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Buffer law, fee increases on table as environment conference committee starts

Rep. Dan Fabian, left, and Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, co-chairs of the omnibus environment and natural resources finance conference committee, follow along during a walk-through of the side-by-side and spreadsheet comparisons April 19. Photo by Andrew VonBank
Rep. Dan Fabian, left, and Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, co-chairs of the omnibus environment and natural resources finance conference committee, follow along during a walk-through of the side-by-side and spreadsheet comparisons April 19. Photo by Andrew VonBank

Fee increases at state parks, delays in the buffer law, even who can use scopes on muzzleloaders, are just a few of the issues up for negotiation as the omnibus environment, natural resources policy and finance conference committee met for the first time Wednesday.

Sponsored by Rep. Dan Fabian (R-Roseau) and Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen (R-Alexandria), HF888*/SF723 would fund and give direction to the state’s environment and natural resources work over the next few years. 

While the bills are very similar and most of the discrepancies minor or technical in nature, there are several areas where the House and Senate bills differ more significantly.

Those include a $2 daily increase for daily state park permits and $10 annual increase included in the House bill, and a two-year extension of the current deadlines to implement buffer requirements included in the Senate’s legislation.

Both versions of the bill would change the composition of the Environmental Quality Board, which now oversees environmental permitting and regulatory compliance. But the House language would also remove a number of the board’s duties, including the authority to initiate investigations and review state agency programs that impact the environment.

While there was no discussion of their differences at the meeting, members did listen for nearly two hours as staff went through the respective bills section by section explaining each difference.

Other notable differences include:

  • the House allowing those owning property adjacent to a proposed mining operation to petition the Department of Natural Resources for a contested case hearing;
  • the Senate prohibiting trapping on private property without written permission;
  • the House allowing counties, either partially or completely north of Highway 2, to file no-net-gain policies with the DNR;
  • the House removing the age restriction for use of scopes on muzzleloaders;
  • the Senate allowing hunters to wear blaze pink; and
  • the House indemnifying those who could be liable for cleanup costs of the Freeway Sanitary Landfill.

The conference committee plans to meet again Thursday to hear public testimony.


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