February 2: MPCA files report on permitting efficiency House File 1, passed in 2011, required MPCA to set a goal of issuing permits within 150 days. MPCA received over 2500 permit applications in the nine-month period between March 4, 2011 (when House File 1 took effect) and December 31. In that time, the agency processed 99% of priority permits within 150 days. These priority permits required construction or significant modification of the facility in question – the types of action that can create jobs. The facilities receiving these 1,632 permits will help grow Minnesota’s economy without delay by MPCA.
Among all permit applications, including the more routine renewals, the agency took longer than 150 days with only 10% of permit applications. For most permits that took longer, there was a good reason: the agency was waiting for info from permittees, there was a significant public engagement process, federal or state policies changed, or the government was shut down. Read the permitting efficiency report here.
January 31: National parks, wilderness areas and wildlife refuges, like the Boundary Waters and Voyageurs National Park, are beloved places. Their protection and restoration is supposed to be a national priority. But EPA’s new proposal to exempt outdated coal plants from installing the haze-reducing controls leave many of these places, including here in Minnesota, with less protection from pollutants than they ought to have. This is not acceptable. The report, Cleaning up the Haze: Protecting People and American Treasured Places, points out how loopholes in this policy could leave these special places without adequate air quality protection. The report calls on EPA to abandon its proposal and to ensure cleaner air. Read the press release here. January 23: Conservation Minnesota released its annual report reviewing the state's environment and conservation budget. The report found that the legislature disproportionately cut funding compared to other areas of the budget, and in some cases the legislature appears to be substituting Legacy Amendment funding for general funding. The legislature missed opportunities to provide ongoing support for existing programs in the general fund budget, but has managed to provide consistent levels of bonding to environment and conservation projects.
January 18: MCEA’s on-going efforts to engage, educate and inform the communities about forthcoming light rail transit projects is expanding in a new direction: linguistically. Learn more here!
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