriminatory fees on customers who installed home-based small wind and solar options. The one protection in existing law for these customers has been oversight by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, and even this nominal control was removed for most net metering customers this session. Governor Dayton vetoed similar legislation early in the 2017 session, however another (modestly compromised) version of this legislation was signed into law as part of the final budget agreement.
One of the most frustrating aspects of this session was the incredibly poor public process used to advance these ill-conceived bills. Despite starting in January, the majority of the bills, including the large omnibus “budget” bills filled with unrelated policy provisions, were introduced and passed quickly in the final hours of session (and subsequent Special Session), oftentimes in the middle of the night, with little to no opportunity for public input or participation. Even the legislators themselves, especially those in the minority party, were often given little notice or time to read the 100+ page bills before being asked to vote. How bad did it get? At one point, #darkofnight was a trending hashtag on Twitter! As a grassroots, volunteer-led organization, we vehemently oppose this model of governance, and urge leaders in the House and Senate to take public participation and transparency seriously in future sessions.
Despite these incredibly difficult circumstances, Sierra Club members and volunteers rose to the occasion - as they always seem to do! Thanks to thousands of phone calls, post cards, emails and letters, we kept the pressure on legislators all session long. And despite some significant setbacks, the impacts are clear: we defeated efforts to circumvent public oversight for tar sands pipelines, protected proceeds from the Volkswagen settlement for critical clean air resources, kept our public agencies intact and defended the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board.
Thank you to everyone who took action this year. Our work is never finished - the next session is a mere eight months away - but with your ongoing help and support, we will continue to stand up to special interests and ensure that Minnesota’s natural legacy will remain intact for generations to come.
Kara Josephson is Legislative Coordinator and Justin Fay is Senior Chapter Representative for the North Star Chapter.
Environment Provisions Sierra Club Opposed
Initial proposal | Final Outcome |
Transferring final decisions on contested case hearings from an agency Commissioner to the Office of Administrative Hearings | Not included in final bill |
Transferring final decisions on science underlying all water-related decisions by the MPCA Commissioner to the Office of Administrative Hearings |
Not included in final bill |
Allowing contested case hearings on draft impaired waters list | Not included in final bill |
Duplicative external review of agency rules, standards and permits | Not included in final bill |
Requiring legislative appropriation of VW Settlement funds (estimated to be $47 million for MN), which could risk our state’s eligibility to receive the funds | Not included in final bill |
Doubling the size a proposed feedlot can be (up to 2,000 animal units) before environmental review is triggered | Not included in final bill |
Allowing counties to adopt “no net gains” of public lands rules | Not included in final bill |
Rollbacks to buffer law | Not included in final bill; new language to allow extensions on individual basis agreed to in final negotiations |
Environmental Quality Board elimination | Not included in final bill; final bill does make changes to Board membership and eliminates some existing duties of the Board |
Reducing supply of groundwater to calcareous fens | Compromise language included in final bill allows, rather than requires, DNR to issue water appropriation permits (modest but insufficient improvement) |
Eliminating MPCA authority to adopt air quality rules for silica sand facilities | Compromise language included in final bill retains MPCA’s authority to complete these rules |
Limiting citizen rights to a contested case hearing for mining issues based on property ownership | Included in final bill |
Allowing permit applicants to buy their way into an expedited permit | Included in final bill |
Requiring agencies to begin permit review process before the data is complete | Included in final bill |
Allowing polluters to prepare their own draft EIS | Included in final bill |
Exempting cities that build public water treatment facilities from having to make updates to comply with clean water standards for 16 years | Included in final bill |
Delaying rules limiting use of lead shot | Included in final bill |
Raiding $22 million of Legacy Amendment Clean Water funds for ongoing general operations for local Soil and Water Conservation Districts across the state | Included in final bill |
Environment Provisions Sierra Club Supported
Initial Proposal | Final Outcome |
Establishing goal of improving water quality by 25% by the year 2025 | Not included in final bill |
‘Prove it first’ mining bill | Not included in final bill |
Energy and Commerce Provisions Sierra Club Opposed
Initial Proposal | Final Outcome |
Exemptions from the certificate of need process for oil and gas pipelines | Not included in final bill |
Restricting the consideration of alternative routes for pipelines | Not included in final bill |
Requiring legislative appropriation of VW Clean Air Act Settlement funds (estimated to be $47 million for MN), which could risk our state’s eligibility to receive the funds | Not included in final bill |
Forcing PUC to prioritize job retention and economic development above other considerations when reviewing integrated resource plans | Not included in final bill |
Politicizing the Public Utilities Commission by having members appointed by all four political caucuses as well as the Governor, and removing recent Dayton appointees before their term was scheduled to end | Not included in final bill |
Removal of PUC oversight of fixed charges brought by rural electric cooperatives on solar customers | Compromise language included in final bill allows coop customers to obtain a mediator with coop picking up majority of the cost |
Eliminate Renewable Development Fund, replace with unrestricted legislative fund and sunset payments from nuclear dry storage casks | Compromise language included in final bill includes some statutory guidance and no longer sunsets the fund payments |
Eliminating Made in Minnesota solar manufacturing program | Compromise language included in final bill expands and extends the Solar Rewards production incentive program for 3 years |
Exempting small utilities from the state’s Conservation Improvement Program | Included in final bill |
Plastic bag preemption | Included in final bill; final language does not include a ban on fees/taxes as proposed in earlier versions |
Authorizing Xcel to bypass the PUC’s certificate of need process to construct, own, and operate a natural-gas power plant on the site of the current Sherco coal-fired plants | Passed into law as a stand alone bill early in session (HF 113) |
Energy Provisions Sierra Club Supported
Initial Proposal | Final Outcome |
Establishing statewide goal of 50% renewables by 2030 | Not included in final bill |
Transportation Provisions Sierra Club Opposed
Initial Proposal | Final Outcome |
Requiring legislative appropriation of VW Clean Air Act Settlement funds (estimated to be $47 million for MN), which could risk our state’s eligibility to receive the funds | Not included in final bill |
Governance changes to the Metropolitan Council | Not included in final bill |
Language benefitting suburban opt-out providers at expense to Metro Transit | Not included in final bill |
Restrictions to local units of government on constructing light rail | Not included in final bill |
Base funding cuts to Metro Transit | Final budget includes $70 million in “one time” funding for Metro Transit; not adequate to avoid damaging rate hikes and potential service cuts |
Electric Vehicle Fee of $75 per year | Included in final bill |
State Government Provisions Sierra Club Opposed
Initial Proposal | Final Outcome |
Rulemaking provisions from Chamber of Commerce’s bill (HF 1433) that would’ve significantly restricted the ability of agencies to regulate our air, water, food, etc. | Not included in final bill
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