Sludge Watch ==> Bill seeks to protect wild rice

[Maureen Reilly]

Bill seeks to protect wild rice
16.mar.07
West Central Tribune (MN)
Mike Longaecker

Rep. Frank Moe was cited as saying Thursday that passing legislation to 
protect wild rice should be a “moral imperative” for fellow legislators, 
saying of his two bills in the Minnesota Legislature that, "I will hardly 
sleep until it is passed.
The story says thatMoe, a Democrat, is sponsoring legislation that — by 
tightening regulations on the research community — would strengthen similar 
laws passed last year.
If any researcher in the nation files a permit to release genetically 
altered wild rice, a Minnesota environmental board would have to be 
notified.
That board would then have to alert several state groups, including tribal 
leaders and the Legislature, according to Moe’s legislation. Laws passed in 
2006 designated Minnesota’s Environmental Quality Board as the coordinating 
agency between state and federal activities regarding genetically engineered 
organisms.
Moe’s bill also calls on the board to draw up rules requiring environmental 
impact statements before a permit could be issued in Minnesota, while a 
second bill calls on the Department of Natural Resources to complete a wild 
rice management study.
Several testifiers spoke up Thursday during a House Environment and Natural 
Resources Committee meeting supporting the bill, saying it is important to 
preserve the purity of wild rice.