Minnesota Lawyer
David Tomassoni
Opponents of frac sand mining won’t likely see their favored moratorium in the Senate omnibus budget bill for the environment and natural resources.
After roughly two-and-a-half hours of testimony on Wednesday night in the Senate Environment, Economic Development and Agriculture Division, the panel’s chairman, David Tomassoni, DFL-Chisholm, said his omnibus budget bill will be limited to “a placeholder” to address concerns among activists and local officials in southeastern Minnesota about large silica sand mining projects that are associated with oil exploration in places like North Dakota that use it in hydraulic fracturing. At the end of the hearing, Tomassoni, an Iron Ranger who is a strong backer of mining in his northeastern Minnesota district, said he’s concerned about the statewide reach in the moratorium legislation that’s sponsored by Sen. Matt Schmit, DFL-Red Wing.
“I’m sensitive to the issue. I also come from an area of the state where I think we overreact famously for environmental concerns,” Tomassoni said. “When you’ve been doing something for 125 years and it takes you four years and $30 million to get a permit, you start wondering what’s really going wrong around here. I want to make sure that whatever we do in southeastern Minnesota doesn’t impact the rest of the state.”
The statewide moratorium, which would remain in place until a generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) on the health and environmental consequences of silica sand mining is completed, was laid over along with a less restrictive proposal to require the Environmental Quality Board to prepare a model ordinance for local governments to use in permitting sand mining applications. The model ordinance legislation has advanced in the House, but no companion to Schmit’s moratorium has been introduced there.
Tomassoni’s pro-mining stance was expected to make the hearing one of the toughest stops for the legislation of the session. While the moratorium doesn’t appear to have a home in the omnibus bill, Tomassoni signaled that talks among the interested parties can proceed outside of the bill in the weeks before next month’s adjournment.
