Watered-down wild rice protection?

A bill that would water down Minnesota's wild rice pollution rules passed the House and Senate last week in a vote that reflects a fundamental shift in environmental philosophy at a Legislature now controlled by Republicans.

The zeal to change the wild rice water quality standard is driven in part by the allure of a resurgence of Minnesota's mining industry on the Iron Range. Supporters say the current standard imposes a heavy burden on business, and they are unwilling to wait for ongoing research to provide better guidance.

"It does not make sense for major expenditures of capital to be made to comply with a standard that we know is subject to change in the near term," said Mike Robertson, an environmental consultant for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

But environmentalists charge that the bill, which dictates a fivefold increase in sulfate limits for wild rice, is just one example of a Republican preference for business interests over both clean water and environmental science.

Last week the Legislature also approved language that establishes a two-year freeze on the development of new state water pollution standards, loosens restrictions on algae-producing phosphorus in Lake Pepin and halts a multiyear project to devise uniform management rules along an important stretch of the Mississippi River between Dayton, Minn., and Hastings.

"We've never seen this kind of multipronged assault on our water protections," said Steve Morse, executive director of the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, an umbrella group for about 80 environmental nonprofits.

Those provisions come on top of a plan to cut state spending on environmental and natural resources by $40 million over the next two years.

But the loosening of water quality rules is likely to prompt a veto by Gov. Mark Dayton, who has complained that they are unrelated provisions inserted into bills setting out the state budget.

Morse predicted that the effort to set technical water quality standards by political judgment rather than by scientific merit will not hold up to scrutiny by the Environmental Protection Agency, which has the ultimate authority.

"There is a train wreck down the line on these," he said.

Wild rice and sulfates

The sulfate standard for wild rice waters is a case in point, one that has elicited a passionate response across the political spectrum -- American Indian tribes, wild ricers, Iron Rangers, industry and environmentalists. At a recent legislative hearing, Robertson, of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, described the colliding interests as a perfect storm.

But the standard was seldom enforced until tribes and environmental groups raised it in connection with recent mining proposals for the Iron Range. Now, mining and other business groups dispute the science and say that upholding it will cripple not just mining companies but also other industries and waste-water treatment facilities across the state.

"It's a nightmare," said Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia.

Environmentalists and Indian tribes -- which have the same standard for water on their land -- argue that it's sound, and that it should stay where it is until scientific research proves otherwise.

Legislators' ideas

Enter the Legislature.

At the last minute, the committee voted to drop 250 parts per million down to 50. The bill also instructs the state Pollution Control Agency (PCA) to continue scientific research already underway to nail down the appropriate standard, a process likely to take at least two growing seasons.

But state pollution officials and environmental groups say the Legislature should not establish a standard by legislative fiat.

"If they don't want clean water, they should tell us what the policy is," said Morse. "But don't set a science-based number."

Lawmakers' effort also won't hold up under federal clean water laws, said PCA Commissioner Paul Aasen.

"A statutory change will not change the standard in the EPA's eyes," he said.

"The rules controlled what [owners] could do with their property," he said. "It's a jobs issue, too."