Steve Nyhus and Elizabeth Wefel assisted in hosting the 2012 Fall Meeting of the Minnesota Environmental Science and Economic Review Board (MESERB) in Fergus Falls.
Attendees heard updates on proposed amendments to the state’s water quality standards for chloride, nitrates, and sulfates, as well as proposed new numeric nutrient standards for rivers and streams. The group also discussed the MPCA’s latest draft of proposed revisions to Minnesota’s anti-degradation rules.
The meeting featured two guest speakers, both from the MPCA, who discussed the MPCA’s new registration program for environmental laboratories. The MPCA initiated this effort in September 2012 in direct response to concerns raised by the regulated public, including MESERB and the CGMC, that the Minnesota Department of Health’s 2009 adoption of the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP) had unnecessarily increased cost, staffing and paperwork burdens for cities. MPCA’s new program is intended to alleviate some of these concerns.
