Idaho House votes to strip DEQ of review powers

BOISE – Idaho regulators are unnecessarily bogging down development by reviewing plans for modifications of water and wastewater systems, state lawmakers declared Monday as they passed legislation to strip the state Department of Environmental Quality of authority to review and approve those plans.

“The real question is: Should DEQ have to review all the plans and specifications for sewer and water projects?” asked House Majority Leader Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale. “I think the answer should be no. … It just bogs down the process.”

The House voted 49-17 in favor of Denney’s bill, HB143, even though DEQ Director Toni Hardesty had warned lawmakers that if the bill had been in effect earlier, her agency wouldn’t have had any authority to review plans for a controversial railroad refueling depot over the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer. Leaks from that depot have brought calls for a shutdown from county and state officials.

Denney said the DEQ has unnecessarily held up projects with long delays in approvals of wastewater and water supply systems. He cited delays of up to two years on “routine projects.”

Under Denney’s bill, a statement from a licensed engineer that the project meets “minimum construction standards” would be sufficient; no DEQ approval would be required for any modification of an existing system, regardless of its size, or for certain new industrial projects.

Rep. Leon Smith, R-Twin Falls, said, “I understand the frustration with DEQ and their tardiness, and I understand also what prompts a lot of that – with budget cutting, we have cut the people they have available to do this expeditiously.”

Smith said his local city engineer called him with serious concerns about the bill. “You let a licensed engineer make this decision, but it doesn’t say licensed in this area of expertise,” said Smith, an attorney. “I am a licensed engineer in the state of Idaho, and if I did one of these plans, you’d all be sorry.”

Hardesty sent a letter to Denney Jan. 31 outlining her plans to reduce the time the agency takes to review projects. Those plans include shifting and transferring staff, hiring an additional engineer, clarifying requirements, and setting up a “fast-track” procedure for projects handled by cities or water and sewer districts.

The biggest backlog is in the Boise regional office, Hardesty wrote, where rapid growth has led to serious delays.

“I request that the agency be given the opportunity to demonstrate progress,” Hardesty wrote to Denney.

But Denney pressed forward with the bill.

“It’s the licensed professional engineer who is putting their reputation and their license on the line if there should be a failure in any of these systems,” Denney told the House.

Rachael Paschal Osborn, a Spokane water law attorney and Sierra Club activist working on the BNSF Railway Co. depot issue, cautioned against the bill.

“If you just leave it up to the engineers working for the entity, with no independent review, you can have problems,” she said.

North Idaho lawmakers split on the bill, with Reps. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake; George Eskridge, R-Dover; Phil Hart, R-Athol; Mary Lou Shepherd, D-Prichard; and Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, voting in favor. Voting against were Reps. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow; George Sayler, D-Coeur d’Alene; and Tom Trail, R-Moscow.

Four North Idaho representatives were absent because their early-morning flight to Boise from Spokane was turned back by dense fog.

Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston, a physician, said, “We’re downriver from most of y’all in Lewiston. … Anything that decreases the protection for the water quality in our area, I have to be against. I don’t think it’s good health policy, I don’t think it’s good public policy.”

Rep. Elaine Smith, D-Pocatello, told the House that 90 percent of Idaho’s drinking water systems aren’t within cities, and DEQ reviews help ensure their safety. “This review is critical to our public health protection … and meeting citizens’ expectations to ensure that these safeguards are in place,” she said.

Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, complained that a subdivision in his area was held up by DEQ demands that stormwater be collected and routed elsewhere, to protect groundwater. “Quite frankly, the best treatment we have of some stormwater is to let it percolate into the ground – let it work naturally as designed by the Creator,” Roberts told the House.

Roberts said soil conservation districts will help ensure that groundwater isn’t contaminated.

Rep. Kathy Skippen, R-Emmett, urged support for the bill, saying she’s seen “long delays from DEQ in approving projects that are important to our communities.”

She added, “I think if they weren’t interpreting what they’re covering so broadly, it wouldn’t be taking so long to review these projects.”

The bill now moves to the Senate, where it will likely go to the Senate Resources Committee.