Enviros' Top Ten Worst Budget Amendments by Assembly Republicans
Enviros' Top Ten Worst Budget Amendments by Assembly Republicans |
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NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Keith Reopelle, (608) 251-7020,
Wisconsin's Environmental Decade,
122 State St #200, Madison WI 53703
Caryl Terrell, (608) 256-0565,
Sierra Club-John Muir Chapter,
222 S Hamilton St #1, Madison WI 53703
(Madison) July 11, 1997
Today representatives of several state consumer, public interest,
rural and environmental organizations denounced the Assembly
Republican budget amendments on the environment.
"The Assembly Republicans are declaring war on the environment and on
the health of our families with their budget proposals," said Caryl
Terrell, Legislative Coordinator of the statewide Sierra Club.
Environmentalists released a list of Top Ten Anti-Environmental Budget
Amendments.
"These are just 10 of the more blatant and hostile amendments which
hurt the environment; there are many others," said Keith Reopelle,
Legislative Director for Wisconsin's Environmental Decade. "The
bottom line is that public health and natural resource protection are
at the bottom of the Assembly Republican's priority list."
"We oppose allowing industry to conceal pollution reports and absolves
industry from civil and criminal prosecution for environmental
pollution if they discover their own pollution.," said Kathy Johnson,
President of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. "This undercuts
the legitimate right of citizens to seek information on how industries
can prevent pollution and reduce air and water contamination of poorly
regulated pollutants that affect the health of our families and
communities."
"We should stop using kids as lead detectors," Bob Hudek, co-director
of Wisconsin Citizen Action. "We should identify and cleanup
hazardous sites in our cities before children are harmed." Republican
budget amendments absolve industry of cleanup requirements at
industrial, so-called "brownfield" sites, and at sites contaminated
with dry cleaning solvents.
"It's not fair to give developers the green light and put farmers to
a
higher standard for protecting water quality," said Bill Wenzel,
Executive Director for the Wisconsin Rural Development Center.
"In recent past budgets, Senate Republicans have been friendlier to
the environment than their Assembly colleagues," said Reopelle.
"We
expect many of these bad amendments to be reversed in the Senate."
Top Ten List of Assembly Republican Amendments to the Budget
that Thre aten Human Health and Natural Resource Protection
1. Industrial Pollution Secrets Given Green Light
Environmental Audit Privilege allows industry to conceal pollution
reports and absolves industry immunity for civil and criminal
prosecution for environmental pollution if they discover their own
pollution.
2. Construction Site Erosion Control Eliminated
This amendment exempts construction sites from any nonpoint source
water quality or performance standard established by the DNR or local
government ordinance. One and two family homes are regulated
by the
Department of Commerce, but larger construction sites such as
subdivisions would not be regulated as required by federal law.
3. Brownfield Cleanup Liability Weakened.
Republican budget amendments absolve industry of cleanup requirements
at industrial, so- called "brownfield" sites, despite a consensus on
liability provisions negotiated between the Governor's Office, the
DNR
and industry.
4. Clean Air Act Monitoring Cut
Amendments were passed which will reduce the state's ability to
monitor smog and other pollutants which sacrifice public health.
One
amendment eliminates ozone (smog) monitoring sites, which are required
under the Clean Air Act, in the parts of the state where smog related
health problems are the worst.
5. Light Rail System Engineering Killed
This motion removed $2 million over the biennium for preliminary
engineering of a light rail transit system in the east-west corridor.
6. Residential Electric Ratepayer Representation at the PSC Slashed
Funds to allow consumer, ratepayer and environmental advocates legal
representation in Public Service Commission contested cases (e.g.
utility rate cases) were reduced 80 percent from the Governor's
proposed $500,000 to $100,000 annually. This money is primarily
used
to advocate for lower electric bills for residential ratepayers and
environmental protection.
7. Sustainable Agriculture Program Killed
Funding of $200,000 for a sustainable agriculture program requested
by
the Department of Agriculture and the Governor is completely
eliminated under this amendment. This money would be used for
farmer-to-farmer education projects to share more environmentally
sound farming practices.
8. Reconstruction in Floodplains Encouraged
The lives of rescue workers will be put at risk by allowing
reconstruction of nonconforming buildings in floodplain and shoreland
areas. By restricting flood flows, these buildings will increase
taxpayer costs and public expenditures (rescue, emergency response,
flood insurance). The 1993 floods caused over $43.6 million in public
damages in Wisconsin. Almost half of these costs were paid by state
and local governments.
9. Dry Cleaner Proposal Inadequate to Fund cleanup
In place of a study requested by the Governor on how best to deal with
cleanup of an as-yet- undetermined number of sites contaminated with
health-threatening chemicals such as PERC, perchloroethylene, special
interest lobbyists have inserted a half-baked funding program, modeled
on the PECFA Petroleum Environmental Cleanup Fund which has had such
a
troubled financial history. Under this new proposal, insufficient
funds will be collected, at worst only 17% and at best only 45%, of
the total estimated cost, sites will be cleaned up at a slow pace
(10-12 annually) or not at all, if funding is insufficient. This
effectively lets dry cleaning facilities"off the hook" from completing
cleanups if funding is insufficient which it most assuredly will be.
10. Lowest Denominator Used for Wetland Mitigation
This amendment would minimize the acreage of restored wetlands to
offset wetlands destroyed for building highways by the Wisconsin
Department of Transportation. Wetlands provide essential flood water
holding capacity, wildlife habitat and water quality filtering.
Other Republican budget amendments: eliminates urban green/open space
funding, eliminates nonpoint pollution motorist user fees and gives
WisDOT a windfall, eliminates Crex Meadows wildlife education center
funding, reduces the ability for lakeshore residents to challenge
permits for structures in navigable waters, legalizing structures
which violate shoreland and floodplain regulations if DNR fails to
discover the violations within 7 years, reduces mass transit funding
8% from action of Joint Finance Committee, among others.