House gives water treatment exemption bill a second chance

Municipalities that build a water treatment plant would not have to comply with changes in effluent limitations for up to 16 years, under a bill passed 83-44 by the House Tuesday.

Sponsored by Rep. Dale Lueck (R-Aitkin), HF2802 aims to provide regulatory certainty to municipalities that construct treatment plants to comply with new or modified effluent limitations. The bill now heads to the Senate, where Sen. Bill Weber (R-Luverne) is the sponsor.

Rep. Dale Lueck

“We’ve seen this bill before, we passed it off the House Floor last year, the governor signed it, but it got snarled up in rulemaking and didn’t make it so we’re back doing it again,” Lueck said.

The bill would allow a municipality that constructs a publicly owned treatment plant to be exempt from making additional capital investments to comply with new effluent limits adopted after construction begins for at least 16 years.

Lueck successfully offered an amendment that would put the bill into action retroactively to account for its previous passage.

Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) pointed out that the amendment only applies to one city: St. Francis.

“This is only affecting one community, a community that happens to be in [House Speaker Kurt Daudt’s] district,” Hansen said.

Rep. Jean Wagenius (DFL-Mpls) criticized the bill for potentially allowing wastewater discharged from some sewage plants to not be up to current standards in the coming years.

“Are there any of you in this body who would want your children or your constituents to drink water from that lake or river?” Wagenius said.

Rep. Dan Fabian (R-Roseau) brought up the bill’s bipartisan history.

“This was a bill that was passed last year,” Fabian said. “It was supported by the League of Cities, it was not opposed by the Pollution Control Agency, and guess who signed it into law? Gov. Dayton. So let’s not get too wrapped around the axle on this. This is a good, commonsense bill.”