Fwd: MWAC Newsletter
TJ Patrick
A Monthly Publication
Friday August 7, 2009
REPORT: GREAT LAKES WETLANDS AT RISK DUE TO GAPS IN STATE, FEDERAL POLICY
As efforts to restore the Great Lakes gain momentum in the White House
and U.S. Congress, a new report by the National Wildlife Federation
illustrates how gaps in state and federal policy threaten Great Lakes
wetlands.
The report examines state wetland policies in Michigan, Ohio,
Wisconsin and Minnesota. It assesses how well each state is protecting
wetlands, identifies the barriers to better protection, and offers
recommendations for improvement.
State efforts to protect and restore wetlands, according to the
report, are hampered by incomplete wetland inventories, inadequate
staffing, insufficient public engagement, and a lack of priorities to
protect and restore wetlands.
Gaps in state law also undermine protection efforts. Exemptions which
allow for the destruction of wetlands are generally not tracked by
state agencies. Further, the quality of wetland mitigation projects is
not often tracked, allowing for the destruction of high-quality
wetlands that are replaced with wetlands of less value to people and
wildlife.
“Protecting and Restoring the Kidneys of the Great Lakes: An
Assessment of Wetland Programs in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and
Wisconsin” also recommends how Great Lakes wetlands can be better
protected. Among the recommendations:
• Establish state priorities for restoring wetlands;
• Improve inventories of wetlands in states to gauge progress or
challenges; and,
• Restore Clean Water Act protections to isolated wetlands and other
U.S. waters left unprotected by recent Supreme Court decisions.
Read the report, executive summary: http://www.nwf.org/greatlakes
WEEK WORTH OF WETLAND BLOGS
Following the release of the National Wildlife Federation report, the
Detroit Free Press ran a series of blogs related to the importance of
Michigan’s wetlands:
Wetlands don’t get enough respect by Michael Murray
Keep Michigan in charge of wetlands by Jennifer McKay
A federal boost for wetlands by Marc Smith
How wetlands boost the economy by Erin McDonough
IDEA MAY KEEP WETLANDS PROGRAM ALIVE
BY JOHN FLESHER, Associated Press
JULY 30, 2009
An influential state senator trying to save Michigan's wetlands
protection program pitched an idea Wednesday that could make it more
efficient -- and possibly save it from the governor's list of proposed
budget cuts. Although still on the drawing board, Sen. Patricia
Birkholz said she was drafting a bill to keep the regulatory program
going for up to three years while an advisory council seeks a
permanent funding source. Ideas being floated include increasing
permit fees and expediting projects that would have minimal
environmental impact on the land. "It gives us a good balance,"
Birkholz, chairwoman of the Natural Resources and Environmental
Affairs Committee, told The Associated Press. "We protect the natural
resource but we also make the process more efficient."
The current program is largely responsible for enforcing state laws
that protect swamps, marshes and other wetlands. It also issues
permits upon review of proposals from land owners, businesses and
others looking to build in wetland areas. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has
proposed abolishing the program and handing wetlands regulation over
to the federal government, which would save the cash-strapped state
budget $2.1 million a year. Environmental groups oppose the plan,
while business groups are divided.
Birkholz, a Saugatuck Township Republican, is circulating a document
that outlines key points of a plan she developed in consultation with
business and environmental groups. The plan envisions tapping a
clean-water bond fund to cover the program's costs in the short term.
Increases in permit fees are being considered, which the Department of
Environmental Quality has sought in recent years but failed to get
through the Legislature. The plan also would create new categories of
wetlands development projects for which the department could issue a
permit without giving the public an opportunity to comment. The
department also could give expedited review to projects that would do
little environmental damage.
Those provisions are meant to address complaints of business and
landowner groups that the permit application process is too confusing
and lengthy, Birkholz said. Such changes might make fee increases more
acceptable to business interests, she said.
The Department of Environmental Quality has been involved in the talks
and will study the proposal, spokesman Robert McCann said. "If there
is going to be a push to keep the program here in Michigan, we just
need to be sure a stable source of revenue is in place to pay for it,"
McCann said.
Environmental groups praised Birkholz for tackling the issue but said
they wanted to see the fine print before taking a stand on her
proposal.
"We have an excellent program right now. What's really wrong is that
it has been cut and cut and cut," said Grenetta Thomassey, policy
director for the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, which has
participated in the talks. Her group favors keeping the state wetland
program but not at the expense of gutting it to please its critics,
Thomassey said. She said she "wasn't thrilled" with the prospect of
shielding more types of wetland projects from public scrutiny.
"But upon careful review and consulting with the DEQ, we think it's
reasonable," she said.
Michigan's wetlands "would be better protected by Michiganders than by
Washington, D.C., bureaucracies," said Hugh McDiarmid Jr., spokesman
for the Michigan Environmental Council.
Messages seeking comment Wednesday from the Michigan Farm Bureau and
the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which Birkholz also has consulted,
weren't immediately returned.
GREAT LAKES RESTORATION INITIATIVE COMMENT PERIOD
The EPA is seeking stakeholder feedback on the Great Lakes Multi-Year
Restoration Action Plan Outline. The slides from the presentations
being given by the U.S. EPA at the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
Stakeholder Meetings are now available online at:
http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/glri/GLRI_Slides.pdf.
The slides provide background information about the Great Lakes, the
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Proposed Programs for
implementation in Fiscal Year 2010, and the Great Lakes Multi-Year
Action Plan Outline (Fiscal Years 2010 thru 2014). The Great Lakes
Multi-Year Restoration Action Plan Outline itself can be read online
at: http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/glri/glmyrapo.pdf
Comments can be submitted by August 19, 2009 in 2 ways:
Online at http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/glri/outreach.html
By Mail: USEPA Great Lakes National Program Office (G-17J),
Attention: Anthony Kizlauskas, 77 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Website with links to all of
these documents is at: http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/glri/index.html