After a long and sometimes pointed discussion the Cook County Board of Commissioners passed a motion by a 3-2 vote to send a resolution protesting the Proposed Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Voting in favor of the motion were Garry Gamble, Bruce Martinson and Jan Hall. Voting against were Sue Hakes and Heidi Doo Kirk.
The vote came at the commissioners’ November 12 meeting.
Gamble drafted the seven page resolution and in it he argued that the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are attempting to impose new regulations to take control of all the water in the United States by undermining or eliminating the term “navigable” in the Clean Water Act (CWA), which was passed by Congress in 1972.
Under the 1972 Act, Gamble said, “It is understood the federal government’s legal authority to regulate water is largely derived from the Constitution’s commerce clause, which theoretically limits the government’s jurisdiction to the type of navigable waterways where such commerce occurs.”
In April the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers jointly released the new proposed rule—Definition of Waters of the U.S. under the CWA, which Gamble said would amend and expand the range of waters that fall under federal regulation.
“This is a constant issue that needs our constant review and attention,” Gamble said.
Gamble shared information from the National Association of Counties (NACo) which has stated its opposition to WOTUS because it believes changes in the definition would impact many counties who would be required to obtain federal permits for any type of construction or maintenance activities on ditches, called jurisdictional ditches. NACo literature states, “Obtaining these federal permits can be very expensive, cumbersome and time consuming.”
Commissioner-elect Jan Sivertson came before the board as a citizen and asked the board to vote against the resolution because, as she put it, “Water is our most important resource.”
Stacy Drouillard also spoke on behalf of supporting the new EPA regulations and asked the board not to make a “hasty decision” and not to take an “up or down vote.” She suggested waiting until the new year when three new commissioners would take their seats.
Commissioner Hakes said she recognized that the board had diverse opinions about the rule; she thought individuals should send comments to the EPA instead of having the county pass a resolution against WOTUS. “Cook County is in the business of clean water, this is an economic decision for Cook County…” said Hakes, who referred to a letter from Paul Nelson of Lutsen, adding, “To put Cook County’s name on it, as Paul Nelson said is an embarrassment.”
Nelson couldn’t be at the meeting because he was out of town but he had sent an email to commissioners voicing his concerns about the proposed resolution.
Gamble countered by saying that Nelson’s email to the commissioners suggesting that said there is nothing new in the proposed rule and that it won’t affect business or farmers because they have been operating under such regulations for decades “grossly misrepresented” what was in the Act.
In his email, Nelson, stated, “The resolution, which is obviously copied from a conservative, state-rights website is a collection of their arguments against not only wetland protection (which have failed in many court tests) but also various philosophical claims of how the federal and state governments should operate.
“One seemingly innocuous claim that seems almost reasonable is the claim that a regulation that prevents a landowner from draining a wetland and then using the land is a “taking” and the landowner should be provided compensation. This is a red herring that has been tried and denied in courts for courts for years: If it were allowed, the government would be overwhelmed with enormous loss claims that would make the enforcement of such regulations impossible.
“Contrary to what these folks propose, that a person who owns land should be able to use it for whatever they want, or be compensated for any loss of that land through regulation, we do not live on islands. We have neighbors. And no one can justify a use of their land to harm others’,” wrote Nelson.
Highway Department shares concerns
But Cook County Highway Engineer Dave Betts and two co-workers, Russell Klegstad and Sam Muntean, had a different take on the WOTUS proposal.
“This is a big deal,” said Betts. He said that under this proposal the ditches could be considered wetlands and that if this were true his staff would have to spend an inordinate amount of time getting permits and hiring consultants for every little job.
Highway Maintenance Supervisor Klegstad was more blunt. He said the new rules would “handcuff” the county highway department and added, “If you think this isn’t going to affect the levy, you’re kidding yourself. My letter [to the EPA] isn’t going to mean squat compared to a resolution sent from the county board.
“This is a local issue and we are getting run over. This is a serious, serious issue,” said Klegstad.
Muntean said the proposed WOTUS rules would open the county up to 18-23 degrees of impacts, and that individuals would have to spend a lot of time and money to get anything built. He said that large corporations and government would have the money and wherewithal to operate, but the rules would be prohibitive for individuals and would add a lot of costs to taxpayers.
Commissioner Martinson said he would support the document prepared by Gamble if the last three pages were deleted. Gamble told him the last three pages were historical reference and not part of the sevenpage resolution that will be sent to the EPA.
Commissioner Jan Hall said she had been involved with boards and committees for 16 years that were constantly fighting against more regulations being placed on people by government, and she said she supported Gamble’s resolution.
Commissioner Kirk argued that Gamble’s document was too lengthy and difficult to understand given the board hadn’t had time to thoroughly look over and discuss it. “I want simple resolution written by our county engineer,” said Kirk, explaining why she was casting a no vote.
In other business
. The county board voted to hire Todd Armbruster of Duluth as the county’s Firewise Coordinator at the request of Emergency Management Director Jim Wiinanen. Armbruster will be paid $25 per hour from designated Title lll funds and from Steven’s grant funds, which total $20,000 for 12 months. His contract will run from November 16, 2014 to December 31, 2015.
. Also approved was a change in the county’s vacation donation policy. Under the old rule employees were not eligible to receive vacation donations until they reached one year of employment with the county. The new policy allows county employees to donate extra personal leave hours to fellow employees who are currently struggling with personal or family health issues.
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