It's been quite the hectic session at the Minnesota Legislature!
The North Star Chapter has been hard at work fighting to defend our air, water, natural lands and communities from rollbacks and attacks by special interests across the board. As we pass the midpoint of the 2018 session, below are a few of the key bills that we are following.
You can help stop these bills by joining us at a Wednesday Night Phone Bank and staying tuned for future action alerts asking you to call the Governor or your representative telling them to vote no for these bills.
Xcel Nuclear Bailout (SF3504/HF3708)
This bill is an attempt to lock in profits for Xcel shareholders from the Prairie Island and Monticello Nuclear Power Plants, without obligating Xcel to do anything to reduce carbon, maintain jobs or protect customers against excessive spending. It allows Xcel to skip the standard review by the Public Utilities Commission to ensure that Xcel’s spending is in the public interest.
Governor Dayton has publicly spoken in opposition to the bill, and is quoted in both major-outlet news stories from the Senate hearing.
"Guilt by Association" Liability (SF3463/HF3693)
The bills assign liability to individuals and entities that are perceived to be "guilty by association" in cases where trespassing results in damage to "critical infrastructure". In other words, if you attend a protest or rally at the site of a pipeline or another controversial infrastructure project, you could be held liable for the actions of other individuals attending that event.
This bill is a clear attempt to intimidate and silence pipeline opposition.
Legislative Approval of Line 3 (SF3510/HF3759)
The Enbridge Line 3 pipeline project is currently pending before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. With a decision expected in June, a process that has taken several years and involved thousands of hours of time and effort by Minnesotans from a wide range of perspectives is coming to a close. This bill would end that process and legislatively approve the line, with no further discussion or consideration of permit conditions, environmental risks or impact on indigenous communities.
Wild Rice Sulfate Standard Nullification (SF2983/HF3280)
Wild rice is a culturally and religiously significant resource for the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) people, and an important economic and environmental resource throughout much of Minnesota. Since the 1970's, Minnesota has had a sulfate pollution standard under the Federal Clean Water Act to protect waters where wild rice grows.
A bill currently under consideration by the Legislature would attempt to nullify this standard, which has not been consistently enforced by the state of Minnesota since its adoption. Such an action would jeopardize Minnesota's authority to enforce water quality standards under the Clean Water Act while providing no protection for this unique resource.
Roads-Only Transportation Funding (SF3837)
Senator Scott Newman’s (R-Hutchinson) proposed constitutional amendment to dedicate a portion of the state's general fund to roads and bridges, exclusively. This bill would hurt people without cars and reduce everyone’s options for cleaner, healthier transportation. It provides zero dollars for transit in the metro and no money for bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure anywhere. AND it takes money from the general fund – taking money away from schools or nurses or the many other uses for general fund dollars.
Chamber of Commerce Water Rollbacks (SF2705/HF3120)
The Chamber's work in this area is focused on undermining the ability of state agencies to effectively protect our environment. Of particular concern in this legislation is a provision that grants a 16 year "holiday" from new water quality standards to local governments and industrial polluters that build new wastewater treatment facilities. In other words, even as new science emerges around contaminants of concern, corporate polluters would be under no obligation to comply with new standards designed to protect human and/or environmental health.
VW Settlement
In 2015, automobile manufacturer Volkswagen (VW) was caught cheating on vehicle emissions tests involving millions of vehicles. A settlement was subsequently reached that will result in roughly $47 million coming to Minnesota over the next decade to be used to reduce air pollution through the purchase of cleaner vehicles and related infrastructure.
As the designated lead agency under the terms of the settlement, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has responsibility for developing Minnesota's state plan for spending the settlement funds and subsequent administrative responsibility for how the funds are used. Despite the clear direction to this effect included in the settlement language, the Legislature has considered a variety of initiatives - last year and again in 2018 - to re-direct or misappropriate settlement funds and/or prevent the MPCA from effectively carrying out it's administrative duties.
Sustainable Packaging Pre-Emption
States all over the country have been adopting so-called "pre-emption bills" on a variety of subjects ranging from environmental protection to labor rights to immigration issues. These bills explicitly remove the authority for local government to adopt rules and ordinances on particular topics within their jurisdictions.
An example of this in Minnesota is a series of bills dating back to 2017 that eliminate the ability for local governments to reduce solid waste by regulating bags and packaging used by retailers. Unfortunately one of these bills - prohibiting cities from adopting bans on disposable plastic bags - passed the Legislature and was signed into law by Governor Dayton in 2017.
This year, there are two bills of concern moving through the Legislature. SF3135/HF3606 would prohibit cities from assessing fees on the use of plastic bags and from regulating or banning the use of other single-use packaging (such as "to go" restaurant containers). A similar bill, SF3253/HF3814 would prohibit cities from assessing fees or taxes on any bag or container used to transport food.
