Senate Environmental, Natural Resources & Energy Committee
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Senate Environmental, Natural Resources & Energy Committee Meeting Official Minutes 149th General Assembly Second Session Committee Meeting Wednesday June 6th, 2018 1:30 p.m. Senate Chamber Meeting Room Meeting Attendance Committee Members: Present: Senator Harris McDowell [email protected] 302-744-4147 Senator Stephanie Hansen [email protected] 302-744-4138 Senator Jack Walsh [email protected] 302-744-4163 Senator Ernesto Lopez [email protected] 302-744-4136 Senator Gerald Hocker [email protected] 302-744-4144 Staff: Anthony Bernadzikowski [email protected] 302-744-4269 Attendees: Organization: Phone: Paul Norrill Committee of 100 Mike Riemann ACEC/HBA Bobby Horsey David Horsey and Sons 1 Mike Scuse Department of Agriculture Rick Armitage DRA Bob Palmer DNREC David Sodeikis DNREC Rob Hosster DNREC Robert Tunnel III Tunnel Co. Jeff Hague DSSA Scott Kidner Bruce Ennis Delaware State Senate Agenda: Senator McDowell brought the meeting to order at 1:05 pm. Senator Walsh then called for a motion to accept the minutes of the previous meeting on May 9th, 2018. The motion was seconded and received unanimous approval from members of the committee. SB 204 (Hocker) – AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 26 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO STORMWATER MANAGEMENT. Synopsis: Section 1 through 4 of this Act establish interim standards and criteria in order to permit redevelopment projects to move forward while revised regulations are being drafted. The interim standards set forth in this Act would effectively "sunset" upon the adoption of regulations governing redevelopment. The redevelopment regulations, upon formal adoption, would supersede the provisions of the Bill. Section 4 corrects an oversight in prior legislation, which extended the time frame for Department review of delegated projects from 3 to 5 years, but failed to extend the effective date of delegation from 3 to 5 years. Section 5 codifies current and proposed regulations as they pertain to stormwater management to ensure consistency. Section 6 is intended to clarify the procedural status of supporting materials published by DNREC to facilitate compliance with the Regulations, in light of the Order of the Delaware Supreme Court in Baker v. DNREC, No. 552, 2015 (April 15, 2016), affirming the Memorandum Opinion of the Honorable T. Henley Graves of the Superior Court, dated October 7, 2015. Consistent with the Delaware Administrative Procedures Act, regulatory guidance documents, interpretive rules, and general statements of policy adopted pursuant to this exception must still be published in the Delaware Register of Regulations, in order to provide notice of the changes. The language confirming the exemption is drawn from federal administrative law, 5 U.S.C.A. §553, and equivalent provisions of the New Jersey Code, 52:14B-3a, governing such supporting materials. The regulatory guidance documents, interpretive rules, and general statements of policy may not be used by DNREC to impose new or additional requirements on regulated parties, and may not be used, instead of the Code provisions and the Stormwater Regulations, as a basis for enforcement. Such materials are therefore not regulations, and not are not subject to the notice, 2 hearing, or comment procedures of the Administrative Procedures Act or Title 7, or the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Rather, DNREC is free to publish periodic updates and revisions of its technical manuals, checklists, forms, and policy memos, to assist regulated parties in compliance with the Regulations. Section 7 creates a sunset date for sections 1, 2, and 5 to give the Department additional time to fully enact regulations. It is the intent that sections 1, 2, and 5 will sunset upon having a finalized version of Sediment and Stormwater Regulations. Senator Hocker explained that the bill was worked out was worked out between regulations with the agriculture department and DNREC, and that the bill would sunset with those final regulations were approved. He said that it was a bipartisan bill and that all stakeholders involved seemed to be pleased with it. Senator Walsh asked for a timeline on the approval of the regulations and the sunset of the bill’s provisions. Mr. Bob Palmer of DNREC stated that his goal was to have them through by January 2019 and that they were on track to meet that goal. Sen. McDowell asked for further comment, and Mr. Mike Riemann of Morgan Becker Group rose to speak. Mr. Riemann mentioned that he was there representing the homeowner’s association and the American Council of Engineers. He said that this bill formalized what had already been agreed to at the RAC. Sen. McDowell asked for an explanation of what the RAC was, and Mr. Riemann mentioned that it was the Regulatory Advisory Committee. He mentioned that they addressed redevelopment provisions on RAC and that the bill allows them to enforce those provisions sooner rather than later. He expressed his support for the bill. Sen. Hocker mentioned that the RAC committee was set up by DNREC and Secretary Small. Mr. Scott Kidner rose on behalf of most involved stakeholders (Committee of 100, Horsey and Sons, etc.) to express his support for the legislation. He expressed his support for the bill and recommended its release. Sen. McDowell asked him if he was there representing realtors. Mr. Kidner said that this was not the case anymore. Mr. Bobby Horsey rose to speak and mentioned that he was put on the RAC in 2015. He explained that the bill consisted of three parts: the redevelopment, section 4006 (not following the APA process), and language concerning the erosion control handbook. Sen. McDowell asked for any comment. Sen. Lopez expressed his willingness to sign on as a cosponsor. Sen. McDowell then called for a vote on releasing the bill. It was passed unanimously and passed for signatures. SB 198 (Ennis) – AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO REGULATIONS AND PROHIBITIONS CONCERNING GAME AND FISH. Synopsis: This Bill eliminates the prohibition against hunting for deer on Sundays. Additionally, it maintains the applicable agency regulating public lands authority and discretion to regulate, including prohibition of, deer hunting on Sundays. Lastly, the bill allows for the harvesting of deer on Sundays through DNREC’s deer depredation programs. 3 Senator Bruce Ennis introduced the legislation on behalf of the Carney administration, noting that Gov. Carney serves on the Sportsman’s Caucus. He explained that the bill was the product of cooperation between DNREC and the Department of Fish and Wildlife and gave a brief overview of this. Sen. McDowell asked Secretary of Agriculture Michael Scuse for clarification on the private provisions of the bill. Sec. Scuse clarified that it did not mandate private owners to do anything – it only lifted a prohibition on Sunday hunting. He also mentioned that the bill was one of many tasks that needed to be moved forward in order to address the number of deer in the State of Delaware. He mentioned that the Ag Department was not actively recruiting young adults to take part in hunting anymore. He also mentioned that the existing 5-Sunday hunting policy has brought forth no conflict between hunters and non-hunters and clarified that there were certain areas where hunting would be entirely prohibited. An unnamed representative of the National Rifle Association spoke to express his organization’s support for the bill. Mr. Jeff Hager of Delaware Sportsmen thanked Senator Ennis for sponsoring the bill and expressed his support. Sen. Hansen expressed her support for the bill as well, noting that the Native Species Commission was in favor of the bills intentions. Sen. McDowell called for a vote on the legislation and it was passed unanimously. The bill was passed around for signatures. Sen. McDowell adjourned the meeting. Meeting minutes prepared by Anthony Bernadzikowski. 4 .