Bill Limiting Local Mining Regulation Passes Senate Committee

A bill limiting local regulation of sand mines passed a state legislative committee on a party line vote. That clears the way for the full state Senate to take it up.

The frac sand bill that passed the Senate’s mining committee was pared down from the original proposal authored by state Sen. Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst). In the latest version, new local regulations would not apply to existing non-metallic mines. Tiffany says local governments could impose new rules on future mines.

“This bill is very simple,” Tiffany said. “It just grandfathers in and it protects existing assets and property rights that people have.”

But retiring state Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) says the bill favors business property rights over those of residents near the mine or any potential health concerns they might have.

Jauch participated in the committee vote by speaker phone: “You seem to overlook the deep concern that citizens who live near these facilities have about their quality of life, about their property values, and about future problems,” he said.

The Wisconsin Towns Association recently opposed the bill while the Counties Association remained neutral. The boom in frac sand mining was brought up both as a reason for the bill and also as a reason to oppose it.

Tiffany pointed to railroads and other companies that are profiting indirectly from frac sand. “Businesses across the spectrum — not just sand mines — aggregate producers benefiting from this great growth in industry that we’re having here in Wisconsin, especially western Wisconsin,” he said.

Wisconsin is the nation’s number one producer of sand used in fracking, a process to extract oil and natural gas. Jauch said this shows existing local regulations have not prevented mining companies from operating.