SierraScape December 2004 - January 2005
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by Becky Denney
The MO Dept of Natural Resources put out News Release 352 on November 1, 2004 "New Sand and Gravel Rules will help protect Water Quality." The Land Reclamation Program which permits and inspects commercial operators during the life of their sand and gravel operation will incorporate these new rules into permits issued or renewed over the 12 months following October 1, 2004.
Steve Mahfood, DNR Director, said this in the press release, "The purpose of these new rules is to set standards to protect Missouri streams while allowing the extraction of sand and gravel resources from the stream environment."
The Land Reclamation Program originally proposed rules that were published in the Missouri Register in September 2001. These were the guidelines that the US Corps of Engineers issued in 1995 and are also called Best Management Practices. They were developed by government agencies, the public, and industry in 1995 and had been used by all operators up to September 2001.
There were objections to simply accepting the rules as published so public meetings and a formal hearing were held. Cynthia Andre in her super article in the Ozark Sierran, October-December 2002 "Headcutting and Hungry Water," relates "The public hearings were attended predominately by operators, representatives of companies using gravel, and those who are currently statutorily exempted from the permitting process-government entities and private landowners. The comments were overwhelmingly negative, threatening to end the process. When those interested in protecting streams were finally alerted to the situation, however, the Commission received approximately 200 letters in favor of adopting the guidelines."
A 44 member workgroup which seemed to include anybody that wanted to attend was appointed by the Land Rec Commission and met to draft new rules on September 9, 2002. The Sierra Club was represented by Carla Klein and Cynthia Andre. I missed the September meeting but attended the October, November, and December meetings as the Stream Team rep. The meetings were usually contentious but by the last meeting we had three choices on each guideline with one usually having a majority of the votes. The Land Reclamation Commission considered the options from the workgroup at its March 2003 meeting.
The Land Rec Commission finally approved this last set of proposed rules and they were entered into the Missouri Register in February 2004 for another 90-day comment period with a public hearing in March 2004. The members of the Land Rec Commission finally approved these rules on May 1, 2004. A property rights person and a lobbyist from the Farm Bureau still complained and threatened to derail the rulings but at this point all procedures had been followed and the rules proceeded through the steps to become part of Missouri state statues on October 1, 2004.
In 2003 Missouri State Senate Bill 360 was passed out of committee and would have exempted commercial operators who mine less than 5000 tons per year. This bill was later attached to SB36 and both became SS SCS SB36. Again in February 2004 Senators Steelman and Clemens introduced SB1315 which would have allowed an operator to mine gravel for a landowner for "managing seasonal gravel accretion" but would have lost the Land Rec Program an estimated $28,000. I don't think it was voted out of committee. These bills have applied to the permitting rules whereas the workgroup was concerned with the amendment about performance standards.
Under the permitting rules private landowners that mine sand and gravel for their own use are exempt from the state permitting and performance rules. The military is also exempt. And, political subdivisions such as counties can use their own equipment to mine without a permit in which case they aren't regulated by the Land Rec program.
If you believe as I do that we need to protect stream habitat, riparian forests and erosion of streamside property whether public or private, please be prepared to take action! We may ask for you help after the legislative session starts. Your letter, telephone call or e-mail to your Missouri state senator and legislator will help keep the newly won protections in place.
For examples of some of the damage that commercial operators have done check out: www.mostreamteam.org/gravel/sandgrav.htm.
(For MO Dept of Natural Resources News releases visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel)