The Clean Water Legacy Accountability Act passes legislature

After several months of hard work by FMR and our partners, the Clean Water Accountability Act (HF 1122 and SF 1192) has successfully passed the Minnesota Legislature.

The bills, originally authored by Senator John Hoffman and Representative John Persell, were included in both the House and Senate Omnibus Legacy Bills and passed on May 20th. The bill will now go to Governor Dayton for his signature. This is a major victory for the Mississippi River, and was one of FMRs top legislative priorities this session.

Background

In 2008, Minnesotans voted overwhelmingly for the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. One third of the receipts generated by the Amendment go into the Clean Water Fund for projects that protect, enhance, and restore Minnesotas freshwater resources.

Minnesotans expect to see this money result in cleaner water. Unfortunately, Minnesota still doesnt accurately identify many sources of pollution (including large farm operations) with enough accuracy that appropriate measures can be undertaken to clean it up.

Ineffective Clean-Up Plans: A Statewide Problem

Federal law requires states to develop cleanup plans for its polluted waters. Unfortunately, the plans currently created by the state of Minnesota are vague and fail to adequately identify pollution sources or prioritize the most effective actions to reduce pollution. Many plans lack clear targets, timelines and benchmarks for restoration of polluted waters. Additionally, some existing plans have no clear approach for monitoring and reporting progress toward clean water.

Vague clean up plans are very difficult to enforce, and offer taxpayers little confidence that our clean water goals will ever be achieved. Thats where the Clean Water Accountability Act comes in.

The Solution

If our states clean water goals are to be achieved, we need Minnesotas watershed clean up and protection plans (called Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies or WRAPS) to do the following:

  1. Identify specific sources of pollution;
  2. Prioritize the most effective actions for clean-up;
  3. Include timelines with interim benchmarks and estimated costs for achieving clean water goals; and
  4. Offer a clear approach to monitoring and reporting the progress toward cleanup.

The Clean Water Accountability Act

The Clean Water Accountability Act requires state agencies to modify future WRAPS to include this missing information, so that we can have confidence that our restoration and protection efforts will result in clean water. The CWAA requires that WRAPS include the following:

  • A precise assessment of pollution sources and needed reductions;
  • Deadlines and milestones for assessing progress;
  • Strategies to put the money where it will have the best result; and
  • A plan for effective monitoring

Clean Water Fund investments must also keep faith with the people who voted to increase their own taxes for clean water work. The CWAA also requires the state to develop the following:

  • Biennial reporting by PCA of progress in achieving pollution reductions; and
  • A Priority Funding Plan to target Clean Water funds to clean up and prevent nonpoint pollution.

CWAA Passage

The Clean Water Accountability Act will help move Minnesota forward in our efforts to protect and restore our freshwater resources. This is a major victory for the River, and was one of FMRs top legislative priorities this session.

FMR is especially grateful to Senator John Hoffman and Representative John Persell for their strong leadership in authoring this legislation and carrying it through to passage. We are also grateful for the leadership of our friends at Clean Water Action, The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, and all our of partners in the Minnesota Environmental Partnership for their tireless work to guide this bill through the legislature.

While much more work remains to be done to ensure that our states protection and restoration efforts are successful, this legislative victory is a great step forward. Hats off to all!

For more information on the Clean Water Accountability Act, please contact FMRs Watershed Program Director, Trevor Russell, at (651) 222-2193 or trussell@fmr.org.

For additional coverage, read Minnesota Public Radios recent article on the bill.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, April 20, 2024 - 9:30am to 12:00pm
West River Parkway and 36th Street/44th Street, Minneapolis
Applications due Friday, May 3 by 5 p.m.
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Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - 1:00pm to 3:00pm
Hampton Woods Wildlife Management Area