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State Representative Rick Hansen
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-6828
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Press/News Releases
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY BILL TAKES MINNESOTA BACKWARD
(ST. PAUL) – Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed HF 2164, the Omnibus Environment Policy Bill. The bill contains several controversial provisions, including severely weakening the Pollution Control Agency (PCA) and wetland protections.
State Representative Rick Hansen (DFL – South St. Paul) released the following statement:
“Prevention is cheaper than clean-up. Minnesota has a strong, bi-partisan history of initiating, developing and implementing environmental protection. This bill rolls back many policies and provisions that protect the environment and limit public expenses. One item in the bill specifically removes the statewide elected officials’ authority to approval mineral leases.
“Removing common sense accountability provisions and weakening oversight of the public resources is the wrong way to go. I specifically tried to amend the bill to look forward to preventing aquatic invasive species and keep critical wetland protections. Most amendments were unsuccessful.
“Unlike the Legacy bill approved yesterday which was approved with large, bi-partisan support, this bill squeaked by with a small majority. We can do better. As it moves forward, I would hope that the bill will be dramatically changed to protect the public resources, rather than private interests. If not, it should be vetoed."
News Items
- Rep. Rick Hansen chosen as leader of Great Lakes Legislative Caucus - (Posted: Dec 27 2012 8:34AM)
- Need Holiday Gifts? Consider DNR Gift Cards - (Posted: 2012-11-27 00:00:00)
- Looking Forward to Serving, Getting the Job Done - (Posted: 2012-11-14 00:00:00)
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