The American Property Coalition will conduct the first of four public hearings on the federal Clean Water Restoration Act this week.

A hearing is planned on Friday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in International Falls.

Linda Runbeck, president of the American Property Coalition, said the hearings are needed because Minnesota citizens are unaware of the consequences of a bill that might expand federal power by changing the definition of "navigable waters" in the Clean Water Act to "waters of the United States."

The legislation proposed in May by U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, is intended to fix the Clean Water Act after it was damaged by two U.S. Supreme Court rulings, according to Oberstar. The pair of rulings issued in 2001 and 2006 question the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to enforce the Clean Water Act on wetlands, streams and ponds that are not part of a major "navigable" waterway, Oberstar told The Journal earlier.

Oberstar, D-Minn., says the act will not impact Minnesota wetlands nor create onerous new rules or regulations. Instead, he said it will restore the authority of the act and reaffirm exemptions for farming, mining, logging and other activities that are not regulated by the Clean Water Act.

But while Oberstar held hearings in Washington in late July on the legislation, they were not well publicized, and the bill could have far reaching consequences, according to Runbeck.

“This bill is perhaps the biggest federal power grab in our nation’s history,” said Runbeck, a former state senator from Circle Pines. She quoted Reed Hopper, attorney in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case decided in favor of a Michigan landowner who had fought the federal government on wetland regulations for 17 years.

Hopper, in testifying to Congress recently, said of the bill, “With its claim of authority over all ‘interstate and intrastate waters,’ this bill pushes the limit of federal power to an extreme not matched by any other law, probably in the history of this country.”

Hearings are being held to gather perspectives from local organizations, citizens, farmers, small business owners, outdoor recreation enthusiasts and local units of government who have received or attempted to receive federal permits, specifically permits for which the Corps of Engineers may have jurisdiction and where wetland, creeks, streams and other waters have been part of the project. 

“The problem whenever Washington tries to ‘federalize’ an issue is that few average Americans have a chance to weigh in,” Runbeck said.

The Coalition’s executive director, Don Parmeter, a 33-year veteran of environmental policy issues, said the proposal is the most extreme he has seen in his career.

“Under the guise of clean water and environmental protection, the bill, if passed, would give the federal government control over virtually any significant type of human activity. It’s a frightening incursion on our Constitutional freedoms.”

He added that many of the 168 House co-sponsors of the bill want to be seen as supporting clean water.

“I don’t believe that most of those members would support the bill if they understood the implications and consequences for their constituents,” stated Parmeter

Runbeck and Parmeter have garnered support for the hearings from a number of counties as well as the Northern Counties Land Use Coordinating Board, a consortium of nine northern Minnesota counties.

County commissioners and other elected officials will be officiating. Two additional hearings, one in central Minnesota and one in southern Minnesota, will be held. 

Presiding at the hearings will be Robert Cope, an Idaho county commissioner who chairs the National Association of Counties‚ 100-plus member Environment, Energy and Land Use Committee.  NaCO is one of the organizations opposed to the Oberstar legislation. 

The hearings are open to the public.