Clean Lake 2020 bill sent to Kasich

SANDUSKY — The Ohio General Assembly approved the Clean Lakes 2020 bill, sending it to Gov. John Kasich for his signature.The bill, whose main authors are state Sen. Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green, and state Rep. Steve Arndt, R-Port Clinton, passed both the House and the Senate unanimously, Arndt said.The measure spends about $36 million to clean up Lake Erie and fight harmful algal blooms.It includes $20 million to prevent phosphorus runoff in the Western Basin of Lake Erie and $10 million to fund programs to end the dumping back into the lake of dirt dredged from the lake bottom.There's also $3.5 million to support soil and water conservation districts in the Western Basin and $2.65 million of capital improvement funds for Stone Laboratory."Lake Erie is one of Ohio's most precious resources and it is our responsibility to protect it, not only for ourselves but most importantly for our children and grandchildren," Arndt said.Kasich has three options for handling the bill. He could sign it or veto it. He also could approve most of the bill but cut out portions of it with a line-item veto.Arndt and Gardner said they worked closely with the Kasich administration and the Ohio EPA in crafting the bill, and they expect the portions of it dealing with Lake Erie to be approved by the governor.As the bill moved through the Ohio General Assembly, lawmakers attached some unrelated measures to address needs in their districts, and it's possible the governor may not agree with all of those amendments, Arndt said.Gardner said he hopes the governor will approve the entire bill and said he believes all of the amendments are reasonable and worthy of support."We'll find out soon," Gardner said.The governor's office typically does not comment on bills sent to the governor until Kasich has made up his mind.The latest batch of bills sent to Kasich will "go through a standard review before those final decisions are made," Kasich spokesman Jon Keeling said.Gardner said he is one of the lawmakers who wound up attaching an amendment unrelated to Lake Erie.During a recent forum at Bowling Green State University, Gardner learned that National Guard scholarships at Ohio colleges were about to be cut by $1.5 million, including $117,000 in BGSU scholarships.Displeased, Gardner went into action and succeeded in putting an amendment onto the bill that restores the $1.5 million.The bill has enjoyed widespread bipartisan support and has been endorsed by a wide variety of environmental groups, but it's been criticized by a group called Advocates for a Clean Lake Erie. The group said the bill fails to crack down on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs, and fails to use the Clean Water Act to crack down on polluters."The lion's share — two-thirds — of the misnamed 'Clean Lake 2020's' $36 million is going to so-called 'best management practices' that have an uninterrupted track record of failure for dealing with the excess nutrients that cause the lake to go toxic every summer," said Mike Ferner, coordinator for the group, in a Thursday news release. "And what's worse is Governor Kasich and his Ohio EPA will use this legislation to keep avoiding a real cleanup with real accountability for polluters, under the provisions of the Clean Water Act."Arndt said the bill is based on a study issued by scientists who wrote about the best way to address pollution problems in the lake.Surveys show most farmers want to handle fertilizer and manure in the right way, and the bill provides funding to make that affordable for farmers, Arndt said.Reach reporter Tom Jackson at jackson@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @jacksontom.Waves roll onto the shore at Vermilion's Main Street Beach on June 9, 2018.State Rep. Steve Arndt and State Sen. Randy Gardner appear on Between the Lines with Matt Westerhold on Thursday, June 14, 2018.