When Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) announced the formation of the Mining and Outdoor Recreation Policy Committee, and then stacked it with GOPers and mining-focused Iron Range DFLers it was plain Republicans had plans to advance pro-mining legislation this session.

We got our first taste of some of the proposed new rules this week.

Yesterday, Republicans and Iron Range DFLers in the GOP-controlled Minnesota House introduced HF 616, a bill to require an economic assessment of water quality standards, along with a companion bill, HF 617, that would require an independent study to verify MPCA water standards. Rep. Dan Fabian (R-Roseau) is the chief author.

Though not word-for-word, HF 616 in particular seems to bear striking resemblance to a 2012 policy proposal by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). During the last session under a DFL majority, Range lawmakers and Republicans floated another ALEC-inspired bill nullifying the authority of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which quickly fizzled out.

Essentially, HF 616 and 617 limit the power of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The agency couldn't implement water standards without completing an economic impact study. Further, the PCA couldn't base standards on data that hasn't been verified from an independent source. In other words, conflicting research from industry scientists could be used to discredit current water standards.

That's relevant, because the wild rice sulfate standard at the heart of many water quality debates in both nonferrous mining and taconite mining on the Iron Range is subject to such disagreement. The current wild rice standard, recommended by the PCA and supported by environmental groups and Ojibwa leaders, suggests no more than 10 sulfate parts per million will allow wild rice to grow healthily. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce commissioned a study suggesting the real number was closer to 1,600 parts per million. (Other research suggests appropriate amounts in between those two numbers, but far closer to the lower one; additionally, sulfate isn't harmful but can become sulfide due to environmental conditions, which is harmful).

Given the political makeup of the bills' authorship, this legislation will have a clear path through the Mining & Recreation committee. After sailing through the House, they'll have some chance of being reconciled in the State Senate, led by DFL Majority Leader Tom Bakk, himself an Iron Range delegation member. From there, to DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, who has strongly suggested he doesn't want to alter regulations without firm evidence and some sense of what emerges from the ongoing PolyMet Environmental Impact Study process.

At this point, I would argue that if you support mining what you want is to send trucks full of pizzas and coffee to the office workers in the PCA and Minnesota DNR as they tabulate and prepare the amended EIS for its final release this spring. (NOTE: That's probably illegal; I'm speaking rhetorically).

Only this document, prepared properly in a way that is scientifically defensible, will allow projects like PolyMet to go forward without getting ensnared in endless litigation. PolyMet and its opponents will end up in court either way, but a well-composed EIS could allow permits to be rendered much sooner. Or, it could produce questions the companies don't want to answer. That's where reserving the option of flat-out changing the wild rice standard after the fact could be seen as the ultimate option for mining allies.

It bears mentioning that funding to support more robust, clearer and scientifically grounded data is not part of these new bills. Only the demand that such data be produced, somehow.