Have Your Say: DNR & EPA Currently Accepting Comments

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency are both accepting comments on a multitude of issues impacting Wisconsin businesses. The agencies are accepting comments on various air, water, and waste rules; and in addition, the DNR is also asking for help identifying burdensome and outdated rules.

NSPS for CO2 Emissions from Power Plants

The EPA is accepting comments on its proposed New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for CO2 emissions from new electric generating units (EGUs) that were published in the Federal Register on April 13.

The proposed standard would require most new fossil fuel-fired electric generating units to achieve a CO2 emission rate equivalent to that of a modern natural gas combined cycle facility. For further information on the proposed NSPS, see this GLLF webpage.

Public comments on the proposed NSPS are due June 12, 2012.

Redesignation Request for Milwaukee, Racine and Waukesha Counties

The DNR is accepting public comments on two air quality requests to be submitted to the EPA. Under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA), the EPA is required to identify areas that do not meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particle pollution (PM2.5). In 2009, Milwaukee, Racine and Waukesha counties were designated nonattainment by the EPA. The DNR has drafted a request to the EPA to redesignate these counties from nonattainment to attainment based on monitoring data collected between 2008 and 2011.

Documents related to this redesignation request are available on this DNR website.

Public comments on the redesignation request are due to the DNR by May 11, 2012.

Phosphorous Standards Increase Wisconsin’s 2012 List of Impaired Waters

After reviewing Wisconsin’s impaired waters recommendation, the EPA asked DNR to add an additional 121 lakes or river segments to the state’s proposed impaired water list because those waters exceeded the state's new numeric phosphorus standards, even though available information showed no signs of aquatic life impacts, including harmful algal blooms.

The DNR reviewed the additional water bodies identified by the EPA, and is recommending that 99 of those lakes and rivers exceeding the state's new numeric phosphorus standards but not experiencing biological impacts to aquatic life – like algal blooms -- be added to Wisconsin's proposed 2012 list of impaired waters. The water bodies are being added to a special new “5P” category that has not been used in Wisconsin’s impaired list before this year.

Additional information is available on this DNR website.

Public comments are being accepted by the DNR through May 18, 2012.

Investigation and Remediation of Environmental Contamination

The DNR has proposed changes to Wisconsin’s administrative rules related to the investigation and remediation of environmental contamination contained in the Wisconsin Administrative Code.

The major policy issues being addressed by these rule revisions are

1) modifying many of the rules to remove references to deed restriction which were replaced with passage of 2005 Wis. Act 418;

2) removal of the simple site process which was originally included to provide responsible parties with the ability to self-certify closure as this option is almost never used;

3) eliminating Ch. NR 710 because the statutory provisions to inventory sites was repealed and use of the hazard ranking system is no longer needed to inventory sites;

4) consolidating the NR 718 provisions on managing contaminated soil;

5) revising NR 720 to account for the EPA’s updated methodology for calculating site specific soil cleanup standards,

6) revising NR 722 on Remedy Selection to require an evaluation of sustainability;

7) simplifying the case closure requirements by splitting NR 726 into 3 separate rules as the current rule is lengthy and complicated;

8) removing many of the provisions in NR 746 dealing with the cleanup of petroleum contaminated sites that are seldom sued or are technically unsound, and

9) increasing the fees in NR 749 to account for increased costs since the rule was originally promulgated in 1998.

Additional information is available on this DNR website.

The DNR must receive public comments by May 31, 2012. The DNR is also holding five public hearings on the proposed changes throughout the state during the month of May.

Burdensome and Outdated Rules

Governor Walker’s Executive Order #61 Relating to Job Creation and Small Business Expansion asks all state agencies to conduct a thorough review of its regulations and to recommend for possible elimination outdated and overly cumbersome regulations that provide no or little demonstrable benefit.

In response to this request, the DNR has created a website for businesses and the general public to submit their suggestions for consideration.

Executive Order #61 applies to all state agencies, not just the DNR, so the Great Lakes Legal Foundation staff is monitoring all of the agencies efforts to solicit comments and suggestions from the public. We will provide more information on the efforts of other agencies as it becomes available.

Foundation staff have experience drafting comments to both federal and state agencies. Should you or your organization need assistance in preparing comments, please do not hesitate to contact us!