Liberty or Sustainable Development.
Greens Water Bill Includes Major Tax Increase
NOTE: The opposition to this bill has been largely intimidated into silence. Meanwhile, the public has heard next to nothing about the content of the bill. Its time the public was informed, and its time the legislators and governor started hearing from the people. The bill is called the 93 Minnesota Clean Water Legacy Act, (HF 826--Dennis Ozment and SF762Dennis Frederickson). We call it the Greens Water Bill 94. It does the following:
- It creates a new tax (called a clean water fee) and is a major tax increase of $160 million per biennium ($36 per household per year, $150 to$600 on businesses per year).
- The spending need for the program is estimated by the Minnesota Environmental Initiative (the environmental NGO that wrote the bill) to be over billion dollars per biennium. The Initiative says this need will grow each year. That is money that could be used elsewhere.
- It creates a whole new layer of government that will need to be fed each year.
- It gives environmental NGOs (non-governmental organizations), such as the Sierra Club, 1000 Friends of the Earth and the Nature Conservancy, major authority over all the water in Minnesota, and, as a consequence,major authority over all private property in the state. At the same time, landowners and other individuals who make their living off the land are said to have a conflict of interest and are prohibited from participating in a meaningful way.
- It writes a radical new definition of pollution into law that is so extreme that it potentially will bankrupt many businesses and farms in the state. It will also allow environmental NGOs to intimidate citizens and businesses into submission.
- It creates a statewide environmental met council called The Clean Water Council.
- It effectively forces property owners to place meters on private wells to monitor water use.
- It creates the infrastructure for taxing ground water usage.
The most dangerous feature of this bill is that it puts environmental groups in the drivers seat in creating the regulations for, and inmonitoring, all water use in Minnesota. At the same time, landowners, farmers, loggers, and average citizens will have essentially no say.Environmental group members never face the voters, so they cannot be directly held accountable by the public. (Anyone who is unsure about the agenda of the environmental groups should access the Earth Charter and read what the environmentalists believe in.) The Greens are from a different planet; they should not be running ours!
Prepared and paid for by the Minnesota Property Rights Coalition, Dr. Steve Peterson, Chair.
660 Everett St., Duluth, MN 55803, info@drstevepeterson.com
Analysis of (HF 826, SF 762), The 93 Clean Water Legacy Act the bill:
- Is largely based on the argument that the bill is necessary for Minnesota to comply with Section 303d of the Federal Clean Water Act.If changes in Minnesota environmental rules and laws need to be made, that can be accomplished under the Minnesota PCA and normal legislative processes. There is no need to create a new layer of government, a new taxstructure, onerous and meaningless regulations and to bypass the normal rule-making process to meet federal standards.
- Creates a new tax structure called a Clean Water Fee. The fee (tax) is set at $36 per residence ($120 to $600 perbusiness) per year. This new tax is expected to raise $80 million per year,$160 million per biennium. This bill creates both an entire new taxstructure and a major, hidden tax increase.
- Effectively requires the owners of all wells on private property to place meters on their wells and to monitor their water usage. Will create a data-base on all private wells.
- Implies that ground water belongs to government, not land owners.By taxing ground water access for property owners and by requiring the monitoring of private wells, the bill seriously erodes private propertyrights. Environmental groups generally argue that ground water belongs to Earth or to all people in common. The bill is consistent with this (radical) environmentalist belief.
- Creates a new layer of government overseen by a new board called the Clean Water Council, a statewide environmental MetCouncil appointed by the governor. The Council is subject to the wishes of the governor and the Minnesota PCA.
- Creates a new section of state law called The Clean Water Legacy Act.
- Creates infrastructure for taxing groundwater usage. It will likely be used in the future.
- Authorizes contracts with non-governmental organizations(NGOs) to assist with implementation and monitoring of compliance with the act. In so doing, the bill concurs with the internationalists mandate that NGOs become part of governance structure--often referred to as the fifth estate of government. NGOs have political agendas. Hiring environmental NGOs to implement this law implies that the NGOs are the proper caretakers of Earths water. Likely participating NGOs are the Sierra Club and the Nature Conservancy as well as many others. Private citizens who are landowners are prohibited from being employed along with the NGOs.
- Establishes computer modeling as a lawful method of calculating pollution where information is lacking (most of the time). There results of the computer modeling will be no better than the assumptions used for the calculations. Computer modeling puts all Minnesotans at risk of losing the use of their property.
- Mandates the establishment of maximum pollution levels (TMDLs) for most areas of the state. TMDLs will allow the PCA, if it wishes, to prohibit logging, farming, other business activity and private water usage whether or not they pose significant pollution risks.
- Says that the purpose of the bill is regulating surface water. One of the most serious consequences of the bill, however, is government control of all Minnesota groundwater.
- The effect of the bill is government and environmental NGOs taking control of all our water resources, much of our property rights, much ofour economic activity and much of what should be our individual freedom.
The bill was formulated by the Minnesota Environmental Initiative, an environmental NGO, and was written by DFL and liberal former State Senator Steve Morse.
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