Environmental Quality

1. Environmental Quality It’s all about managing people

2. How much government do we want? • What are we willing to pay for? • What are we not willing to pay for? • How much government have we got? • Cost of Government Day Report 2009 (The Center for Fiscal Accountability) • Cost of Government Goes Up While Costs of Living Go Down (Americans for Tax Reform) • The Cost of Government Financial Interventions, Past and Present (CRS Report for Congress)

3. Cost of Government Day Report 2009 MN Average

4. Incessant acrimonious debate Is it the responsibility of government to protect citizens from economic and natural disasters? • What should a government be responsible for? • What goods should a government produce? • How should those goods be produced? • What services should a government provide? • How should those services be provided? • What government should do what? • Center for Governmental Responsibility (U. Florida) • US Constitution • Minnesota Constitution Who should provide safe milk? Who should provide a clean environment?

5. If yes, then how should goods be produced and services provided? • Public • Private - Under coercion • Regulation • Financial Incentive • taxation • loan • Infrastructure construction (water treatment, sewers, roads) • Information acquisition & dissemination • Risk assumption A Production Spectrum

6. Public policy is designed to affect changes in behavior in order to achieve some goal • Based upon • the principles of a constitution • the ideas of due process • It is dynamic • arises out of the debates concerning the role and responsibility of governments, debates that necessarily involve and take into account • reactions of individuals, corporations, and government to previous policy • It is incremental – and disjointed

7. Public Policy – Legal Controls on Behavior – Mutual Coercion, Mutually Agreed Upon • The path of controls • Statutory • Administrative • Judicial • Statutory interpreted by the courts • Administrative interpreted by the courts • Federal • State

8. Regulating Carbon Dioxide • Massachusetts V EPA 549 U.S. 497 (Cornell University) 127 S. Ct. 1438 (2007) • Supreme Court sends carbon regulation back to the EPA (ARS Technica, 2007) • In the majority view, the "EPA’s steadfast refusal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions presents a risk of harm to Massachusetts that is both 'actual' and 'imminent.'" • The EPA's Prudent Response to Massachusetts v. EPA (Heritage Foundation, 2008) • Massachusetts v. EPA, Ignored: One Year Later, Back to Court We Go(Warming Law blog 2008)

9. NRDC: Bush's Flawed Arguments Against Regulating Carbon Pollution (2001) • EPA Should Avoid Regulating Carbon Dioxide Emissions (Heritage Foundation, 2008) • E.P.A. Expected to Regulate Carbon Dioxide and Other Heat-Trapping ... (NY Times, 2009) • Climate Change (EPA) • What is EPA doing about climate change? (EA) • Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) • Hacked e-mail is new fodder for climate dispute (New York Times, Nov. 20 2009)

10. Environmental Quality Paradoxes • Obama cuts funding for nuclear waste (MPR March 2009) • Creature of the month – Zebra Mussel (MPCA) • Arsenic kills Buffalo Lake meat plant; 200 lose jobs (Star Tribune) • PFCs in Minnesota: Current Status (March 2009) (MPCA) • Asbestos (MDH) • Over 230 Million Pounds of Toxics Discharged into American Waterways (Minnesota Environmental Partnership Oct. 2009) • The MPCA’s mercury move explained (Star Tribune April 22, 2013)

11. Societal Trends • More and more individuals • Living in denser agglomerations • With • Increasing knowledge about the natural world in which they live • Increasing technical capabilities • Increasing demands – relatively, absolutely • Variable evaluation methods • Place • Greater and more diverse demands on the “natural” world

12. Personal Philosophy - Muddling Through

13. How can we think holistically about “environmental quality”? • Energy • Humans Water • Resources • Human Health Recreation • extraction disposal • Ecosystem Health Biota • Non-humans Water • Air • Integrity

14. How can we think holistically about “environmental quality”? • Energy • Humans Water • Resources • Human Health Recreation • extraction disposal • Ecosystem Health Biota • Non-humans Water • Air • Integrity • We have been taking about “environmental quality” all semester

15. House Passes Natural Resources Measure • The Minnesota House has passed a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at protecting hunting and fishing habitats • The measure would let voters decide this fall whether the state should dedicate three-sixteenths of 1 percent of existing sales tax revenues for outdoor resources • Clean water programs, parks, trails and the arts would also benefit • A similar bill passed this month by the DFL-controlled Senate • But that measure increases the sales tax by three eighths of 1 percent • Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, chief sponsor of the House bill, says he won't agree to a tax increase during the conference committee negotiations • The House bill would set aside $135 million dollars a year, compared to $270 million in the Senate version.

16. LAWS 2008, CHAPTER 368, ART. 2, SEC. 14 • Minnesota Statutes 97A.056 • Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council • Star Tribune <Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council>

17. The Most Recent Episode – Post 1970 • Environmental Law – Overview (Legal Information Institute) • National Environmental Policy Act (Council on Environmental Quality) • 42 USC 4321 “To declare a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment; to promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man; to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation; and to establish a Council on Environmental Quality” • National Environmental Policy Act (Wikipedia) • Environmental Protection Agency - NEPA • Department of Energy – NEPA

18. Minnesota Environmental Act (Minnesota Statutes c.116D Laws 1971 c.952) • “The legislature finds and declares that each person is entitled by right to the protection, preservation, and enhancement of air, water, land, and other natural resources located within the state and that each person has the responsibility to contribute to the protection, preservation, and enhancement thereof. The legislature further declares its policy to create and maintain within the state conditions under which human beings and nature can exist in productive harmony in order that present and future generations may enjoy clean air and water, productive land, and other natural resources with which this state has been endowed. Accordingly, it is in the public interest to provide an adequate civil remedy to protect air, water, land and other natural resources located within the state from pollution, impairment, or destruction” • Minnesota Environmental Policy (Minnesota Statutes c.116D Laws 1973 c.412)

19. Environmental Review in Minnesota • Environmental Review Program (Minnesota Environmental Quality Board) • Guide to Minnesota Environmental Review Rules (EQB) • Environmental Review (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) • Environmental Review (Dept. of Natural Resources) • Help Guides Aid Understanding of Minnesota’s Environmental Review Process (CURA Reporter (Spring, 2006) • Generic Environmental Impact Statement on Animal Agriculture (EQB, 2002) • Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) Study on Timber Harvesting and Forest Management in Minnesota (Interagency Information Cooperative, 1994)

20. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources <environmental impact statement> • DNR decides Minntac mine extension does not require an environmental impact statement (April 11, 2013) • Should state help Minnesota counties study frac sand mining? (Midwest Energy News, 2012)

21. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency • Examining a State Agency: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (League of Women Voters Jan, 2007) • Minnesota Department of Health • Minnesota Environmental Law (LawMoose) • Minnesota Agricultural LawLawMoose)

22. Statutory Law – Federal • 42 United States Code The Public Health and Welfare • Federal Environmental Statutes (Wikipedia) • Agency rules – Code of Federal Regulations • Major Environmental Laws and Regulations (Office of Health, Safety and Security, DoE) • Laws & Regulations (EPA) • Congressional Quarterly Inc. Online resources • Congressional Research Service Reports (National Council for Science and the Environment)

23. Minnesota Statutory and Administrative Law • Minnesota Statutes and Rules • Department of Agriculture • Statutes • Rules • Department of Health • Policy, Economics and Legislation • Statutes • Rules • Environmental Health • Food Safety • Governor’s Clean Water Initiative

24. Environmental Quality Board • Statutes and Rules • Minnesota Board of Water & Soil Resources • Department of Natural Resources • The commissioner shall have charge and control of all the public lands, parks, timber, waters, minerals, and wild animals of the state and of the use, sale, leasing, or other disposition thereof … • Regulations – Hunting, Fishing, Boating, Snowmobiling • Minnesota Pollution Control Agency • Statutes • Rules • Rules • Index of Web Site

25. Case Law • LexisNexis Academic • Sources • Browse Sources • Treatises and Analytical methods • Dunnell Minnesota Digest 

26. Metropolitan Council • Matters of Metropolitan Significance • Data, Publications • Wastewater & Water • Planning

27. Local Governments • Minneapolis • Tap Water • Sewer and Storm Drains • Solid Waste & Recycling • Storm and Surface Water Management • St. Paul • Water • Ramsey County Public Health

28. Hennepin County • <Environment, Recycling & Trash> • <Water> • <Air quality> • Dakota County • <Environment>

29. Nonprofit Organizations • Environmental Law and Policy Center • Minnesota Environmental Partnership • Minnesota Public Interest Research Group • Natural Resource Defense Council • Institute for Local Self Reliance • Fresh Energy • University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment

30. Reserve Mining Company History of Silver Bay Northshore Mining originally operated as Reserve Mining Company, was the first taconite processing facility in North America when it opened in 1955. After Reserve filed for bankruptcy in 1986, the plant was downsized to 4.8 million tons per year capacity and reopened in 1990 as Northshore Mining Company. Now owned by Cliffs U.S. v. Reserve Mining Co., 380 F. Supp. 11, 17 (D. Minn. 1974) US v Reserve Mining (J Water Pollution Control Federation, 1976) The legacy of the Reserve Mining case (MPR Oct 29, 2003) Miles Lord calls for a halt to taconite projects (MPR Feb 23, 2005) Company seeks to reopen 1970s Reserve Mining case (MPR July 31, 2007)

31. Reserve Mining • Judgment reserved : a landmark environmental case • The Reserve Mining controversy : science, technology, and environmental quality • Environmental law stories (Daniel C. Farber -- The story of Reserve Mining : managing scientific uncertainty in environmental regulation) • Google <Reserve mining> 53.8 million hits • Google Scholar <Reserve mining> 352,000 hits • LexisNexis Academic • Legal <“reserve mining”> • Minnesota Taconite Workers Health Study • Update on U of M Taconite Workers Health Study findings

32. Wilderness • The Wilderness Society • Wilderness (Wikipedia) • FirstGov.org  <wilderness act>   21,667  • <wilderness> 43,535 • Google <wilderness> 34,400,000 English pages • Google Scholar <wilderness> about 487,000 • University of Minnesota Libraries <wilderness> 4,687 records • LexisNexis Academic <wilderness act> 450 law review articles <wilderness> >1,000 • LexisNexis Academic <Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness> 88 articles • JStor <wilderness> 30,453 articles

33. Water • Minnesota Department of Natural Resources • Water • Ecological & Water Resources • Water Resources • Fish & Wildlife • Section of Fisheries • Minnesota Department of Agriculture • Protecting Our Lands & Waters • Minnesota Department of Transportation • Minnesota Ports and Waterways • Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources

34. Minnesota Department of Health • Minnesota Pollution Control Agency • Water • Environmental Quality Board • Roles and responsibilities • EQB Monitor

35. Water (Minnesota Statutes) • Minnesota Statutes c.103A -114B • 103A.001 c.103A-103G the Water Law • 50 Dunnell Minn. Digest WATERS

36. Mercury - Federal • Mercury home (EPA) • Mercury (MedlinePlus) • Mercury (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) • Mercury (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) • Mercury (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) • Laws & regulations

37. Mercury – Minnesota • Minnesota Statutes c.116 Pollution Control Agency • 116.01 Policy • Mercury Contamination Reduction • Mercury Reduction • Mercury Emissions Reduction • Multistate Clearinghouse • Electric Energy; Mercury Emissions Report • Lamp Recycling Facilities • 61 Minnesota Rules contain “mercury”