North Dakota
EPA bureaucracy gets in the way of protecting environment, North Dakota official says
Jim Semerad, left, and Marty Haroldson of the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality were part of a panel discussion Sept. 4, 2024, at a conference in Bismarck. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)
Wildfire smoke wafted over North Dakota on Wednesday. For Jim Semerad of the Department of Environmental Quality, that will mean more work.
That’s because the department will have to show the federal Environmental Protection Agency that the smoke is actually coming from wildfires and not some other source of air pollution.
“We will go through a great deal of effort to prove something we already know,” said Semerad, who leads the department’s air quality division.
Semerad and others from the department were speaking Wednesday at a North Dakota Regional Environmental Conference in Bismarck. The conference was organized by the Air and Waste Management Association.
Semerad said staying on top of the ballooning amount of federal regulations can make it difficult for the agency to focus on what is really important — ensuring good environmental health.
The department sent a news release Wednesday morning advising the public of the air quality issues because of the wildfire smoke.
Semerad said EPA staff are well-intentioned but EPA bureaucracy gets in the way of protecting environmental quality.
“Our biggest problem might be the EPA,” Semerad said.
Chuck Hyatt, of DEQ’s waste management division, said one of the biggest roadblocks to working with the EPA is a lack of trust.
“They don’t necessarily trust what is going on in certain states,” Hyatt said. “And I wonder about that. Where does that come from?”
North Dakota has several ongoing legal battles with the EPA, including being the lead state challenging a mercury emissions rule that North Dakota officials have said threatens the state’s lignite coal industry.
Wednesday’s agenda included a session by Erik Wallevand, a lawyer in the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office, on tips for challenging federal regulations.
With factors such as federal regulations, retirements and other staff turnover, Semerad said something new for the department is struggling to keep up with clean air permits.
Semerad said there may be a request for more staff in the 2025 legislative session.
Semerad acknowledged that some of the workload comes from Mother Nature, with North Dakota being a state of extreme temperatures and weather and random events, such as wildfires.
“It’s kind of an invisible thing,” Semerad said of the work created by wildfires. “No additional inspections, no additional improvements to air quality. It’s just a reporting requirement.
“I guess that might be something that the Legislature needs to better understand.”
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POCATELLO — Head coach Cody Hawkins said his offense linemen “played their nuts off” in a season-opening, hard-fought loss to Oregon State. Idaho State University linemen shined again when the Bengals beat Western Oregon last week.
On Saturday, the University of North Dakota defense had its way with that unit — at least in the first half. The result was a 52-28 drubbing at the hands of the Fighting Hawks (2-1)
Senior quarterback Kobe Tracy spent much of his time on the field in Grand Forks scrambling for his life. He was sacked just twice but seemed to be on his back after every pass attempt.
Making matters far worse for the Bengals (1-2), Tracy was stripped both times he was brought down, and both fumbles were recovered by the Fighting Hawks. And after one of the hits he endured, Tracy suffered an injury serious enough to send him to the bench temporarily.
Jackson Sharman came in for two snaps, hading the first off. His lone pass attempt of the game was made across the field, from the left hash to the right sideline. As is often the case, that pass was picked and returned for UND a defensive touchdown.
ISU’s struggles were not contained to the offensive side of the ball. After forcing a three-and-out on their first effort, the Bengal defense struggled to even slow the Fighting Hawks, who scored on three consecutive possessions — not including the pick-six — and jumped out to a 38-0 lead.
Down huge, Hawkins went to the more mobile quarterback, Hunter Hays.
Tracy had completed just six of his 18 pass attempts for 72 yards, and Sharman did not see the field again. Wide receiver Adam Watts attempted one throw on a reverse pass — completing it for 15 yards.
Hays, though, ignited the offense with both his legs and arm.
He completed 18 of 23 attempts for 206 yards and four touchdowns, adding 62 rushing yards.
While Tracy struggled under the pressure of a collapsing pocket, Hays seemed to relish it. Things do seem to loosen up on both sides when the score is what it was, however, so Hays may have benefitted from that a bit as well.
Regardless of the situation, Hays’ ability to lead the offense to four scores added respectability to the final score.
Wide receiver Jeff Weimer hauled in six catches for 92 yards and two scores — including a perfectly thrown 30-yarder from Hays that dropped perfectly into Weimer’s hands to beat a declined defensive pass interference penalty.
North Dakota was paced by senior wideout Bo Belquist, who set a school Division I career receptions record en route to a eight-catch, 165-yard performance. He added a touchdown, the Fighting Hawks’ last of the day.
UND improved to 46-12 all-time in the Potato Bowl. ISU last won the rivalry game in 2018.
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BISMARCK — North Dakotans may feel like there are a lot of ballot measures to vote on in the general election, but recent history shows that the amount is not out of the ordinary.
The deadline to put measures on the general election ballot was July 8, meaning the ballot is finalized. Voters will decide whether to pass or fail five measures on Nov. 5.
Three are constitutional — put on the ballot by the North Dakota Legislature — while the other two were initiated by citizens. They need 50% plus one vote to pass.
Absentee ballots are available beginning Sept. 26.
The last time North Dakota had this many ballot measures in an election was for the 2016 general election, Secretary of State Michael Howe said. During that election, legislators put two on the ballot, while three came from citizens, he noted.
The most North Dakota has had since the turn of the millennium was 2014 with eight measures, with four each from the Legislature and citizens, Howe said. According to a list showing measures for elections dating back to 1889, the year North Dakota became a state, the most measures residents voted on was in the 1938 primary election with 13 questions.
The most in a general election was 10 in 1918.
It’s unclear why there are so many measures this election, compared to two each in the 2020 and 2022 general elections, Howe said.
“If you’re trying to find a pattern there, there really isn’t one,” he said. “Why are there more questions this time around then, say, the 2022 general election, where there were only two, I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for that.”
Compared to other states, North Dakota has a light ballot for the general election. Colorado voters will have to decide on 14 questions, the most of any state for November. Arizona has 13 measures, California has 10 and New Mexico has eight.
Minnesota has one.
If there is an anomaly in the data, it was 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, when there were only two measures, Howe said. Both questions were from the Legislature.
North Dakotans had two measures in 2022 as well, one each from lawmakers and citizens.
It’s also hard to find a pattern that could conclusively show how the election will turn out with multiple ballots. In 2012, voters approved all but one of the five measures on the ballot. They reversed course in 2014, when they rejected all but one of the eight. In 2016, all but one of the five measures passed.
In 2008, two of the four measures passed.
North Dakotans do their homework and research when it comes to voting on measures, Howe said. They take the time to educate themselves so they know how to vote, he said.
“The citizens of North Dakota take these things seriously,” Howe said.
The Secretary of State’s Office website has the full text of each measure, official ballot language, an analysis of how the question will change North Dakota law and fiscal impacts at
sos.nd.gov/elections/voter/ballot-measures/measures-ballot
.
Measure 1:
A Constitutional question that would change outdated terminology that describes public institutions in North Dakota. That would include changing the “school for the deaf and dumb of North Dakota” to the “school for the deaf and hard of hearing,” the “state hospital for the insane” to a “state hospital for the care of individuals with mental illness,” the “institution for the feebleminded” to a “facility for individuals with developmental disabilities,” and the “state hospital for the mentally ill” to a “state hospital for the care of individuals with mental illness.”
Measure 2:
A Constitutional measure that would require initiated measures to be limited to one subject, measure sponsors and petition circulators to be qualified electors and petition signers to provide a complete residential address. The number of signatures needed to get a measure on the ballot would increase to 5% of the state population.
Measure 3:
A Constitutional measure that would decrease the amount of principal that the state could spend from the Legacy fund.
Measure 4:
An initiated measure that would eliminate property taxes.
Measure 5:
An initiated measure that would legalize marijuana use, production and sales by anyone at least 21 years old.
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