October 2011

Wisconsin joins other states to appeal to the Supreme Court for relief from Asian Carp—On October 26, 2011, Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen took another step to protect Wisconsin’s natural resources from the effects of the Asian carp by joining the attorneys general of four other states -- Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania -- in a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The petition asks the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the August 24, 2011, ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago and order the following: require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to install block nets in the Little Calumet and Grand Calumet rivers, which are vulnerable to Asian carp invasion between the Mississippi River and Great Lakes Basins; and require the corps to expedite the completion of its study of permanent ecological separation at Chicago, between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins.

The 7th Circuit Court’s decision affirmed a federal district court ruling which denied Wisconsin and other plaintiff states a preliminary injunction to stop the migration of Asian carp into the Great Lakes.
“This petition is yet another step in the fight, and we’ll continue to seek every legal option at our disposal to protect Wisconsin waters and the Great Lakes, now,” Attorney General Van Hollen said. “The 7th circuit recognized the threat, but the corps needs to be compelled to act more quickly.”
In September, Attorney General Van Hollen joined the attorneys general of 16 other states in a letter to the U.S. Congress, urging members to block the continued spread of damaging invasive species between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins.

The coalition believes a permanent ecological separation at Chicago is necessary to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species, which travel in the ballast water of vessels and spread through the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River by way of Chicago-area waterways.

View the full petition initiated by the State of Michigan.

Source: News release from Attorney General Van Hollen's office

Public Hearing for Special Session Bill SB24/AB24
Wednesday, October 26 - 11:00am
State Capitol, Madison - Room 417 North (GAR room)

The week of Oct. 17, the Wisconsin legislature, during its special session on jobs, released a natural resources bill which has many possible implications for lake users and lake property owners.  The Senate Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment and Assembly Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a joint public hearing regarding the proposed bill for Wednesday, October 26 at 11:00 am in the state capitol. This public hearing will be the only time for citizens to share their comments about the proposed legislation.

The bill is lengthy and complex with many new additions and changes to current legislation. In the short period of time between the legislature releasing the bill and the scheduled public hearing date, we have done our best to quickly learn about this proposed legislation and share these changes and additions with our membership.  They include: 

• Easing restrictions on dredging or filling on public lake beds.

• Changing standards regarding size and placement of piers.

• Changing standards regarding repair and maintenance of boathouses.

• Allowing piers or wharfs in areas of special natural resource interest by general permit*.

• Imposing conditions related to the design, construction and installation of a pier or wharf placed under general permit authority, but the DNR may NOT prohibit a riparian owner from placing a pier or wharf that meets the general permit requirements.

• Increased allowances for removal of material from a lake bed to 10 cubic yards per year without a permit. For context, one pickup truck equals 2 cubic yards. This provision, therefore, allows 5 pickup trucks of material to be removed from the lake bed per year.

• Allowing a riparian owner to remove 50 cubic yards of lake bed to place or maintain a boat lift on a pier or wharf with a general permit*. That is 25 pickup trucks of dredged lake bed.

• Allowing a person to remove 500 cubic yards of plant or animal nuisance deposits per year with a general permit* if they impede navigation or access to a stream, inland lake or outlying water.

• Reducing the timeframe for requesting a public hearing from 30 to 20 days after the DNR issues notice of pending application (not after a complete application as in current legislation).

• Issuing requested permits or contracts by default if the DNR fails to comply with time periods.

*An individual permit is a custom crafted permit for one specific, individual activity while a general permit is a generic permit appropriate for a specific type of activity. The purpose of general permits is to streamline the permitting process.  Since the general permit has already gone through any required public participation and the permit’s conditions have already been developed, acquiring a general permit takes less time than an individual permit.

If you are unable to attend the public hearing, you can also call your legislators to share your opinions about the proposed legislation. Here are some additional resources regarding the bill:

• Wisconsin Lake’s preliminary analysis of the bill.

• Click here to find your Wisconsin legislator.

• Click here for a listing of the members of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Environment.

• Click here for a listing of the members of the Assembly Natural Resources committee.

• Click here for the language of the bill.

Sources: Wisconsin Lakes Email Action Alert, Monday, October 24, 2011, Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, Maryland, the Department of Environment.

September 2011

Rosendale Dairy, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh may team up for biodigester that will turn manure into energy—In a proposal for the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and its partners to build a large, wet anaeroibic biodigester and biogas facility at Rosendale Dairy at Pickett in Fond du Lac County would turn cow manure into energy that could be sold to power companies. If the proposal moves forward, Wisconsin's largest dairy farm, Rosendale Dairy, will be home to what UWO officials call one of the state's most dynamic research, renewable energy production and public education facilities. For those within the Rosendale Dairy spreading area, they too will appreciate the benefits of the biodigester.

Those familiar with the strong odors caused by the spreading of cow manure, the use of the biodigester will remove the odor from the manure without losing any nutritional value, according to Greg Kleinheinz, professor of microbiology and associate dean of the College of Letters and Science. Once manure has been through the digester, the volume of manure is reduced by about a third but contains more nutrients per pound. This will allow farmers to apply less manure per acre, decreasing the chance of manure run-off from fields.

Portions of this article were taken from The Northwestern. Read the full article here.

State Supreme Court to hear first case in testing livestock citing laws—The state Supreme Court has begun hearing the case of John Adams v. Wisconsin, which challenges the current livestock citing law. This law, which was approved by former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and a Republican-controlled Legislature, outlined for the first time standards for location, odor and air emissions, manurespreading and storing, and runoff management for new farms of all sizes or those looking to expand. The law allowed local governments to use the state's new standards or adopt their own siting ordinances, as long as they weren't more restrictive than the state's. The eight families who brought forth John Adams v. Wisconsin argue that the state's law limits the local government's ability to control the agriculture practices that occur where they live. Read the full article from the Madison's Cap Times. 

August 2011

Hot Weather Spurs Blue-Green Algae Growth—Many popular lakes in Wisconsin experienced spikes in blue-green algae growth this summer. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources published a weekly news update article discussing this growth. Health concerns were raised related to toxins that can be produced by algae, according to the article. View the full article and map. Want to know more about algae? Check out our algae page!

July 2011

Joint Committee to hear public testimony regarding shorline zoning and runoff rules—The Legislature’s Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules will hold a public hearing on July 26, 2011 from 11am until 5pm in the Gymnasium of the Minocqua Community Center, 415 Menominee Street in Minocqua. The hearing will cover the state's shoreland zoning rules (NR115), as well as rules regarding management of polluted runoff from agricultural practices, urban storm water runoff and other nonpoint pollution sources which impact the state's lakes and streams (NR151).

The shoreland zoning rules were enacted in their revised form nearly a year and a half ago as the result of ten years of negotiations and compromise worked out between the state, Wisconsin Lakes, the River Alliance of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Realtors Association, the Wisconsin Builders Association and the Wisconsin County Code Administrators. Green Lake County has already begun the process of modifying its zoning codes as reported in the our previous e-blasts. Wisconsin counties have until Feb 1, 2012 to ensure their zoning code is up to at least the minimum standards of the rule.

Proponents for the updated shoreline zoning and runoff management rules argue that the way in which shorelines are managed impacts the quality of water and health of our lakes. Building too close to the water, removing shoreland plants, and covering too much of a lake shore lot with hard surfaces (such as roofs and driveways) can harm habitat and send more nutrient and sediment runoff into the lake which can lead to excess vegetation growth and algal blooms.  Opponents of the newly revised and enacted zoning rules have concerns about protecting individual property rights and argue that some portions of the new rules are too restrictive.

Feel free to learn more about these important issues and let your opinions be heard by attending hearings such as this one. For information on the Joint Committee on Rules and Regulations, click here.

*Portions of this article were taken from Wisconsin Lake’s Action Alert Email, July 21, 2011.

June 2011

Phosphorus removed from budget—The Joint Finance Committee has completed its review of the biennial budget bill. The Committee has removed a provision from the state budget that would have delayed the implementation of Wisconsin's phosphorus rule by two years.  In March, Gov. Scott Walker proposed to delay the implementation of this rule through the biennial budget bill. As we have shared in the past, Wisconsin passed a phosphorus rule last year limiting the amount of phosphorus discharged from waste treatment plants, farms, and industries. Excess phosphorus causes the increase in algae blooms seen during the summer.  The biennial budget bill is now sent to both houses of legislature for action, which will take place during the next couple of weeks.

May 2011

Joint Finance Committee requests economic impact analysis on phosphorus rules and NR115—The Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, scheduled to take up the phosphorus rules suspension provision of the budget last Tuesday along with other natural resource funding and water quality issues, voted to delay a decision on the measure. 

The committee also voted to: require an economic impact analysis to assess the effects of both the phosphorus rules and the shoreland zoning regulations contained in NR115; repeal and recreate NR151, the state's nonpoint runoff rules; move construction site erosion regulation out of DNR; and change the lake management grant program by increasing the maximum grant to $25,000/yr, capping the amount one lake could receive through cumulative grants at $50,000 and increasing the matching portion of the grant from 25% to 33%. Full coverage of these provisions will be provided in June.

If you have an opinion about these changes, please contact the members of the Joint Finance Committee, as well as your own legislators, and let them know why.

• For contact info on the members of the Joint Finance Committee, click here.
• To find your own legislators, click here.
• For a copy of the Joint Finance Committee's Motion, which includes the economic impact analysis provisions, view here.

Proposed bill would allow retailers to keep fertilizers with phosphorus on store shelves—Last year, the Wisconsin legislature passed a law banning phosphorus from residential lawn fertilizer in all but a few instances (Wis. Stat. 94.643). The law does allow, but does not require, retailers to carry fertilizer with phosphorus, so long as they don’t stock it on the sales floor. This is so homeowners won’t unwittingly (or not) break the law by purchasing the wrong fertilizer. The retailer is allowed, however, to place signage advertising that they carry the phosphorus-containing product for use in the limited exceptions which include new lawn plantings or where the soil is deficient in the element.

A bill is being circulated for co-sponsorship by Representatives Joseph Knilans (R-Janesville) and Mary Williams (R-Medford) which would eliminate the ban on sales floor displays of fertilizer containing phosphorus.

Proponents of the proposed bill argue that the new law creates a burden for retailers of losing valuable back room shelf space and the staff time it takes for associates to bring the product to the floor.  However, opponents argue that the current law does not currently require retailers to post signage or carry the product, just the option if they so desire.

Possible Structural Changes Proposed to DNR—Recent news outlets have widely reported that Governor Walker plans an overhaul of the Dept. of Natural Resources, changing its structure and relation to other state agencies. The details of the plan have yet to be determined, but some believe that possible changes may involve streamlining the agency to allow for faster permit approvals. Proponents of these possible changes argue that structural changes will improve customer service, but opponents argue that the DNR is a state agency whose mission is to serve all citizens by sustainably managing its natural resources.

Source: Wisconsin Lakes Association

March, 2011

Research Before you Plant—As the weather begins to warm many of us will be shopping for new plants for beds, borders and the shoreline. When looking for those unique or unusual plants that will set your landscape apart from everyone else in the neighborhood, keep in mind regulation NR40, Wisconsin's Invasive Species Identification, Classification, and Control rule. This rule identifies plants that are invasive species to Wisconsin that can potentially cause economical or environmental harm. Most plant nurseries are aware of NR40 and are prohibited from selling invasive plant species. However, many nurseries and sellers out of state may not be aware of this Wisconsin-only regulation. Familiarize yourself with this law and the list of invasive plant species to help protect our lake and lands from harm. This information was obtained from the UW-Extension Wisconsin Master Gardener Association Newsletter. Read the full text on NR40. 

January, 2011

Pier registration due April 1, 2011—We shared with members the Wisconsin Pier Regulations that took effect the summer of 2008 in our 2010 2nd/3rd quarterTimes & Tides. All existing piers that are not exempt to these changes (view criteria here) will need to register with the DNR by April 1, 2011.Find out if you're pier needs to be registered. A DNR study showed that more than 85% of all existing piers already meet these requirements. Most piers that are not exempt are eligible to be grandfathered through a one-time free registration process. To learn more about these regulations, find brochures or access application forms please visit the DNR's website: http://dnr.wi.gov/waterways/recreation/piers.html.