Editorial: Permit bill is a win for state businesses

Star Tribune Editorial

For the second time in a week, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton showed a refreshing willingness to defy traditional constituencies to do what he thinks is best for the state.

On Thursday, Dayton delivered on a campaign promise to streamline environmental regulations by signing a Republican bill that might help Minnesota firms move more quickly through the permitting process.

That decision -- a difficult one because the bill was opposed by leading environmental groups -- came on the heels of Dayton's compromise with Republicans on alternative teacher licensure, a measure opposed by the state's powerful teachers union.

The state's environmental groups are decrying the regulatory bill as a rollback of state environmental protections. That's more rhetoric than reality.

While there are components of the bill that need to be evaluated in coming years, the legislation does not lower the state's air- and water-quality standards.

Businesses will now be able to submit their own preliminary environmental impact statements to help determine whether a new venture can meet these standards -- an aspect of the bill that should be reviewed in the future to determine if it's compromised the quality of such reports or public access to the data generated.

Dayton already supported the 150-day goal in an executive order earlier this year.

But the air and water standards have not gone away, nor have they been altered -- something that truly would have been a step backward. Local and state agencies also will continue to scrutinize the work to ensure the standards are met, and can require additional studies.

"This is helpful, but it's no magic bullet. Every company will have to jump through all the hurdles to make sure they meet all the standards Minnesota has in place," said Frank Ongaro, executive director of the trade group Mining Minnesota.

Asked if the changes would help Polymet, a controversial copper-mining operation proposed in northeast Minnesota, Ongaro said: "It depends," and added that if Polymet were to hire its own consultants, it might shave some time off the process for filing supplemental environmental impact statements required for the project.

Republicans fast-tracked the bill through the Legislature before the release of an important report on environmental review and permitting by the respected Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA). Legislators missed an opportunity to get at the roots of delays and make more comprehensive fixes.

The report points out that most applicants eventually get permits and that key state agencies -- the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Pollution Control Agency (PCA) -- already come close to meeting timeliness goals for the bulk of private-sector environmental permit applications.

Businesses often contribute to delays themselves by not providing comprehensive information initially or by not responding promptly when asked for more data. Federal involvement can also bog things down.

But the OLA also found that the DNR and PCA don't adequately track their timeliness in responding to businesses and that their systems for doing so are disturbingly antiquated.

House Speaker Kurt Zellers said Thursday that House Republicans are reviewing the OLA report to determine whether additional measures are needed. That's a positive development.

The OLA report offers a blueprint for deeper, more substantive reforms. Zellers and his fellow lawmakers have more work to do.

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