The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Wetlands squabbling irritates McCallum
Governor wants accord before special session

By RICHARD P. JONES
April 18, 2001

Gov. Scott McCallum on Wednesday said he would not call a special session next week on a wetlands protection bill until leadership of both houses assured him it would pass.

"Before I spend taxpayers' money on a special session, I want to make sure we have agreement from both houses," he said. "We're close. We've worked very hard, but the final step needs to be taken by leadership in each of the houses."

He said he had circulated his own proposal, but whether he issues a call in the next 24 to 48 hours for a special session next week is up to lawmakers. They are scheduled to resume their regular floor session the following week.

"It's a package that we're asking people to look at, but again, I'm not going to call a special session until I've had all parties say that they're willing to pass it," McCallum said. "I'm not going to spend the tax dollars unless there's a real effort to get this through the Legislature.

Rep. Neal Kedzie (R-Elkhorn), chairman of the Assembly Environmental Committee, said the legislation circulated by the Republican governor was similar to the bill (AB 322) that Kedzie offered Tuesday in an attempt to end a stalemate between the Assembly and Senate.

"We're probably in agreement on more issues than we're in disagreement," Kedzie said of ongoing talks involving Assembly Republicans, Senate Democrats and the governor's office.

"We have been working almost daily," said Sen. Jim Baumgart (D-Sheboygan), chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources Committee.

But one thing Kedzie and Baumgart have been unable to resolve is the role of the Department of Natural Resources in enforcing the wetlands protection measure.

Baumgart said Kedzie's bill would let local units of government allow development on wetlands, without mitigation, if the communities believed such projects were needed. Kedzie said the DNR had a role in the process, but local officials were in a better position to decide such projects.

"There are a number of things we cannot accept," Baumgart said. "I had hoped the governor would find room over there in the Assembly to work out an agreement."

Kedzie said that he did not want McCallum to call a special session unless Democrats controlling the Senate agreed to pass the agreed-upon wetlands measure without amendment.

"That in itself would be a bill killer," Kedzie said. "The governor, as well as myself, want to see something that we pretty much know will succeed. That means playing all cards up front now prior to a session being called."

McCallum and lawmakers have been struggling to restore wetlands protection ever since the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly ruled last January that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lacked jurisdiction over ponds that did not connect with any interstate waterway. In doing so, the nation's high court effectively stripped the DNR of any role in protecting such isolated wetlands.

McCallum said it was critical that the state move swiftly to protect wetlands. He cited it as one reason the floodwaters La Crosse and other communities along the Mississippi River are now battling.

"Flooding can be minimized when you have wetlands," McCallum told reporters following a Building Commission meeting. He said the Assembly had improved on a wetlands measure the Senate passed last month, but he identified enforcement as a stumbling block that remained.

"I've offered things," McCallum said. "I need the legislators talking with each other. I believe they're close. I've given suggestions, but it is now up to the legislators to talk to each other and take these final steps."

But Baumgart said Kedzie's bill would let a local unit of government approve filling a wetland in the interest of economic development.

"That leaves it wide open for any filling of wetlands without mitigation," Baumgart said. He said such projects should be subject to review by the DNR, with no more or less powers than the Army Corps of Engineers had before the Supreme Court ruling.

Kedzie said he believed local officials were in a better position than the DNR in deciding community interests in protecting a specific wetland.

"Again, that is something that is best determined locally with officials that are responsible for health and public safety vs. the state government coming in and defining what that means," Kedzie said.

If McCallum does not call a special session by the end of the week, Kedzie said, he would press ahead with his proposal. He said he planned to hold a hearing next week on the bill and have it ready for an Assembly vote when lawmakers resume the floor session the first week of May.