6.1.A. ERMUSR 04-12-2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Flushable Wipes Bill Gets Stuck in House Committee On Thursday, the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee heard HF 2842, the House version of the legislation requiring non-flushable personal wipes to be labeled accordingly. The chief author of the bill is the committee's chair, Rep. Denny McNamara (R- Hastings). After testimony in support of the bill from the MPCA, LMC, and city officials from Hastings, and Mahtomedi and a brief period of questions from committee members, Chair McNamara moved that the bill be re-referred to the House Commerce Committee. Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL- South St. Paul) then requested a roll call vote. McNamara then laid the bill over and a vote was not taken. Despite intense lobbying efforts of bill proponents requesting that legislators not play politics with this bill and have a vote before the committee adjourned, this did not occur. With the committee not meeting again before Friday's deadline, the bill is essentially dead in the House. However, the MPCA still plans to push for a floor vote on the Senate companion (SF 2525), which has cleared all committees. There may also be opportunities to attach the wipes legislation to other bills moving in the House. Plus, the further this legislation progresses in Minnesota,the more pressure there is on the wipes manufacturers to implement this labeling on a national basis. Regulatory Certainty Moves to Floor On Tuesday, the House Environment and Natural Resources passed the regulatory certainty bill (HF 3409) to the House floor. As a reminder, this bill is an initiative of the MPCA that would provide a voluntary option for municipalities and industrial permit holders to treat for nitrogen as they build out their wastewater facilities to treat for phosphorus. If they installed the biological nutrient removal systems and treated for both, their phosphorus and nitrogen limits would not be raised for the useful life of the equipment (up to 20 years). This bill is supported by the LMC, Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, and MMUA. Several DFL legislators and the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) expressed their concern with the bill, saying it gave permit holders a "magic shield" from having to adopt improved technology or higher standards. The MPCA contended that more nitrogen would be removed from Minnesota's water under this voluntary system than by waiting for Minnesota to adopt a nitrogen standard in the future (which could be 8-15 years into the future). The Senate companion bill (SF 3272) has also cleared the committee process and awaits debate on the Senate floor. 228