WisBusiness: Head of mining committee looks to finish bill during current session

By Jason Smathers

WisBusiness.com

The head of a Senate committee on mining says he wants a mining bill finished before the current legislative session ends next year.

Committee chair Neal Kedzie, R-Elkhorn, said he hoped that the rest of the process would include collaboration with the rest of the Legislature. He would not put a timeline on the committee’s work, other than to say that it must be done during “this legislative session.”

Kedzie also said that he intends to hold at least a few committee meetings on the road in other parts of Wisconsin.

During the select committee’s first meeting on Tuesday, staffers from the Department of Natural Resources said the agency can’t evaluate potential environmental and health impacts of the proposed Gogebic Taconite mine until the company can obtain samples through exploratory drilling.

Senators heard from Ann Coakley, DNR’s director of the bureau waste and materials management, and Tom Evans, a geologist from the Wisconsin Geology and Natural History survey. The pair discussed the state’s permitting process, contested case hearings, previous mining projects and potential environmental impacts from a new mine in northern Wisconsin.

Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, asked Coakley what environmental risks the mine could create. Coakley said that there were too many unknowns about the geology of the area to determine that.

Coakley also said they would need more staff to evaluate future permit applications, given that they only have 1 and a half staff positions dedicated to mining.

Evans gave lawmakers background on the development of current mining law and pointed out changes in the last few years, but took no position on whether the DNR needed to streamline existing regulations.

Instead, Evans emphasized that the current mining regulations were borne out of a collaborative process and that streamlining is up to the judgement of the Legislature.

“You don’t need my opinion,” Evans said.

“It would help,” Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Madison, responded.

At the end of the meeting, Democrats expressed gratitude to Kedzie for providing what they felt was a “deliberative” approach to a complex issue.

“I’m glad they picked you to chair this committee,” Erpenbach said. “I think were going to get a fair shake … I’m going to hope that the Legislature as a whole doesn’t bypass this process.”