1995-04-27_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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by Mary Fran Riley, Association of Minnesota Counties Balancing the needs of local economies with protection of the environment and natural re- sources is an underlying goal for the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) during this 1995-96 legislative biennium as it works to develop state policy in the areas of wetlands, land use management and sustainable development. The association is a nonprofit organization that. represents all of Minnesota's 87 counties. Its goals for this legislation session are outlined in the association's 1995-96 legislative platform, which was approved during AC's annual conference De- cember 4-6, 1994, at . the adisson South in Bloomington. In the area of wetlands protec- tion, AMC.supports policies and programs which provide a bal- ance between protecting the environment and respecting the needs of local economies. That includes exempting wetland miti- gationfor road projects, defining existing road right-of--ways as non-wetlands, state funding for water plan revisions, wetland plans that take into account. economic growth in local areas, and a detailed study of indi- vidual proposals to revise drain- age laws. The association supports sev- eral amendments to the Wet- land Conservation Act, includ- ing: •Local government units whose enforcement actions against a property owner are ruled a "taking• should be held harmless by the state. •There should be an option to use the 1987 Federal Manual for the Delineation of Jurisdictional Wetlands rather than just the 1989 manual, as currently required. •The allowable amount of fill that can be placed into a wetland without being required to develop a replacement plan should be changed to a step rate exemption based on the amount of presettlement wet- lands remaining in a county. •Public lands should be eligible for wetland replace- ment and banking, and Con- gress should amend the Clean Water Act to allow use of federal lands for wetland replacement and banking. In the area of land manage- ment, the association supports a coordinated land-use plan- ning and resource protection option for all units of govern- ment. This should help prevent growth-related pollution and ensure consistent enforce- ment of state and local regulations. AMC supports the consistent regulation of feedlots, with input from local decision- makers, to address agricultural economics and to establish reasonable environmental and odor standards. In addition, the association would like the county enforcement of feedlot regulations to be supported by state financial and technical assistance, and state enforce- ment to be based in regional offices. The association also supports extending the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) forten years. AMC supports this because it would help reduce the effect that the increased production expected upon clo- sure of CRP will have on market prices. During this period, assessment should be made on environmental costs and benefits, local tax conse- quences and the economic impacts on local farm-input suppliers, public schools and community services. Funding should be used to enroll the most appropriate lands and there should be limits on participation to protect the economic stability of counties. In the area of sustainable development, the Association of Minnesota Counties sup- ports state and local policies that identify and develop local resources which can sustain AMC cont p. 6 2