LRB-1980/1
RCT:skg:jlb
1995 - 1996 LEGISLATURE
April 28, 1995 - Introduced by Representatives Reynolds, Black, Notestein,
Baldwin, Dueholm, Boyle, R. Potter, Bock, Hanson, Travis, R. Young, Murat,
Baldus, Carpenter, Baumgart, Springer, Plombon, La Fave, Wilder and
Vander Loop, cosponsored by Senators Decker, Clausing, C. Potter, Burke
and Chvala, by request of Wolf River Territory Business Association;
Arrowhead High School Save the Earth Club; Muskies Inc.; American
Association of Retired Persons; Wisconsin Wildlife Federation; Menominee
Indian Tribe of Wisconsin; The Servite Center for Life; Oneida Environmental
Resources Board; Wisconsin Trout Unlimited; The River Alliance of
Wisconsin; Izaak Walton League of Wisconsin; Northeast Wisconsin
Environmental Network; Rolling Stone Lake Protection and Rehabilitation
District; Mining Impact Coalition of Wisconsin, Inc.; Post Lake Protection
and Rehabilitation District; Greenpeace; UW Eau Claire Student
Environmental Action Coalition; John Muir Chapter Sierra Club;
Anishinaabe Niijii; Watershed Alliance for Environmental Responsibility;
UW Stevens Point Environmental Council; Pikeral Crane Lake Protection
and Rehabilitation District; Environmentally Concerned Citizens of the
Lakeland Area (ECCOLA); Shoreline Park Preservation, Inc.; Mining Impact
Coalition of Dane County; Honor Our Neighbors and Resources (HONOR);
Wisconsin's Environmental Decade; Citizens for Responsible Government;
Grey Panthers of Wisconsin; Mining Impact Coalition of Southeast
Wisconsin; Citizens for a Better Environment; Northwoods Conservation
Association; Wisconsin Greens; Outdoor and Environmental Club of Beloit
College; Wisconsin Resources Protection Council; Center for Alternative
Mining Development Policy; Four Lakes Group Sierra Club; St. Croix Valley
Greens; Superior Wilderness Action Network; University of Wisconsin
Greens; Wolf River Trout Unlimited; Progressive Student Network; Wolf
River Lakes and Stream Association; Wisconsin Environmental Law Society;
Milwaukee Area Greens Mining Task Force; Midwest Office Sierra Club; Wolf
River Watershed Allliance; Clean Water Action Council of Northeast
Wisconsin; Rusk County Citizen Action Group, Inc.; Wolf River Conservation
Club; Midwest Headwaters Earth First!; Public and Environmental Affairs
Council; Forest County Potawatomi Tribe; UW Whitewater Environmental
Federation; Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG); Izaak
Walton League -- Milwaukee Chapter; Lake Michigan Federation; Kids for
Clean Water; UW Stevens Point Chapter of the Wildlife Society; Aldo Leopold
Chapter - Society For Conservation Biology; Audubon Council of Wisconsin;
Madison Audubon; Environmental Affairs UWGB; Round River Alliance;
Northeast Wisconsin Audubon; and Northern Thunder. Referred to
Committee on Environment and Utilities.
AB336,2,3
1An Act to repeal 160.19 (12); and
to amend 144.83 (4) (L) of the statutes;
2relating to: groundwater standards for mining activities and mining waste
3facilities.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, the department of natural resources (DNR) establishes
numerical standards, called enforcement standards, for the concentration in
groundwater of substances that may have an adverse effect on human health or the
environment. Enforcement standards for substances that may have an adverse
effect on human health are based on recommendations by the department of health
and social services. Generally, a state agency is required to take actions necessary
to ensure that the activities, practices and facilities that are regulated by the state
agency do not cause the enforcement standards to be exceeded. Mining activities and
facilities, including mining waste sites, are not subject to these groundwater
enforcement standards. Current law also authorizes DNR to establish groundwater
quality standards for mining activities, including mining waste sites.
This bill eliminates the exemption of mining activities and facilities, including
mining waste sites, from the groundwater enforcement standards. The bill also
eliminates the separate provision authorizing DNR to establish groundwater quality
standards for mining activities.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB336, s. 1
4Section
1. 144.83 (4) (L) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB336,2,85
144.83
(4) (L)
Notwithstanding ss. 144.43 to 144.47 and 144.60 to 144.74,
6promulgate Promulgate rules establishing
groundwater quality standards or 7groundwater quantity standards
, or both, for any prospecting or mining activity,
8including standards for any mining waste site.
AB336, s. 2
9Section
2. 160.19 (12) of the statutes is repealed.
