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Senate amends DEQ boards bill to ensure environmental representation, passes first substitute
Summary
Lawmakers amended and approved a bill changing the composition and titles of five DEQ boards and giving the Department of Environmental Quality rulemaking authority; an amendment replaced the term 'nongovernmental' with 'environmental' to require environmental organization representation.
The Senate adopted an amended first substitute to Senate Bill 21, legislation that restructures five Department of Environmental Quality boards and transitions terminology (executive secretary to director) while giving DEQ rulemaking authority over board procedures.
Sponsor Senator Dayton said the bill had been developed over two years with stakeholders and that the length of the bill reflected comprehensive changes to membership and transition language. "What we are doing is making sure that we are giving rule making authority to the DEQ to create...attendance standards, conflict of interest issues," Dayton said.
Senator Davis offered a clarifying amendment to replace the word "nongovernmental" with "environmental" in five locations to make explicit that appointees would be representatives of organized environmental organizations. Dayton described the change as "friendly" and said it clarified that the appointment should be from a recognized environmental organization.
After debate and the amendment's adoption, the first substitute bill passed its vote on the floor with a recorded tally of 19 yeas and 3 nays with 7 absent and was placed at the bottom of the third reading calendar.
The measure's sponsors and supporters said the changes aim to make board memberships more predictable and to improve rulemaking clarity; opponents cautioned about reduced community representation and urged continued refinement during the interim and in the House.
