MPCA Urges Judge to Drop Objection to Wild Rice Rule Change

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) _ Minnesota regulators have asked the state's chief administrative law judge to reverse her rejection of their attempts to change the state's water quality standard for protecting wild rice.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says in a filing Wednesday that it has made technical changes to its proposal that should address the judge's concerns.

The MPCA wants to replace the current 10 milligram per liter limit for sulfate discharges into waters that produce wild rice with a formula that would apply to around 1,300 water bodies.

The agency says its revised proposal will protect wild rice, and that similar approaches have been successfully implemented elsewhere.

It says the judge will review its response and say whether her concerns about the proposed standard and list of waters have been addressed.