Environmental Regs: Finding Some Consolation In State Government
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

In recent years, the EPA has proposed a number of new rules having potential to affect our daily lives. I know South Dakotans are concerned about some of these pending proposals and I share their concerns.

One prominent proposal imposes new regulations on coal-fired power plants, and will require states to rework their power grids. Another rule broadens a key definition describing bodies of water, to give the federal government authority to regulate small bodies of water on private land. A third rule would create a new standard for ozone.  Depending upon the new standard chosen, it may be difficult for any state to comply.

At this point, it is unclear to what extent these regulations will really help the environment. But here is what is clear: if these new rules are implemented, South Dakotans will be left with higher costs.

So what can be done? South Dakota’s delegation in Washington, D.C., has been working to roll back some of these proposed regulations through congressional efforts. At the state level, Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined with other states to challenge some of these proposals. We’re also doing what we can in state government to keep our own environmental regulations appropriate and reasonable.

The South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is responsible for implementing and enforcing EPA regulations at the state level. The agency regulates things like air quality, drinking water and waste management. It also protects surface and ground waters of the state. It is this agency’s job to issue water permits without depleting water resources. The agency also regulates mining activities, petroleum storage tanks and your community’s water and wastewater infrastructure.

Though DENR must assume the burden of implementing EPA regulations in our state, it strives to use whatever flexibility is available to make the federal regulations fit South Dakota. One example is the department’s Feedlot Permit Program, which regulates concentrated animal feeding operations in a manner to protect the surface and ground waters in South Dakota. DENR is upholding its mission to protect public health and the environment without placing unnecessary hurdles in front of South Dakotans and those who want to do business here.

DENR has also excelled in open government efforts. Secretary Steve Pirner’s initiatives have provided more information online than ever before. For example, DENR’s One-Stop Public Notice webpage publishes all of the department’s active public notices.  Their One-Stop Interactive GIS Maps allow the public to locate and access information about dry draw location notices, spill site files, storage tank files, oil and gas well files, recycling businesses and more. DENR’s One-Stop Permitting Guide leads industries through each environmental permitting process administered by South Dakota. The department also recently launched a new website. Check it out at denr.sd.gov.

I know South Dakotans are frustrated with government’s increasing tendency to become involved with small details of our daily lives. I know business owners are trying to create jobs, farmers and ranchers are trying to stay in operation, and families are trying to make ends meet. I know it’s hard to achieve these things when a government proposes rules without regard for the cost of those rules and the burden of ever-expanding red tape.

Still, I hope South Dakotans here will find some consolation in their state government. Our state agencies are doing what we can to fight burdensome federal regulations and make our own rules as reasonable as possible.

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I’ve been doing some backend stuff to try to improve the peppiness of the website without having to take an ax to the number of posts and comments.  Right now, we’re running at nearly 100,000 comments and 7300 posts, plus, and whether you like it or not, that will tend to eat up system resources.

So far I’ve optimized the sql database, and removed all the multiple revisions and iterations of each post. And I’m working on compressing images. You really don’t need a 4mb image to go with a post.  I’ve also made a point to block most traffic from other countries, as I’ve been getting indexed by search engines from Russia and China.

I don’t want to add a cache to the site, as that can cause problems, and sometimes gives hackers a way in. My host does a good job of keeping the trash out, but you can never be too diligent.

Hopefully, all this will allow for a slightly faster load time.

John Boehner’s office just confirmed that he’s going to resign as Speaker of the House.

What does that mean for the GOP, and more specifically, what does that mean for South Dakota’s Congresswoman Kristi Noem?

(Is it here where we plug Kristi for Speaker? )

From KELOland comes notice of a lawsuit that seems to be pitting the wife of a state legislator against the state her husband works part time-for:

Laura Zylstra Kaiser of Aberdeen alleges she was harassed by a Brown County deputy in 2011. Her federal lawsuit claims she was demoted after the alleged harassment.

Zylstra Kaiser says she filed unsuccessful grievances with DCI Director Bryan Gortmaker and Attorney General Marty Jackley.

Read it here.

Zylstra Kaiser is the spouse of Dan Kaiser, a legislator from Aberdeen who is also employed in Law enforcement.

(GOP Activists should recall Kyle Holt, who served as an office manager for the South Dakota GOP in 2010, joined Steve Barnett’s Staff, and subsequently went to work for Congresswoman Kristi Noem. As you’ll note in the release below, Kyle is going back to work for his old boss at the GOP, Lucas Lentsch, except this time with a nicer office, and fewer envelopes to stuff!    Congrats to Kyle!   -PP)

Holt Named Deputy Secretary of Agriculture

PIERRE, S.D. – Secretary of Agriculture Lucas Lentsch has named Kyle Holt as the deputy secretary for the South Dakota Department of Agriculture.

Holt has worked in various aspects of government at the state and federal levels. He most recently worked in Congresswoman Kristi Noem’s Rapid City office.

“Kyle has a working knowledge of our state’s diverse agricultural industry,” says Secretary Lentsch. “His knowledge of production agriculture, along with the state and federal government processes, makes him a tremendous asset to the department.”

Holt grew up on his family farm near Cresbard. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from South Dakota State University.

“Agriculture impacts everything in South Dakota, and it’s such a big part of what makes this state so great,” said Holt. “I’m excited to be part of a department that’s dedicated to helping that success continue.”

Kyle and his wife Jessica have one son.

Agriculture is South Dakota’s No. 1 industry, generating $25.6 billion in annual economic activity and employing over 115,000 South Dakotans. The South Dakota Department of Agriculture’s mission is to promote, protect, preserve and improve this industry for today and tomorrow. Visit us online at http://sdda.sd.gov or find us on Facebook and Twitter.

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From my mailbox, I have to confess, I did not see this one coming from South Dakota Democrat HQ.

Immediate Release: Tuesday, September 23, 2015
Contact: Suzanne Jones Pranger, (605) 271-5405; [email protected]

Pennington County Democrats Call for Renaming of Harney Peak
Rapid City, SD (September 22, 2015)-

On September 22, 2015, the Pennington County Democratic Party passed a resolution calling for the renaming of Harney Peak, the highest mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The resolution, entitled “PENNINGTON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY RESOLUTION OF SUPPORT FOR RENAMING HARNEY PEAK TO ‘BLACK ELK PEAK,’” encourages the U.S. Board of Geographic Names to approve the formal request of Lakota elder Basil Brave Heart to change the name of Harney Peak to Black Elk Peak.

The resolution states that public comments received by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names included support of the name change by a descendent of General William S. Harney and a descendent of Little Thunder, a leader of a Lakota village destroyed by Harney in 1855. The resolution further states that the existing name of the peak is highly offensive to Native people.

Historian Eric Zimmer, a doctoral candidate at the University of Iowa and a research fellow at the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, provides historical background regarding General Harney, after whom the peak is currently named.

Zimmer notes that Harney “likely never set foot on the mountain. Harney’s actions before and during his time in the Black Hills, moreover, were deplorable under any standard of human decency. While living in St. Louis in 1834, Harney murdered a slave child named Hannah. He was well known for his short temper, and historians have surmised that the girl’s only transgression may have been as minor as misplacing the soldier’s keys. Even in the antebellum South, the attack sparked a public outrage and Harney was indicted for murder. He was ultimately acquitted because, in the repulsive logic of their time, he was a decorated white soldier and she a forgettable slave girl.”

“Harney,” Zimmer continues, then “resumed his military career. Over the years, Harney fought against American Indians in Florida and Illinois, and later against Mexican forces during the US–Mexico War. But it was his exploits at Ash Hollow along Nebraska’s Blue Water Creek that earned Harney the nicknames ‘Mad Bear’ and ‘Woman Killer’ by regional Lakotas.

Following the 1854 Grattan incident, the Army sent Harney to arrest the Lakotas. On the morning of September 2, 1855, Harney’s forces found the Natives camped along Blue Water Creek. Tribal leaders again attempted peace, but Harney ordered an attack that killed eighty-six Lakotas, more than forty of whom were women and children. Aided by two Howitzer machine guns, the soldiers launched their assault then pursued on horseback.”

Changing the name of Harney Peak would follow the historic renaming of North America’s highest mountain, “Mt. McKinley,” to its indigenous name, Denali. President Obama announced that change last month.

The Pennington County Democrats will transmit their Resolution to Mr. Lou Yost, Executive Secretary of the US Board on Geographic Names, Domestic Names Committee by the September 30, 2015 public comment deadline. The public can submit comment, as well, to

Mr. Lou Yost, Executive Secretary
US Board on Geographic Names/Domestic Names Committee
523 National Center
Reston, VA 20192-0523
by September 30, 2015 or via email at [email protected].

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After we just got done with one round with ‘the board of changing mountain names,’ or whatever they’re called, Democrats are right back at it with a false sense of political correctness.

Unfortunately for them, they don’t seem to know any history with the renaming of Mount McKinley. They forget that the state of Alaska has been asking for this for 75 years or better, and it was long requested by a majority of the state’s residents.

But in South Dakota, the movement to rename Harney Peak represents a fragment of the population, at best, and they can’t even decide amongst themselves what they want to call it. This movement from the South Dakota Democratic Party to put their muscle (and I use that term very lightly) behind renaming the mountain not only seems strange, it would put them at odds with the majority of the population in the state.

Arguably, there would probably be about the same number of people in South Dakota want to change the mountain name as there are who would want to give the Black Hills to Native Americans.

And given how liberal the South Dakota Democratic Party apparatchiks have become, we shouldn’t be surprised if that’s going to be the next press release we see from their leadership.

I don’t think you can make this stuff up.

Apparently State Senator Phil Jensen is the person who had obtained the Ashley Madison Database for South Dakota. And mustering up all his computer expertise, he mistakenly sent to the people in charge of South Dakotans Against Prohibition.

Wow. I repeat, you can’t make this stuff up.

Deadline Approaching For Spring Internship Applications

WASHINGTON– U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today announced the deadline is approaching to apply for internships in his Washington, D.C., Pierre, Rapid City and Sioux Falls offices for the spring 2016 semester. The spring semester will run from mid-January to mid-May. College credit is available.

Duties in the Washington, D.C., office may include tracking legislation, researching bills, attending committee hearings and briefings, leading tours of the U.S. Capitol, handling constituent phone calls, sorting mail and providing legislative support. Duties in the South Dakota offices include researching constituent inquiries and requests, participation in outreach activities, assisting staff on special projects, handling phone calls and constituent requests and sorting mail. In all offices, students will work closely with constituents and staff, polish their research and writing skills and gain an in-depth understanding of a Senate office.

Interested college students should complete the online internship application and submit a resume no later than October 15, 2015.  Resumes should be submitted to Erin Budmayr, intern coordinator at [email protected]. Information about the internship program, along with the application, can be found online at www.rounds.senate.gov/internships.

Additional questions can be directed to Erin Budmayr at (605) 224-1450.

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If you missed Lee Schoenbeck on the Argus Leader yesterday, he had the quote of the day.

When he was asked about Larry Kurtz, who has long been banned from this and other South Dakota websites for his bigotry, misogyny, and generally being offensive, Schoenbeck exclaimed “Larry Kurtz?!? That guy is nuts!” 

Yep. Hit that nail right on the head.