The Stage is Set:
Encouraged by the OEC’s strong push, the Ohio EPA proposed a major restructuring of fees for permits to fill and build in wetlands and small streams and lakes. Stung by this, the homebuilders lobby sought more “permit predictability.” Ohio House leaders obliged.

But an amendment slipped in to the budget bill during the final night of House budget hearings did much more than economize permit reviews. The “Bulldozer Amendment” (as the OEC tagged it) shortened permit reviews, enabling developers to time applications to frustrate detection of tell-tale wetlands vegetation and evade requirements to avoid, minimize, or mitigate wetland destruction. It slashed in half the public comment period on waterway destruction projects to only 15 days. The amendment also enabled developers to replace a natural wetland with an artificial wetland as far away as North Carolina. Even State Scenic Rivers were targeted for weakened protection.

The Showdown is on:
This attempt to gut waterway protections touched off a firestorm. The OEC launched an all out counterattack, rallying sportsmen, eco-groups, and public officials. Ohio EPA Director Joe Koncelik warned lawmakers that he would seek a veto unless the amendment was substantially modified. Representatives Dale Miller (D-Cleveland), Dan
Stewart (D-Columbus), and Mike Skindell (DLakewood) and the House Democrats pounced on the issue, singling it out for removal from the budget. The Columbus Dispatch, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Akron Beacon Journal, Toledo Blade, and Dayton Daily News editorial pages all lambasted the House Republicans for approving such a radical re-write of waterway protections without debate. When the budget bill shifted to the Ohio Senate, a full airing of the “Bulldozer Amendment” was finally provided. Testimony from the OEC, The Nature Conservancy, Chagrin River Watershed Partners and, especially, Director Koncelik revealed that the industry’s claims of agency inefficiency were baseless. Senators learned that the Ohio EPA completed even complicated permits in a little over half the time allowed by federal law. Further, not a single permit was denied in the previous fiscal year. The agency’s testimony also underscored a key fact that the OEC had spotlighted: income from fees paid by developers in the last fiscal year generated a paltry $5,600 for a program in which the agency spent nearly $1 million in tax-payer dollars.

Ohio Senate Stands Tall:
Armed with these facts, Senate Environment and Natural Resources chairman Tom Niehaus (R-New Richmond), Senate Majority Floor Leader Randy Gardner (R-Bowling Green) and Finance Committee member Dan Brady (D-Cleveland) led a complete overhaul of the “Bulldozer Amendment.” By the time the Senate was done, it had wiped out the most reckless language while retaining sensible efficiencies, including a “checklist” of necessary permit application information and a 180-day permit review period. When a joint House-Senate conference committee met to iron out differences between each chamber’s versions, House Republican leaders were faced with a dilemma: insist on its version of the “Bulldozer Amendment” and risk having the entire amendment vetoed by the Governor, or abandon the homebuilders lobby and acquiesce to the Senate version, acknowledging that they had reached too far. The OEC and a coalition of sportsmen and eco-groups continued to pound on the link between wetland destruction and increased flooding, polluted water, and loss of wildlife habitat. For good measure, the OEC along with the Ohio League of Sportsmen, National Wildlife Federation, Ohio Greenways, and the Sierra Club launched a radio ad aimed at killing the House version.

Hear the ads:
Bulldozer Amendment 1 (mp3)
Bulldozer Amendment 2 (mp3)