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Public Hearing August 3 in Green Bay
7/29/2004 

For immediate release 

Green Bay, WI --- DNR rules proposed to implement Act 118 (the Job Creation Act) have recently been further compromised and drastically weaken river and lakeshore protection rules, charged several local leaders of environmental, hunting and fishing clubs, today. 

“Under new negotiated compromises, 85% of Wisconsin's waterways will be classified as less valuable and will be vulnerable to development and other damages through project exemptions and ‘do-it-yourself’ general permits, with little or no DNR oversight. Prior to Act 118, virtually all projects were subject to DNR review first,” explained Rebecca Katers, Executive Director of Clean Water Action Council of N.E. Wisconsin, a local citizen advocacy organization. “These are sacrificial waters.” 

For these waterways, there will be no public notice of proposed projects, no public hearing opportunity, no comment period, and no right to contested case hearings (legal hearings). 

“Neighbors and public users of lakes and stream will be unable to protect themselves from damaging projects which affect them or lower their property value,” added Katers.

Legislators and business lobbyists are attempting to replace DNR oversight and judgment with standard cookbook formulas covering all possible aspects of shoreline changes. In many cases, the “do-it-yourself” exemptions and general permits require scientific evaluations which many developers and shoreline homeowners are not qualified to make, such as determining the locations of fish spawning areas, waterfowl nesting habitat, or identifying native species of shoreline plants. The practical effect of such “self-enforcement” rules will be reduced standards and degradation along Wisconsin’s shorelines, at a time when we need stronger rules.

"The whole rule-making process has been a superb example of legislators and business lobbyists micro-managing our resources by second-guessing DNR professionals," said Denny Caneff, executive director of the River Alliance of Wisconsin, a nonprofit river conservation group. "It's as if a legislator walked into the classroom of a UW-Green Bay history professor and started editing her lecture notes."

Public Hearing in Green Bay

The DNR will hold a Green Bay public hearing on these proposed changes next week at the University:

Tuesday, August 3
6:00 p.m.
Room 137, Mary Ann Cofrin Hall, UW-Green Bay, 2420 Nicolet Drive

(DNR will hold an open house at the same location from 3:00-5:00 p.m. to answer questions.)

Additional concerns: 
 

• For the remaining 15% "high quality" waters, a citizen will have the right to a contested case hearing (similar to a courtroom process), but this won't stop the project while the legal procedures are being followed (which can take 6 months or more). The damage will be done and a citizen will have no ability to block it. 

 
• Tributaries to Trout Streams, musky waters, walleye waters, and tributaries and connecting rivers used by sturgeon will not be protected from exemptions or cookbook permits.

 
• The rule development process has been outrageous. The initial emergency rules imposed by DNR were the best they could do, considering, and upheld major aspects of the Public Trust Doctrine. But the legislature’s Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR) forced DNR into further compromising negotiations or risk rule suspension by July 24. After intense pressure from builders and realtors, a badly weakened version of the already compromised rules was approved July 22 by the JCRAR. Only a handful of people in the state understand what they’ve done, yet public hearings have been held (starting July 27), before the public can possibly understand these complicated rules. The legislators, builders and realtors are micro-managing DNR with no public input. It appears they’ve already forced a deal for final rules before the public hearings even started. 

 
• · Act 118 removed protections from non-navigable headwaters in Wisconsin, despite the high value these waters have. Headwaters are often important wildlife habitats and vital for downstream water quality protection. The DNR rules can’t fix this problem because legislators made it a specific statutory change in the Act. They’ve essentially privatized these essential waters, while denying any such changes.

 
• Act 118 specified a shoreline grading (bulldozing) setback which weakens shore protections from encroaching buildings or other development. The DNR rules can’t fix this because legislators made it a statutory change. 

 
• The DNR budget and staff are being cut so drastically they won't be able to properly implement these rules. Rules are meaningless without oversight to ensure they're being followed. Governor Doyle proposes to cut DNR by an additional 10% in the next budget, knocking them back to roughly 1980 levels of funding. This would be disastrous for Wisconsin's lakes and streams.

 
• Several waterways less protected under the new rules are currently listed as “Impaired Waters” due to high pollution levels. These impaired waters need extra protection if they are to recover from their contamination, yet the legislature is loosening permit requirements for development along these waters. For example, the following Fox River Tributaries in Northeast Wisconsin are listed as “Impaired Waters” yet these rule changes will reduce their protection: Apple Creek, Dutchman’s Creek, Kankapot Creek and Neenah Slough. 

 
• Constitutional protections of “Scenic Beauty” are also being sacrificed thru “do-it-yourself” permitting. No one ever thinks their own project is ugly. The DNR is needed as an independent referee of such value judgments, yet the DNR will often learn of bad project decisions after it’s too late and the damage is done. 

 
• The industry and legislative representatives to recent negotiations insisted that the “preamble” to the rules be removed. Apparently, they were offended because the preamble talks about the importance of the Public Trust Doctrine and public rights in the waters of Wisconsin. Under the Public Trust Doctrine, which was formally added to the Wisconsin Constitution in the 1940s, the DNR and state government are required to act as Trustees to conserve and enhance public rights established under the laws of this state in our navigable waters. These public rights include the right to navigate, hunt, fish, swim, recreate, and enjoy natural scenic beauty in clean water free of environmental pollution. Under Act 118, the DNR is being prevented from doing its job. 

 
• Wisconsin’s tourism industry is worth roughly $11 billion per year. Widespread shoreline degradation threatens this industry.

For more information, call Clean Water Action Council, 920-437-7304. 

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