SB 425

This bill allows a metropolitan sewerage commission for a sewerage district

including a first class city (currently only the city of Milwaukee) to finance and

construct a dredged material management facility for the Milwaukee Estuary Area

of Concern at a location in the city of Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Estuary is one of the “Areas of Concern” across the Great Lakes

identified under the 1987 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The Great Lakes

Water Quality Agreement is an agreement between the United States and Canada

to restore and protect the waters of the Great Lakes. The U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency coordinates U.S. activities under this agreement. The Water

Quality Agreement defines an “area of concern” as “a geographic area designated by

the Parties where significant impairment of beneficial uses has occurred as a result

of human activities at the local level."

Current law allows a metropolitan sewerage commission for a sewerage district

including a first class city to participate in certain shore protection projects, but the

provision does not apply to any project after January 1, 1992. The bill would modify

certain current law requirements, including the date restriction, to specifically allow

the metropolitan sewerage commission to construct projects, including a dredged

material management facility project, before January 1, 2032. Under the bill, the

commission must pay for all the costs of the dredged material management facility

project through its capital budget and may finance the project by issuance of bonds

or notes that must be made payable within 35 years. The bill also provides that the

commission may reserve space in the dredged material management facility for the

disposal of sediment from flood management projects. The bill is contingent upon

the commission adopting a resolution by the end of calendar year 2021 that

establishes a requirement that through 2027, the Milwaukee Metropolitan

Sewerage District's capital budget levy increases will be at or below 3 percent. The

bill allows for an exemption to the 3 percent limit to address circumstances

associated with a state, city, or county declared state of emergency or an emergency

declaration or major disaster declaration by the Federal Emergency Management

Agency, but only if enacted by a two-thirds majority vote by the commission.