Great Lakes Legal Foundation staff are currently working on a friend of the court brief in support of the petitioners in the Rock-Koshkonong Lake Dist. et al. v. DNR (2008AP1523) case on behalf of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and the Midwest Food Processors Association.

Recent news articles focusing on the DNR’s enforcement numbers and policies have drawn attention to the agency’s enforcement practices and brought it into the political storm of the recall elections.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency are both accepting comments on a multitude of issues impacting Wisconsin businesses. The agencies are accepting comments on various air, water, and waste rules; and in addition, the DNR is also asking for help identifying burdensome and outdated rules.

2011 Wisconsin Act 167 made major changes to the state’s navigable water permitting process. The Legislative Council has produced a helpful memo outlining the existing law, which remains in effect until August 2012, and explaining the new law.

Most existing piers and wharves are exempt from needing DNR approval and can be placed in lakes and rivers the same as they have always been under a new law signed April 2.

On May 12, 2011, the DNR submitted provisions affecting the Forest County Potawatomi Community (FCPC) Class I Area for inclusion in Wisconsin’s State Implementation Plan (SIP). The EPA has released a draft rule incorporating the FCPC Class I Area rules, and is now accepting comments on the proposal.

This coming Monday, April 9, 2012, is the Department of Natural Resources annual Spring Fish & Wildlife Informational Hearings and Wisconsin Conservation Congress annual spring county conservation meetings. Commonly known to Wisconsinites as the “spring hearings,” these annual meetings are going to be slightly different this year as a result of changes made in 2011 Wis. Act 21, the major regulatory reform legislation passed last year.

At its March meeting, the Natural Resources Board approved the commencement of rulemaking to amend the state’s shoreland zoning rules. According to the DNR, counties have asked for changes to make the rules, last updated in 2009, easier to implement and enforce.

Bloomberg BNA recently published an article, EPA Tells Wisconsin Officials to Consider More Efficient Turbines in BACT Analysis, that draws attention to the EPA’s rejection of the DNR’s BACT analysis for Wisconsin's Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility.

The Wisconsin State Bar has uploaded a video interview it did with Matt Moroney, Deputy Secretary of the DNR. Moroney briefly explains legislative changes and other updates to shoreland zoning, wetland reforms, and pier regulation. In addition, Moroney discusses the “hot topic” issues the department will tackle in the foreseeable future.

The Wisconsin State Senate gave final approval to Senate Bill 326, a major regulatory reform measure that streamlines the DNR permitting process in Chapter 30 of the Wisconsin Statutes, which concerns navigable waters, harbors, and navigation. The bill would require the DNR follow specific procedures and timelines for issuing permits, and allow the DNR to issue more simplified general permits for certain activities. The bill also makes changes to the state’s pier regulations, and other DNR processes. The Assembly is scheduled to take up its companion bill, AB 421, on Tuesday, March 13th.

On March 7th, the Senate referred back to committee a bill that would have directed the Wisconsin Public Service Commission to craft new windmill siting standards. Although a bill could still come to the floor, if it does not pass both houses by the last day of the legislative session, March 15th, the PSC’s 2010 windmill siting rules will go into effect.

Governor Walker has signed into law two bills introduced by the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules repealing existing air regulations.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has decided to hear a case that will determine whether the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is required, when making water level decisions on impounded lakes, to consider evidence of the water level’s effect on property values.

The State Bar of Wisconsin’s Government Lawyers Division and Administrative & Local Government Law Section are co-sponsoring a CLE event titled Current Issues in Land Use Law on March 15, 2012.

The Natural Resources Board (NRB) and the Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Board (ATCPB) held a joint meeting on Tuesday, February 21, 2012. The Boards received presentations on Chronic Wasting Disease and Federal Funding, Farmland Preservation, and Nutrient Management and engaged in conversations about those issues. The following day, February 22, each board held its own meeting.

The EPA is currently accepting comments on its proposal to redesignate the Milwaukee- Racine and Sheboygan areas to attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard.

Citing data from the state of Illinois, the EPA has announced it intends to revise its proposed designation for Kenosha County, and recommend it be designated nonattainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone standard. This decision by the EPA is unwelcome, as nonattainment designations carry with them substantial regulatory and related economic burdens.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) this week denied a rulemaking petition by opponents of silica sand mining in western and northern Wisconsin. The same day it denied the rulemaking request, the DNR issued a comprehensive Silica Sand Mining Study.

The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board met January 24th and 25th in Madison. Important topics addressed by the Board included approval of an economic impact solicitation process, a reduction of the bear harvest quota for 2012, and discussions of EPA-identified deficiencies in the state’s water program and frac sand mining.