MCEA’s legal advocacy team defends the rights of Minnesota’s environment and its citizens by ensuring environmental laws are enforced. The extraordinary organizational expertise of more than a dozen attorneys on MCEA’s staff and board is unmatched by any other environmental group in Minnesota.
MCEA’s professional expertise and strategically chosen efforts have made us the leading legal guardian of Minnesota’s environment. MCEA carefully selects cases to provoke changes in public policy and private behavior. We engage in courtroom litigation, administrative rulemaking, case hearings before administrative law judges, and permit proceedings conducted by state and federal agencies.
Current Legal Advocacy and Cases
At any given time, MCEA's legal team is involved in a number of different legal matters—courtroom litigation, administrative rulemakings, permit proceedings, and administrative hearings are all a part of our work. Below you can learn more about some of the cases and advocacy we're involved in, download relevant documents, and find links to external resources.
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Name of Advocacy or Case
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Description
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Anti-Degradation
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MCEA drafted a new state rule to comply with the Clean Water Act’s anti-degradation requirement and petitioned for rulemaking.
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| AT&T Cell Tower |
MCEA and co-parties submitted an amicus brief to the Court of Appeals supporting alternatives that would not have a degrading effect on the scenic views and wilderness experience of the Boundary Waters.
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De-Delegation Petition
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MCEA filed with EPA Region 5 a “Petition for Corrective Action” asking EPA to direct the MPCA to correct inadequacies of its NPDES program.
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Hardrock Mineral Exploration in SNF
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MCEA submitted comments on the Forest Service’s environmental review framework of current and future proposed mining exploration in the Superior National Forest.
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MCEA et al. v. U.S. Forest Service
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MCEA filed suit challenging the Forest Service’s Travel Management Plan for the Superior National Forest, which will allow increases in the amount and concentration of motorized trail use.
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Minnesota Power Baseload Diversification Study
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After MCEA demonstrated that retiring some older, under-performing coal plants would save Minnesota Power customers money, the PUC ordered the company to work with MCEA and other stakeholders to analyze the cost-benefits of retiring one or more of the utility’s old coal-fired power plants.
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Mutsch v. Hubbard County
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MCEA filed a friend of the court brief in this appeal which involves a shoreland development proposal in Hubbard County. MCEA’s brief addresses the rights of citizens and non-profit advocacy groups to file a lawsuit when local government decisions do not conform to the law.
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Northshore Mining Asbestos Emissions
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MCEA has actively fought efforts by Northshore Mining, a taconite facility located in Silver Bay on the North Shore, to eliminate the so called “control city standard” from its air permit. The standard limits the amount of asbestos-like fibers Northshore can emit.
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Nutrient Standards for the Mississippi
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MCEA joined other petitioners in a lawsuit challenging EPA’s denial of the petition to set nutrient standards for the Mississippi Basin.
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PolyMet Mine
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PolyMet is proposing the first sulfide mine in Minnesota. MCEA is currently working with the relevant agencies and PolyMet representatives to improve the Supplemental Draft EIS, due out in July 2012.
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Poplar River Special Exemption Permit
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Lutsen Mountain Company, after violating their water withdrawal permit for the last 10 years, was granted a special exemption by the DNR to take additional water even during very low flows. MCEA is striving to protect Minnesota’s public resource and designated trout stream, the Poplar River.
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Regional Haze SIP
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MCEA commented on Minnesota’s State Implementation Plan to address haze in Voyageurs and Isle Royale National Parks and the Boundary Waters.
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| Sherco Coal Plant |
Xcel's Sherco coal plant is Minnesota's dirtiest coal plant. In 2009, the National Park Service certified that the pollution from Sherco is causing smog in Voyageurs and Isle Royale national parks. EPA has failed their mandatory duty to determine pollution control technology for Sherco.
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Xcel Resource Plan
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MCEA and its Energy Partners have intervened in Xcel’s Integrated Resource Plan which evaluates the utility’s resources and needs over the coming 15 year period.
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