MARCH 18, 2005 VOLUME 22, NUMBER 11 INSIDE: CLEAN WATER - A LASTING LEGACY, SCHOOLS’ CORE MISSION, GOPHERS - GO FIGURE, MORE This Week’s Bill Introductions HF1743-HF1947 ESSION S Weekly Session Weekly is a nonpartisan publication of the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services offi ce. During the 2005-2006 Legis- lative Session, each issue reports daily House action between Thursdays of each week, lists bill introductions, and provides other information. No fee. ONTENT To subscribe, contact: C S Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services 175 State Offi ce Building HIGHLIGHTS 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. St. Paul, MN 55155-1298 Agriculture • 5 Employment • 8 Local Government • 12 (651) 296-2146 or Business • 5 Energy • 9 Military • 12 1-800-657-3550 Consumers • 5 Family • 9 Recreation • 13 TTY (651) 296-9896 http://www.house.mn/hinfo/subscribesw.asp Crime • 6 Health • 9 Safety • 14 Development • 6 Higher Education • 10 Taxes • 14 Education • 7 Housing • 10 Transportation • 14 Director Barry LaGrave Elections • 8 Human Services • 11 Editor/Assistant Director Lee Ann Schutz BILL INTRODUCTIONS (HF1743-HF1947) • 18-23 Assistant Editor Mike Cook Art & Production Coordinator FEATURES Paul Battaglia FIRST READING: A new direction and resources for clean water • 3 Writers Ruth Dunn, Patty Janovec, CAPITOL CENTENNIAL: The golden gopher • 4 Brett Martin, Matt Wetzel, Nicole Wood SPEAKING OF THE HOUSE: It’s in the cards • 15 Chief Photographer AT ISSUE: What should be the core mission of schools? • 16 Tom Olmscheid NEW MEMBER PROFILES: Lillie and Peterson • 17 Photographers Andrew VonBank, Sarah Stacke Staff Assistants Christy Novak, Laura Noe DEPARTMENTS/RESOURCES Session Weekly (ISSN 1049-8176) is pub- lished weekly during the legislative session by Minnesota Index: State Aqua • 24 For More Information: • 24 Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services offi ce, 175 State Offi ce Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155-1298. Periodicals postage paid at Minneapolis, Minn. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Session Weekly, Public Information Services offi ce, Minnesota House of Representatives, 175 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155-1298. On the cover: The post World War II statue, “The Promise of Youth,” frames the Capitol building. Created Printed on recycled paper which is 50% recycled, 30% post-consumer content. by Alonzo Hauser, it is meant to symbolize the youth of a nation looking for the promise of peace. The statue was placed near the Veterans Service Building in 1958. —Photo by: Sarah Stacke 2 March 18, 2005 IRST READING F★ ★ ★ PHOTO BY TOM OLMSCHEID One of the goals of the Clean Water Legacy Act is to assess the water quality in all of Minnesota lakes within the next 10 years, including this one in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Among the pass/fail criteria are chemical, physical or biological measures, but the big A lasting legacy picture is not so complicated. New direction and resources for clean water eff orts “Is it swimmable? Can you eat the fi sh out of it?” It can be a tough standard to reach but it’s not a tough standard to understand, Ozment said. BY NICOLE WOOD approved the measure March 16. It now moves The best science indicates that Minnesota innesota spends $1 million a day to the House Agriculture, Environment and could have 10,000 polluted water bodies by the on water quality issues. Yet it’s not Natural Resources Finance Committee. end of the decade, according to PCA Commis- M enough to keep up with the require- A companion bill (SF762), sponsored by sioner Sheryl Corrigan. ments of the federal Clean Water Act, accord- Sen. Dennis R. Frederickson (R-New Ulm), There are already 2,000 water bodies on ing to proponents of a clean water proposal awaits action in the Senate State and Local the state’s impaired waters listing, and only that’s making waves at the Capitol. Government Operations Committee. 14 percent of the lakes and 8 percent of the Cleaning up the state’s surface waters is streams have been assessed so far. going to take more money and better coordi- The Clean Water Act of 1972 Once a water body is deemed impaired, the nation, they say, to prevent the state from be- HF826 aims to protect, restore and preserve next step is to compile a document known as a coming the Land of 10,000 Impaired Lakes. Minnesota’s surface waters and ensure compli- “TMDL report” that determines the pollution Advocates warn that noncompliance with ance with the federal Clean Water Act of 1972. sources and the amount of cleanup needed to the impaired waters provisions pose a triple According to the Environmental Protection restore the watershed, and then make reason- threat of environmental degradation, litiga- Agency (EPA), the federal entity charged with able progress toward restoration. tion and increased federal regulation. Fur- enforcing the act, it is “the cornerstone of surface TMDL is the acronym for Total Maximum thermore, it places economic development water quality protection in the United States.” Daily Load. By EPA defi nition, a TMDL is in a precarious position because there are The responsibility for monitoring surface “a calculation of the maximum amount of a restrictions to development where contami- waters falls mainly on the states. In Min- pollutant that a water body can receive and nated waters exist. nesota, the task is delegated to the Pollution still meet water quality standards, and an HF826, the so-called Clean Water Lega- Control Agency (PCA). Every two years, the allocation of that amount to the pollutant’s cy Act, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Ozment agency is required to submit to the EPA a re- sources.” (R-Rosemount), would establish both a policy port that summarizes the state’s water quality Put quite simply, a TMDL is a fi x-it plan. framework and a funding mechanism to deal information and a listing of those water bodies with the state’s impending water quality woes. that are failing to meet the standards set for First Reading continued on page 4 The House Local Government Committee their designated uses. March 18, 2005 Session Weekly 3 First Reading continued from page 3 systems. The proposed fees are $36 per year administrative burden on counties.” on residential units (including multi-unit The fee is imposed without regard to a pay- Clean Water oversight and funding dwellings and individual septic systems), with er’s contribution to the water quality problems When the impaired waters issue resurfaced an exemption for certain low-income people, and regardless of a community’s past efforts to in 2003, the Legislature ordered the agency to and a tiered fee on non-residential service clean up waters, said Kari Thurlow, a lobbyist organize a group of people and agencies with a connections of $120, $300 or $600 per year for the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities. special interest in tackling the problem — in- based on discharge. It would be more equitable to try to identify cluding conservation organizations; local, state, The fee would be collected by the public General Fund dollars, she said. federal, and tribal offi cials; farmers; business agency that currently collects sewer fees. The Craig Johnson, a League of Minnesota Cities owners; builders and PCA would collect from the permitted facili- intergovernmental relations representative and a developers — and ties currently under its jurisdiction. Counties G16 member, said the goal was to come up with report back with a would be required to collect the fees from a package that would at least meet enough of the policy framework individual septic system owners and identify criteria of the Legislature and the governor to and fi nancing ideas. by Aug. 15, 2005, a list of all the people served move it forward as a legitimate proposal. The core group of by these systems. “Since none of us really felt it was a viable stakeholders is com- The fees would be deposited in a clean water year to be coming into the Legislature and monly referred to as legacy account in the state treasury. The money expecting you to just magically create new “the G16.” could be used for grants and loans for impaired General Fund revenues out of existing revenue Out of this broad, waters identifi cation and restoration activities, streams, we had to come up with some sugges- diverse coalition wastewater and stormwater treatment projects, tion of how we would recommend that could came recommen- individual sewage treatment system upgrades be done,” he said. dations that form and other preventive measures. Even the bill sponsor said he is “uncom- the backbone of the fortable” with the fee in its current form. PHOTO BY TOM OLMSCHEID bill: the creation of a The opposition However, he is seeking alternatives rather than Clean Water Coun- It’s not as though opponents to HF826 are delete-all amendments. With Rep. Dennis Ozment watching, cil, fee and account. rallying in the Capitol Rotunda, carrying “It is not fair to those who have spent two Gordon Cumming, ex- Under the bill, an “Mercury Now” and “Phosphorus Forever” years putting the bill together to just delete ecutive director of the 18-member coun- placards. Much of the opposition is a matter their proposal from the bill and provide no Cannon River Water- cil would be cre- of process — the fee, its collection mechanism alternative,” Ozment wrote in an open letter shed Partnership, testi- ated to coordinate and disbursement plan — rather than policy. to House members and staff. “Please bring fies March 14 before your ideas to the table on how to improve the the House Local Gov- the cleanup efforts.