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Senate adds language limiting DEQ rulemaking on state water alteration in budget bill
Summary
Senator Delano said the DEQ budget includes a provision (section 21) conditioning receipt of certain appropriations on the department not promulgating rules to establish a 'state water alteration program' or similar Waters-of-the-State rules; members discussed wanting legislative notice of agency public-comment postings.
Senator Delano presented the Department of Environmental Quality budget and described a new condition in section 21: as a condition of receiving the funds appropriated in sections 1 and 2, the department "shall not promulgate rules or regulations to establish state water alteration program or any similar program" that would apply to permanent, intermittent, ephemeral waters or certain wetlands. The language aims to pause or limit agency regulatory action on Waters of the State while the legislature reviews proposed regulations.
Members discussed the broader challenge of receiving agency regulatory proposals for public comment; one senator said the proposed rules were already out for public comment and urged better agency notification to the legislature when that occurs. Delano said the provision would allow the legislature greater oversight and time to evaluate regulatory plans and their effect on business and other stakeholders before the department promulgates rules.
"As a condition of the receipt of the funds appropriated... the department shall not promulgate rules or regulations to establish state water alteration program," Delano read from the new section while explaining the purpose of the insertion.
