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Madison, Wisconsin, (AP) — The board that regulates Wisconsin’s natural resources entered a new phase on Wednesday by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers after months of obstruction by Republicans who refused to step in. It met for the first time with a majority of the appointed members. under.
Adam Payne, who was appointed Secretary of Natural Resources, presided over Evers’ first meeting and declared his top priority to be water quality. He praised his Evers for proposing another $100 million to combat his PFAS contamination during a state address Tuesday. That money is not locked in. However, Republican lawmakers must approve it first.
PFAS (short for perfluoroalkyl substances and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are man-made chemicals that are widely used in consumer products and certain types of firefighting foams. Chemicals do not decompose in nature, they accumulate in the human body and remain for a long time. Exposure can lead to cancer and other health problems. Many communities in Wisconsin have found chemicals in their groundwater.
Payne warned that while agencies don’t make everyone happy, they do listen to everyone.
“It’s a strong board and I think it will get even stronger as we move forward,” Payne said.
The governor appoints the DNR’s secretary and board members who approve agency movements. Evers hasn’t taken full control of the board since he first took office in 2019, as the remaining Republican nominees have completed his term. Board members serve seven-year staggered terms.
When Republican nominee Fred Plain’s term expired in May 2021, his nominees were poised to finally win a majority. However, Plenn refused to resign and make way for Evers-appointed Sandra Nurse, preserving a 4-to-3 Republican edge.
Prehn voted to expand hunting quotas for wolves and eliminate the proposed limit of PFAS in groundwater. Prehn’s presence visibly irritated his then-DNR chief Preston Cole, who resigned in November.
Prehn finally resigned last December. His fellow Republican nominee William Bruins also resigned, giving the Evers nominee his 5-to-2 advantage on the board. Earlier this month, Evers named Payne, who had served as the Sheboygan County administrator, to replace Cole.
Nurse can now serve unless state senators vote to oust her. Nurse said that waiting months to take her seat “was a good opportunity to see how the board works. I learned a lot just by sitting in the audience.”
The Board elected Evers nominee Bill Smith as chair to replace Republican nominee Greg Kazmieski. Kazmierski’s term expires in May, giving Evers the opportunity to further expand his control of the board.
Evers is now free to move forward with PFAS standards and tighten restrictions on other contaminants. The move could be costly for the business world. It can also reduce the number of wolves and other creatures hunters can kill without internal obstacles.
Currently, the only body that can block the DNR initiative is Congress’s Republican-controlled Administrative Rules Committee. That board has the power to block proposed regulation by state agencies. Committee co-chair and aide to Senator Stevenas Mike Mikalsen said on Wednesday he did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the DNR’s new leadership’s dynamics.
Kazmierski warned members after the vote that they were responsible to the people, not to the state’s natural resources.
“Today there is almost no religion in the environment and this agency and this commission are not responsible for that religion,” he said. “We are accountable to the public. It is great to say that we all want perfectly clean water…but what does that cost the public? We have to look into all that stuff and find a happy balance of what we can do.”
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