Lake Erie Basin Update - U.S. Side
Bulldozer Amendment
By David R. Celebrezze, Outreach Coordinator, the Ohio Environmental Council
Even when issues are cut and dry on
what is environmentally best, if wording
is not crafted just right, the environment
may still lose out. A case in point is the
recent budget bill fight here in Ohio.
The State of Ohio passes an operating
budget every two years that takes effect
July 1. The Governor introduces his
version of the budget to the State House
of Representatives. Once the House votes on the bill it moves to
the Senate for their vote. If the Senate passes a different version
of the bill it then moves to Senate/House Conference Committee
to iron out the differences. Next, the bill heads back to each
respective house for a vote. Once passed, it is up to the Governor
to sign (or line-item veto) it into law.
This year’s budget bill included several amendments that would
have gutted environmental protections. In the original version of
the budget bill, Governor Taft (at the request of the Ohio EPA and
pressure from environmental groups) requested that the 401
wetland impact fees be increased from $15-$200 to $250-$25,000
with a cap for local governments. This increase would allow the
program to be 80% applicant funded instead of the current 90%
taxpayer funded. However, in the dead of night, the Ohio House
of Representatives amended this section at the request of the
homebuilder industry. The amendment would have increased the
range of mitigation, removed protections from category 2
(medium quality) wetlands, opened up state scenic rivers to
developers, created a two-tiered review process that tied the Ohio
EPA Director’s hands in denying a permit, and added an onerous
provision that the applicant would only pay the fee if approved -a
perverse incentive for the Ohio EPA to approve all applicants.
This amendment was added to the budget bill Sunday night and
subsequently passed a few short hours later. From the very
beginning the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC) dubbed this
amendment the “Bulldozer Amendment” because it gave
developers a license to bulldoze and destroy Ohio’s remaining
(less than 10%) wetlands.
As word spread of the damage the “Bulldozer Amendment”would
cause, the OEC formed a loose coalition of 15 state-wide groups to
stop it. The groups in the coalition represented hunters, anglers,
conservationists, and environmentalists. As a coalition we had
several conference calls to ensure everyone had the same
over-arching message, while allowing flexibility on minor issues.
From the start we referred to the amendment as the “Bulldozer
Amendment” to the press and in internal discussions This
created consistency and repetition, which lends itself to easy
understanding among the public. In fact, elected officials and
editorial boards were using the term to describe the amendment.
Each group sent action alerts to their members and list serves
with the same message.
As a coalition we targeted several key legislators, heads of
committees, Speaker of the House, President of the Senate,
Governor’s Office and swing legislators. The coalition sent several
sign-on letters to these targets that acknowledged any positive
changes, but suggested specific improvements to the amendment.
In many cases, the Senate letters were the first piece of
information the Senators received on the issue.
In the end, the Senate and House/Senate Conference Committee
removed the most egregious aspects of the amendment and the
Governor vetoed the remaining harmful section. This victory
happened for several reasons: messaging in the media, grassroots
pressure, radio ads, press events, fact sheets, and finally, and very
importantly, the Ohio EPA stood with us in opposing this
legislation. We did not agree on all parts but we worked together
on overlapping concerns. By working in tandem, we had a strong
front that represented different parts of the community. This
coalition represents years of working together on different
environmental issues and building up trust and understanding.
For more information on this victory please contact David R.
Celebrezze, Outreach Coordinator, the Ohio Environmental Council
at david@theoec.org.
|
US Lake Erie Advisor
Molly Flanagan
Ohio Environmental Council
1207 Grandview Ave., Ste. 201
Columbus, OH 43212-3449
(614) 487-7506
(614) 487-7510 (fax)
E-mail: molly@theoec.org
Website: www.theoec.org
|
Disclaimer:
The interpretations and conclusions presented in this newsletter represent the opinions of the individual authors. They in no way represent the views of the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, the C.S. Mott Foundation, subscribers, donors, or any organization mentioned in this publication.
|
