Wetlands legislation is good for state
Wetlands come in all shapes and sizes. From a regulatory standpoint, there are two broad categories, either “federal” wetlands or “non-federal” wetlands.
A federal wetland is one that is subject to the federal Clean Water Act. Traditionally these are wetlands connected to, or nearby, navigable waters, and make up 80% to 90% of Wisconsin’s total wetlands. A non-federal wetland is one that is not connected to navigable water, and not regulated under federal law.
Nearly 20 years ago, Wisconsin passed a law to treat these non-federal wetlands essentially the same as federal wetlands. We are one of less than a handful of states who did so. While at the time it was believed that Wisconsin would be a leader that showed the way for others to follow, the reality is that this regulatory system has been cumbersome and costly and has made Wisconsin a regulatory outlier. Legislation now pending Madison would change this.
This legislation would fix a failed two-decade-long experiment with overregulation in Wisconsin. The bill does several things. First, it eliminates the permitting requirement for nonfederal wetlands. Importantly, however, it maintains current law mitigation requirements for replacing any of those non-federal wetlands that are impacted going forward. Wisconsin’s mitigation laws require you to create more wetlands than you are impacting, and in so doing, the legislation guarantees that while eliminating costly regulations, Wisconsin will still see a net increase in total wetlands. A developer will still need to conduct a delineation of a site to determine where wetlands are located, and will still need to obtain a jurisdictional determination to see which of those wetlands are federal vs. non-federal. All stringent permitting requirements on federal wetlands still apply and are not impacted by this legislation.
Additionally, the legislation sets strict timelines for the state to expend money paid into the “in lieu fee” program. This program is established to gather funds from development projects that are then used to create wetlands around Wisconsin. There’s around $15 million currently in the fund that has not yet been appropriated by the DNR to create high-quality wetlands in our state. The legislation sets a timeline that would hold the DNR accountable for getting those projects moving, and ensures that future dollars are spent efficiently to create high-quality wetlands.
Opponents of this legislation have cited a need to continue to protect some of these specific wetlands, citing their value to our state’s sporting heritage, among other things. Eliminating protection for high-quality habitat and high-value wetlands was never the intent of this bill. To that end, as a statewide trade association with a diverse membership, we absolutely support bringing people to the table to address the serious overregulation concerns that drove this initial legislation while also ensuring that we work together to do no harm to highquality habitat that’s vital to our state’s sporting heritage. Legislators pushing this legislation have shared that goal, and thanks to their leadership, those talks with both supporters and opponents of the bill are ongoing.
While the legislative process is just beginning, we look forward to continued public debate, working with others to ensure broad input, and ultimately coming up with a solution that fixes real problems and honors our proud Wisconsin values.