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State Representative Joe Schomacker
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5505
For more information contact: Jason Wenisch 651-296-2317
NEWS RELEASE
REP. SCHOMACKER SUPPORTS PLAN TO IMPROVE PERMITTING PROCESS
ST. PAUL – Southwestern Minnesota has long struggled to encourage business expansion here due to our state’s cumbersome permitting and regulations process – to the delight of communities in Iowa and South Dakota.
State Representative Joe Schomacker (R-Luverne) wants to change that, and said he supports a bill that would simplify Minnesota’s permitting process and allow business owners expand more quickly.
“Time and time again we’ve heard from business owners and farmers who’ve waited for more than a year for a government agency to approve their business plan,” Schomacker said. “That’s unacceptable, particularly when we’re trying to encourage people to grow jobs in Minnesota and invest in our communities.”
Schomacker said House File 1 contains six initiatives that would shorten the amount of time it takes for a business owner to receive a permit, including:
• Establish a 150 day goal for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to issue permits and require a report on applications not meeting that goal.
• Eliminate district court review of environmental review decisions and send all appeals directly to the Court of Appeals.
• Allow a project proposer the option to prepare the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), rather than a responsible government unit such as a state agency or local government.
• Require that final decisions on permits be made within 30 days – rather than 90 days – of the final approval of an EIS.
• Repeal MPCA rule prohibiting construction before permit issuance for projects requiring National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) water permits.
• Require MPCA rulemaking for air, water and hazardous waste that adopts standards more stringent than any similar federal standard to include documentation that the federal standard does not provide adequate protection for public health and the environment as well as a comparison of the proposed standard with standards in border states and the states within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5.
“Business owners have made it clear that they’re tired of the permitting uncertainty that continues to take place in Minnesota,” Schomacker said. “We’ve lost enough business to South Dakota and Iowa, and its time we created a system that protects our environment while putting our permitting process on a faster track. I believe this legislation will accomplish that goal.”
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