1995-10-26_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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Note: this issue of the Water BillBoard focuses on changes that took place during the last session of the Minnesota Legislature. The tln Conservation Ct One of the biggest disappointments of the session was the failure to approve any amendments to the Wetland Conservation Act (WCA), although both supporters and opponents of the act had agreed the some types of changes were necessary. A compromise bill that had been worked out passed on the House floor but died in the Senate. Below are SOME of the changes the compromise bill, which was supported by the governor and the BWSR, would have made for a variety of groups. COUNTIES WITH MORE THAN 80 PERCENT PRESETTLEMENT WETLANDS *Deminimus The bill would have done the following: -exempted 10,000 square feet of wetland, except for types 3,4 and 5, regardless of the size of the project, outside of shoreland wetland protection zones (defined as 1000 feet from a lake and 300 feet from a river or stream). -The local government would have been able to increase the deminimus amount to 1000 square feet in counties with more than 80 percent of their presettlement wetlands remaining in the shoreland wetland protection zone in areas beyond the building setback if the wetland was isolated and was determined to have no surficial hydrologic connection to the public water. *Public Roads The bill would have: -exempted two acres outside of shoreland areas for existing roads. -allowed cash banking for road projects at a subsidized rate requiring a payment. of only twice the land value of the impacted wetland, meaning road authorities would have paid about ten percent of actual cost. '`Replacement The bill would have: -allowed replacement credit for the installation of upland buffer areas and water quality treatment