Missouri Legislative Concerns

Legislative Update

Mark Zurbrick, Legislative and Environmental Concerns Committee Chair

Handfishing    A seemingly perennial issue for a number of years, handfishing proponents and a few state senators and representatives have three bills pending in the 1st session of the 95^th assembly of the Missouri Legislature.

A hearing of two Senate bills, SB350 sponsored by Sen. Clemens of Marshfield and SJR8 sponsored by Sen. Shoemyer of Monroe County occurred on 25 February in the six-member standing committee on Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Recreation.  A number of noodlers and their family members along with the Missouri Farm Bureau testified in favor of the bills, with representatives of the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM) and MOAFS testifying against.

The wording of SB350 is: “Hand fishing for catfish and carp during the months of June and July shall be allowable in the same waterways in the state where hook-and-line fishing for such fish is allowable. No more than five catfish may be taken annually via hand fishing. Persons taking catfish by hand must submit a report to the Department of Conservation within 10 days of the close of the hand fishing season. The act lists other requirements for hand fishing. A violation of the act is a class A misdemeanor.” This wording is similar to a senate bill perfected in 2006. A week later the committee voted to pass this bill out of committee and on to the floor for debate by the entire Senate; however, the scheduling of this debate has not yet occurred.

SJR8 states “If approved by the voters, this constitutional amendment provides that the people of Missouri shall be allowed to practice hand-fishing, also known as "noodling," in the waters of the state. This resolution is similar to HJR 20. The committee has yet to vote on whether to move SJR8 forward for debate on the floor of the Senate.

HJR20 is sponsored Rep. Quinn of Monroe City. On 10 March, a public hearing was held in front of the standing ten-member Agri-Business Committee. Those testifying in favor of HJR20 included noddlers and representatives of the Missouri Farm Bureau, Missouri Federation of Animal Owners and National Rifle Association. Testimony against the resolution was presented by members of the CFM, including MOAFS member and current chairman of the CFM’s Fisheries Committee, Tom Russell and retired MDC Fisheries Administrator, Norm Stucky.  The resolution was voted (10-0) by the Agri-Business Committee as “do pass” two weeks later, but has yet to be scheduled for debate on the floor of the House.

Gravel Mining and Streambank Erosion   In the ongoing debate over the proper use and protection of our rivers and streams, HB246 focuses on gravel mining regulations while HCR37 pertains to who are the “experts” when it comes to bank stabilization. HB246 sponsored by Rep. Loehner of Koeltztown has been Truly Agreed to and Finally Passed by both the House and Senate, was signed, and delivered to the Governor.  The bill allows “a property owner, an operator conducting gravel removal at the request of a property owner, or a political subdivision who contracts with an operator for excavation to remove and sell excess gravel without a permit if the primary purpose for removal is to manage seasonal gravel accretion on property not used primarily for gravel mining.” “Property owners are limited to selling less than 2,000 tons of gravel annually with a 1,000 ton per-site limitation and are required to notify the department before any person or operator conducts gravel removal from his or her property if it is intended to be sold commercially. Information on this bill can be found at: http://www.house.mo.gov/content.aspx?info=/bills091/bills/hb246.htm

HCR37 is also sponsored by Rep. Loehner with a host of co-sponsors. This House Concurrent Joint Resolution states “Now, therefore, be it resolved that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-fifth General Assembly, First Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby promote the use of sound scientific research and data that is produced from unbiased university studies; and be it further resolved that federal and state agencies as well as their commenting groups base past and future decisions and practices involving any stream activity inside the high banks on unbiased scientific university studies along with practices that have been proven effective over generations of landowner implementing.”  A hearing before the House Conservation and Natural Resources committee was held on April 1. No further action has been taken on this resolution nor has any been scheduled at this writing.

Missouri River Use   In an ongoing inter-state debate over the utilization of the Missouri River by a host of interested parties, SCR5 and HCR17 ask that a study of Missouri River use not be conducted. SCR5 sponsored by Senator Stouffer of Napton states “This resolution urges Congress to deny any request that would authorize a study of the Missouri River's congressionally authorized purposes. Under the resolution, the General Assembly also urges Missouri's Congressional delegation to actively oppose the authorization and funding of the Missouri River study proposed by the upstream states.” The resolution was adopted by the House on May 6, 2009.  Information on the resolution can be found at:  http://www.senate.mo.gov/09info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=549589

The companion house resolution, HCR17, sponsored by Rep. Sanders of Moberly had a public hearing on March 3 was voted “do pass” and sent to the Rules Committee which also voted it as “do pass” on April 2. No other actions regarding these resolutions have been scheduled or taken as of this writing.  Information on this resolution can be found at: http://house.mo.gov/content.aspx?info=/bills091/action/aHCR17.htm

Water Pollution Permit Fees   SB539, sponsored by Senator Schaefer of Columbia, among a number of things, “allows the state to distribute federal economic stimulus funds to local governments, public water or sewer districts, and other eligible entities to assist the construction of public drinking water and water pollution control projects, as such projects are approved by the Safe Drinking Water Commission or Clean Water Commission.” “Under current law, the authority expires on December 31, 2009 for the Clean Water Commission to charge fees for construction permits, operating permits, and operator's certifications related to water pollution control. This act extends the expiration date to December 31, 2010.” After passing through a number of committees the bill was amended, perfected, and passed by the Senate and sent to the House.

SB272, sponsored by Sen. Lager of Savannah, only contains the wording regarding the extension of permit expiration dates. This bill also went through a number of committee hearings and was passed by the Senate and passed on the House. HB734 sponsored by Rep. Ruzicka (retired MDC employee) from Mt. Vernon contained nearly identical wording to SB272. This bill was heard in front of the House’s Conservation and Natural Resource Committee on March 4, was voted “do pass’ and subsequently voted as do pass by the House Rules Committee on April 2, and the Fiscal Review Committee on May 14.  It is now in the process of being perfected.

Constitutional Amendment Majorities Regarding Forest, Fish and Wildlife   HJR 18 is sponsored by Rep. Dethrow of Alton. This is legislation would require a 4/7 majority for passage of constitutional amendments  initiated by imitative petition pertaining to any forest, fish or wildlife issue, but excluding petition efforts to change the Missouri Constitution as it pertains to  the Conservation Sales Tax, which would still be under a simple majority rule. The legislation is meant to address the efforts of animal welfare advocates who have used similar petition drives and simple majorities in other states to ban trapping and other hunting activities. Many of these same organizations are opposed to recreational angling and have indicated that they intend to use this same strategy to prohibit recreational fishing. The Missouri Conservation Federation has been actively involved and is a strong supporter of this bill to protect Missouri hunters and anglers. The resolution was discussed in the House Conservation and Natural Resource Committee on March 11 and voted out of committee as “do pass” on April 1. No other action has been scheduled at this time.

Interference with Fishing   Mirroring past legislation that protects citizens from harassment of animal rightist while lawfully hunting wildlife, HB845 expands this harassment protection to anglers. Rep. Munzlinger of Williamstown sponsored this bill which was heard before the House Agri-Business Committee and voted “do pass” (11-0 vote) on March 10. It was then reviewed and voted “do pass’ by the House Rules Committee on April 2. The bill was passed by the House on April 16 and is now being debated by the Senate.

Prohibition on Poor Behavior on Rivers   SB2 focuses on poor behaviors on state rivers streams which are considered detrimental to a family-friendly environment. The bill sponsored by Sen. Scott of Lowry City specifically “prohibits certain activities from being committed on the rivers of this state, including: (1) Possessing or using beer bongs or other devices intended for rapid consumption of alcohol; 2) Possessing or consuming any alcoholic substance that is produced in gelatin form (Jell-o shots); 3) Possessing or using any large volume alcohol containers that hold more than one gallon; 4) Distributing Mardi Gras bead necklaces or similar paraphernalia; and 5) Possessing Styrofoam coolers on or within fifty feet of any such river, unless in a campground, picnic area, landing, road, or parking lot.”  A hearing was conducted on February 2 in the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. No further actions have been taken or scheduled since the hearing.

Littering of Waterways   While SB356 focuses primarily on abandon boat docks it also includes wording that stating that “any person who possesses expanded polystyrene or glass containers (including beverage containers) within 50 feet or a river or stream is guilty of a class C misdemeanor. This provision does not apply to developed campgrounds, picnic areas, landings, roads or parking lots within 50 feet of river or stream.” Bait containers are exempt from this provision. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Purgason of Caulfield. It received a hearing in the Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Recreation on March 4 and was voted “do pass” by the committee the following week. No other actions have been taken or scheduled.

Increasing Number of Conservation Commissioners   The wording contained in HJR27

sponsored by Rep. Ruzicka states that “Upon voter approval, this proposed constitutional

amendment increases the number of members on the Conservation Commission from four to

eight and requires that one member be from each Department of Conservation region and not

more than four be from the same political party.” This bill has been assigned to the House

Conservation and Natural Resource Committee but a hearing has yet to be scheduled. 

Dam Safety   HB67 sponsored by Rep. Bivens of St. Louis proposes a number of measures that would improve state law regarding the construction and maintenance of dams greater than 25 feet in height or impounding more than 50 acre-feet of water. The membership of the Dam and Reservoir Safety Council would be changed, requiring a registered geologist with experience on dam safety to serve in place of an engineering geologist and requiring that one member be the owner of a regulated high hazard dam. It also specifies who and how dams should be registered and permitted with the Department of Natural resources and the costs of the applications, inspections and permits. The bill was assigned on February 2 to the House Energy and Environment Committee; however, no hearing or other actions have been scheduled or taken place since then.

The following links provide more information on Missouri legislation that could impact our

state’s aquatic resources.

http://www.house.mo.gov/billcentral.aspx?pid=26   This web site allows you to track bills

(both House and Senate) by the bills number, sponsor’s name or keywords in the legislation.

http://www.house.mo.gov/content.aspx?info=/bills091/commit/commlst.htm   This web site

lists all the Missouri House committees with additional links to each committee that will list

members and bills that they are working on.