HCS SS SCS SB 36 -- ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS

SPONSOR:  Klindt (Myers)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on
Agriculture by a vote of 17 to 4.

This substitute makes numerous changes to laws on environmental
regulation.

FEES

The waste tire fee will expire on January 1, 2004.  The
substitute extends the fee to January 1, 2009.  The hazardous
waste generator and category fees will expire on January 1, 2005.
The substitute also extends these fees to January 1, 2010.

IN-STREAM SAND AND GRAVEL MINING

The substitute prohibits the Land Reclamation Commission from
requiring permits for in-stream sand and gravel miners if they
remove less than 5,000 tons annually.  The Department of Natural
Resources may establish excavation standards, and the commission
may require permits for operators that violate the standards.
Political subdivisions may hire contractors for excavation of
in-stream sand and gravel without obtaining a permit.  Currently,
political subdivisions must use their own personnel and equipment
to be exempt from permit requirements.

ENVIRONMENTAL RULES

The substitute requires all rules of the Department of Natural
Resources, the Hazardous Waste Management Commission, the State
Soil and Water Districts Commission, the Land Reclamation
Commission, the Safe Drinking Water Commission, the Air
Conservation Commission, and the Clean Water Commission to cite
the specific legal authority under which they were promulgated.
The department must also prepare a regulatory impact report that
includes the peer-reviewed scientific data that form the basis
for the rule, cost-benefit analyses, an explanation of the risks
to human health or the environment addressed by the rule, and a
description of alternative regulatory approaches.  The report
must be made available for public comment on the Internet for at
least 60 days and filed with the Joint Committee on
Administrative Rules.  If the department does not prepare a
regulatory impact report, the proposed rule is invalid unless the
director determines that immediate action is necessary to protect
human health or the environment.  The director must justify this
action in writing, and the department must complete the
regulatory impact report within 180 days after the rule is
adopted.

The substitute also prohibits most rules on clean air, clean
water, underground storage tanks, hazardous waste management,
surface mining, land reclamation, safe drinking water, and solid
waste management from being stricter than the scope of state
requirements as of August 28, 2003.  In cases where there are
either insufficient or no existing state guidelines, the
department may develop more restrictive rules if there is
substantial evidence that an activity will have an adverse impact
on human health or the environment and that a rule is necessary
to prevent or alleviate the impact.  Specific findings on the
impact and a justification for the proposed rule must be
published in the Missouri Register.  The rule's fiscal note must
also include an assessment of the effectiveness and cost of any
reasonably available pollution control methods required by the
rule.  The department may adopt emergency rules if there is an
immediate threat to human health or the environment, but must
provide the required findings and justification within 180 days.
To promulgate a rule that pertains only to a specific defined
area of the state, the department must hold a hearing within the
local area.

Further, the substitute places the burden of proof on the
department and its commissions to prove that a rule is necessary
to prevent specific circumstances or conditions that harm human
health and the environment.

ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITS

The substitute prohibits the department from issuing a notice of
violation or imposing a fine for failure to file a required
permit report on time until the department has made a reasonable
attempt to notify the permit holder about the delinquent report
by registered mail and allowed 30 days for the report to be
filed.  Notification is not required for permit holders who have
previously failed to file two or more reports on time within the
past year or four or more reports on time in the last five years.
The substitute also limits fines for failure to file reports on
time to $500 for first violations.

The substitute also prohibits the department from placing any
requirements in permits that are not prescribed by regulation,
allows permit applicants to correct drafting errors without
paying any modification fee, requires the department and its
commissions to clearly state the reason for permit denials, and
prohibits the department from revoking or changing an approved
permit for one year unless immediate action is necessary to
protect human health or the environment.

OTHER PROVISIONS

The substitute also:

(1)  Allows only parties with a specific, legal property interest
to appeal decisions of the director of the department to the
appropriate board or commission.  Current law allows appeals by
any affected parties;

(2)  Prohibits solid waste processing facilities from storing
waste for more than 48 hours over any regular weekend or for more
than 72 hours over a holiday weekend;

(3)  Prohibits political subdivisions from offering waste
collection services outside their boundaries;

(4)  Allows Johnson County, if approved by voters, to establish a
landfill fee of up to $1.50 per ton for economic development.
Current law only allows third classification counties to
establish these fees; and

(5)  Repeals provisions that require class B air contaminant
sources to have operating permits.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Net Cost to General Revenue Fund of
$139,636 to Unknown in FY 2004, $151,626 to Unknown in FY 2005,
and $155,526 to Unknown in FY 2006.  Savings to Mined Land
Reclamation Fund of $26,000 in FY 2004, FY 2005, and FY 2006.
Income to Hazardous Waste Remedial Fund of $0 in FY 2004,
$1,349,499 in FY 2005, and $2,764,239 in FY 2006.  Estimated Net
Income to Solid Waste Management Fund of $1,038,052 in FY 2004,
$2,076,104 in FY 2005 and $2,076,104 in FY 2006.  Total Loss
Other Air Operating Permit Fund of $76,000 in FY 2004, FY 2005,
and FY 2006.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that cumbersome rules and regulations
cost Missouri jobs and places an undue fiscal burden on both
rural and urban businesses.  The substitute puts common sense in
the rule making procedure of the Department of Natural Resources.
The substitute allows land owners to mine in-stream their own
sand and gravel, municipalities to retain a contractor to mine
in-stream sand and gravel for municipal use, and small operators
to mine without a permit if mining in-stream less than 5,000 tons
of sand and gravel per year.

Testifying for the bill were Senator Klindt; Missouri Chamber of
Commerce; Missouri Corn Growers Association; Missouri Farm
Bureau; Associated Industries of Missouri; St. Louis Regional
Chamber and Growth Association; Missouri Forest Products; and
Senator Steelman's Office.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the bill say that the negative
effects of in-stream gravel mining include erosion of streamside
private property and real estate value; erosion of public
property; damage to private and public infrastructure, including
roads, bridges, pipelines, and utility lines; losses in
productivity of fisheries; and losses of biological productivity.
The regulatory impact report required for each proposed rule
pursuant to the substitute holds the Department of Natural
Resources to a higher standard than other departments,
invalidates rules previously promulgated by the department, and
opens the department to litigation.

Testifying against the bill were Representative Kuessner; Ozark
Fly Fishers; Ozark Council Trout Unlimited; Office of the
Attorney General; Missouri Votes Conservation; Sierra Club;
Stream Team Association; Missouri Smallmouth Alliance; Missouri
Chapter of American Fisheries; and Joel Vance.

Roland Tackett, Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated July 25, 2003 at 10:13 am