On May 11, GLLF submitted a letter to AG Kaul questioning his withdrawal of OAG-01-16 considering the pending Supreme Court case on the same issue.
As the letter stated:
“OAG–01–16 was issued by former Attorney General Brad Schimel
on May 10, 2016. The 23-page opinion responded to a February 2016 request by the Committee on Assembly Organization pertaining to DNR’s statutory authority for its high capacity well permit program in light of 2011 Wis. Act 21. It brought reason and order to the chaos and related permitting backlog resulting from the Lake Beulah Supreme Court decision. In his opinion, AG Schimel found that “Act 21 makes clear that permit conditions and rulemaking may no longer be premised on implied agency authority.” OAG–01–16 at ¶29….
“Withdrawing the Schimel opinion and returning DNR’s program to the Lake Beulah paradigm will recreate regulatory chaos and halt projects for hundreds of Wisconsin businesses requiring high capacity wells. As you note, the legal issues in dispute are before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. From that decision, DNR can base its high capacity well permitting program on solid statutory foundation.”
Read the full letter here.
