Idaho lawmaker are meeting on friday morning on dredging bill

Dredging Bill? I thought the only bill submitted was the EPA Nullification Bill.
Got more info ?
Thx
Bob
 

Thats what its about. Just put that up and guessed i assumed that was understandable because it's for dredging. Just trying to get the word out and I will have more information as soon as I receive it.

Thanks
 

Hello the Idaho meeting has been postponed. due to the wording was not the way they wanted it to be presented. so when there is more info. i will keep it posted for time,place and date.

Thanks
 

there will be a full house meeting on friday the 28th.about the dredging bill in idaho. will post the time and what room as soon as i get more info. NWP is sending about 150 members down here as well. lets see if we can get as many to be there as well.

Thanks
Meeting has been cancelled. Bill is going to be rewritten.
Jim
 

They must have heard how many miners were gonna show up.:dontknow: :BangHead:
 

Good the bill is being written yet these meetings are great as they record true fact and the feelings of the people on the pro mining side.
 

Okay here we go! They scheduled the hearing and floor vote for Thursday at 1:00 at the Capital building. Please get the word out. will have Alan Trees speaking for us as well so :thumbsup: lets get there and support our rights.
 

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rob this from WMA

PLEASE ALL OF YOU SHARE THIS..KEEP IN MIND WE ALL ARE IN THE SAME BOAT..

I JUST RECEIVED A CALL FROM DON SMITH. HE HAS BEEN WORKING CLOSELY TO GET THIS THING PUT TOGETHER. IT IS ON THE AGENDA TO BE HEARD THIS WEEK. THE LAST EPA HEARING WAS... CANCELLED, BUT OUR VERY FIRST ONE HAD A STRONG SUPPORT AND BASE TO WORK OFF OF. THANKS TO ALL WHO CAN ATTEND. IF YOU CAN'T ATTEND, THE LEGISLATORS ARE ASKING FOR A WRITTEN TESTIMONY FROM AS MANY AS POSSIBLE. SO IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT BECAUSE IT IS SHORT NOTICE, PLEASE EMAIL ME. THANKS!

THIS COMING THURSDAY 3/13 @1:00PM AT THE IDAHO CAPITOL. THEY SAY THEY WON'T PUT AN ENDING TIME BECAUSE THEY WANT TO HEAR ALL FROM BOTH PARTIES WHO WANT TO SPEAK.

AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT. WE NEED IT.

--
S.W.I.M.A.
Chair: John Crossman @ 208.871.8449
Co-chair: (vacant)
Secretary: Nicole Crossman
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003734736078
*Know your mining rights!*
 

House panel passes bill that Idaho attorney general says is unconstitutional
Posted by Betsy in Eye On Boise
March 13, 2014 4:29 p.m. • 0 comments
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on an Idaho House committee’s vote today to approve legislation attempting to nullify the EPA, though a state Attorney General’s opinion says the measure’s unconstitutional. Rep. Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins, said, “I don’t happen to agree.”

Shepherd noted that it’s late in the legislative session – lawmakers are hoping to finish their session next week. “We’re lucky to even have this hearing,” he said. “I can’t tell you what’s going to happen now.” No one testified against the bill, HB 473; seventy-six people signed in at the committee hearing in support. After dozens testified, including lots of suction dredge mining enthusiasts who don’t like a new EPA permit requirement that went into effect last April, the committee approved the measure on a voice vote with no discussion.

In the attorney general’s opinion, Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane wrote that the bill “would, with almost certainty, be found unconstitutional.” In a six-page analysis, Kane wrote that many mistakenly believe the EPA was “created by executive order” rather than by Congress. Actually, he wrote, it was created by President Richard Nixon in 1970 under a specific clause in federal law, and then, as required, ratified by both houses of Congress - twice. Congress then delegated regulatory authority to the EPA through “numerous federal laws,” he wrote, and those laws have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Shepherd said, “I think that the Supreme Court needs to go by their oath of office. The Supreme Court’s changing the Constitution.”

Jim Werntz, Idaho director for the EPA, said the agency chose to try to regulate suction dredge mining in Idaho, rather than just shut it down, as happened in California and Oregon. More than 80 of the new permits have been issued; they’re good for five years. But, he said, “Where there were species issues or protected waters or wild and scenic waters, those waters were protected and closed.” That included popular areas along the main and lower Salmon River near Riggins, where critical habitat for salmon and steelhead prompted closures to dredging.

gged

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Otter signs bill allowing 10-year-olds to hunt big game
Posted by Betsy in Eye On Boise
March 13, 2014 5:08 p.m. • 1 comment
Gov. Butch Otter signed 20 bills into law today, including HB 399, which lowers the minimum age to hunt big game from 12 to 10, provided that the youngster is accompanied in the field by a licensed adult. Also signed today: HB 504, establishing “leadership premiums,” one-time bonus awards for teachers; HB 403, creating a special 4-H license plate; and HB 550, providing an additional $6.6 million in state funds to Education Networks of America this year for the Idaho Education Network. So far this year, he hasn’t vetoed a single bill.


Tags2014 Idaho Legislature
Senators, including former ski patroller and former ski instructor, pass ski area liability bill
Posted by Betsy in Eye On Boise
March 13, 2014 4:46 p.m. • 0 comments
After much debate, the Senate has voted 32-2 in favor of HB 462, which updates a ski area liability statute to include clauses about snowboarding, terrain parks, and in-bounds avalanches. Though some senators raised concerns that the measure went too far to absolve resort operators from liability – particularly in the case of in-bounds avalanches – others argued that the same level of liability protection already was set under the current law.

During the course of the debate, numerous senators had a chance to share stories about their skiing experiences. Among other things, listeners learned that Sen. Lee Heider, R-Twin Falls, is a former explosives-wielding ski patroller, and Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, who learned to ski 52 years ago, is a former ski instructor. The bill, proposed by the Idaho Ski Areas Association, now goes to Gov. Butch Otter.


Tags2014 Idaho Legislature
House panel passes bill that Idaho attorney general says is unconstitutional
Posted by Betsy in Eye On Boise
March 13, 2014 4:29 p.m. • 0 comments
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on an Idaho House committee’s vote today to approve legislation attempting to nullify the EPA, though a state Attorney General’s opinion says the measure’s unconstitutional. Rep. Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins, said, “I don’t happen to agree.”

Shepherd noted that it’s late in the legislative session – lawmakers are hoping to finish their session next week. “We’re lucky to even have this hearing,” he said. “I can’t tell you what’s going to happen now.” No one testified against the bill, HB 473; seventy-six people signed in at the committee hearing in support. After dozens testified, including lots of suction dredge mining enthusiasts who don’t like a new EPA permit requirement that went into effect last April, the committee approved the measure on a voice vote with no discussion.

In the attorney general’s opinion, Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane wrote that the bill “would, with almost certainty, be found unconstitutional.” In a six-page analysis, Kane wrote that many mistakenly believe the EPA was “created by executive order” rather than by Congress. Actually, he wrote, it was created by President Richard Nixon in 1970 under a specific clause in federal law, and then, as required, ratified by both houses of Congress - twice. Congress then delegated regulatory authority to the EPA through “numerous federal laws,” he wrote, and those laws have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Shepherd said, “I think that the Supreme Court needs to go by their oath of office. The Supreme Court’s changing the Constitution.”

Jim Werntz, Idaho director for the EPA, said the agency chose to try to regulate suction dredge mining in Idaho, rather than just shut it down, as happened in California and Oregon. More than 80 of the new permits have been issued; they’re good for five years. But, he said, “Where there were species issues or protected waters or wild and scenic waters, those waters were protected and closed.” That included popular areas along the main and lower Salmon River near Riggins, where critical habitat for salmon and steelhead prompted closures to dredging.


Tags2014 Idaho Legislature
House panel backs EPA nullification bill
Posted by Betsy in Eye On Boise
March 13, 2014 2:20 p.m. • 0 comments
In this afternoon’s House Resources Committee meeting, all the testimony was in favor of HB 473, Rep. Paul Shepherd’s bill to nullify the EPA because of concerns from suction dredge miner about regulations. “EPA just wants control, they want power,” Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, told the committee. She said veterans are “precious to us,” and many veterans find it “soothing” to do recreational suction dredge mining. “They’re trying to control us, and they’re trying to control our vets also,” she said.

Others who spoke railed against “environmental fruitcakes,” “tyrannical bullshit,” “people from back east” and “these big environmental groups.” Shepherd told the committee, “All over the United States, people are concerned with EPA overreach. … The purpose of this legislation is to protect citizens of Idaho from EPA regulations that are not authorized by the Constitution of the United States and that violate the Constitution’s true meaning of intent.”

On a motion from Rep. Terry Gestrin, R-Donnelly, the committee agreed on a divided voice vote to forward HB 473 to the full House with a recommendation that it “do pass.
 

I agree the bill is unconstitutional and will be thrown out. :sadsmiley:

This isn't because I disagree with the intent of the law, I don't. The bill is poorly written and overbroad. It is unenforceable and doesn't cover a specific issue within the legal reach of the legislature. It's bad lawmaking.

The EPA has a lawful place on the "Navigable Waters of the United States" - just the same domain the Coast Guard occupies. A State can not ban a Federal Agency from doing what Congress has instructed the Executive to do - no matter how many bills it passes. The Congress never gave the Executive the power to control instream sediment - as the Supreme Court continues to point out to the EPA.

The EPA has stepped beyond it's legal authority when it attempts to control in stream sediment. The Supreme Court has reinforced that lack of authority at least twice in the last 10 years. Their instream suction dredge permit is unenforceable. Period. No need for a law of any kind to get any EPA action on instream dredging thrown out of any court. At the same time the State legislature can't stop the EPA from continuing to try and continuing to fail. They can however take the State employees and resources away from the EPA.

All this bill had to do was to instruct State employees not to spend money or time cooperating with the EPA in their permitting scheme. That would have been sound enforceable law that would sustain the inevitable lawsuits and court cases. Instead some incompetant lawmakers put together a bill that won't make past the first challenge and will do nothing to help the cause of gold dredgers in Idaho.

It may be time for Idaho to elect some legislators who can actually understand the issues they are voting on. I would include Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane in the list of incompetent public officers who might be better employed as street sweepers. His warning to the Supreme Court can only lead to higher expenses to the State for more failed prosecutions under unenforceable laws.

The people of the State of Idaho deserve better than this. Great people in a great State should have better representation than this futile effort. From the hearings it's obvious what the people of the State want. I hope you can find lawmakers to help you in your worthy goals. Unfortunately this bill won't be the one that does that.

Just one man's opinion.
 

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The EPA DID NOT SHUT DOWN DREDGING IN CALIFORNIA OR OREGON, THAT IDAHO EPA GUY IS FULL OF IT. GIVE THEM HELL BOYS..
 

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