JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Saying that lawmakers have “no idea” what is in it, Rep. Donna Lichteneggar formally requested that the Missouri Department of Natural Resources delay implementation of its Nonpoint Source Management Plan.
The plan is set to take effect on July 21 and changes the way the state will regulate runoff water as it relates to nonpoint source pollution. Lichteneggar says that the EPA plan was last revised in 2005 before most of today’s lawmakers took office and that the 526 page plan needs careful examination before it takes effect in Missouri.
“If this isn’t implemented properly, the water running down your street in the city could all of a sudden be called a tributary,” Lichtenneggar said. “This calls for a lot of jumping over local authorities. With the way things have been run over at the EPA and in D.C. in general I don’t think you can really take the chance and not look over this thing carefully.”
Lichteneggar says that DNR’s opening of public input for the plan over the 4th of July weekend was “suspicious,” and that both rural and urban voters should be worried about implementing a massive overhaul of Missouri’s runoff water without more legislative oversight. In her letter she formally asks the department to afford Missouri lawmakers until at least the end of the 2015 legislative session to examine the plan.
She’s also sent letters to each member of the House, hoping to gin up support for the issue, which she says could be much more far reaching than people realize.
“Without term limits we don’t have the same institutional knowledge so something like this comes along and nobody has looked at it in years and now it’s about to be the rules,” Lichteneggar said. “I think it’s important that local elected officials look at this and make some decisions.”
Lichteneggar said she was speaking with DNR representatives soon about the matter. DNR officials did not immediately respond to requests for a comment.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
