Michigan Court Rules Bottled Water Operation Not an ‘Essential Public Service’

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled against Nestle last week in a court battle between the company’s Ice Mountain water brand and the township of Osceola. The town had blocked Nestle from increasing the amount of water the company pumps from their local water source, saying the project wasn’t a “public convenience.” A circuit court ruled against the township, saying the commercial bottling operation “supplied a public demand,” but the appellate court reversed the decision. Though the judges acknowledged that water is “essential to life,” they ruled that bottled water in an area with tap water is not essential. “The circuit court’s conclusion that [Nestlé’s] commercial water bottling operation is an ‘essential public service’ is clearly erroneous. Other than in areas with no other source of water, bottled water is not essential,” the court wrote. The judges also found that Nestle’s new requested pumping station could lead to an “irretrievable depletion” if they pump faster than the local aquifer can refresh. Nestle spokesperson Arlene Anderson-Vincent said the company was disappointed in the court’s decision. “We believe the plan we proposed met the Township’s site plan and special land use standards. We will evaluate our possible next steps in the legal process.  From the beginning, our goal with this request has been to reduce, as much as possible, any impact to the local community and the environment,” she said. Jim Olson, an environmental attorney who has previously fought Nestle in court over Michigan water rights, said that Nestle tried to go too far in “ludicrously” claiming to be a public water utility. “What this lays bare is the extent to which private water marketers like Nestlé, and others like them, go [in] their attempts to privatize sovereign public water, public water services, and the land and communities they impact … In the context of the larger question, ‘Who owns the water?’ – in this round, the state and public do, because selling containerized water for profit is simply private, not public,” Olson said. [Interlochen Public Radio; The Detroit News; The Guardian]

LOBBYISTS | New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney plans to introduce a bill that would end “shadow lobbying,” a practice in which consultants are paid to lobby lawmakers but aren’t required by law to be identified. State law already requires individual lobbyists and firms to register with the state and disclose their expenditures, but outside consultants hired by those lobbyists do not have to register. Sweeney, a Democrat, said requiring these “shadow lobbyists” to reveal themselves would increase government transparency. “Who could be against firms releasing the information of who they hire? Lobbyists release information they spend. Who could be against them listing all this information?” he said. James Thurber, a professor of government at American University, said that shadow lobbying is accepted in many states, expressing surprise a state lawmaker would seek to require more disclosure. “We need to know more about what’s going on. It doesn’t matter whether they’re doing something wrong or right … Usually members of state Legislatures don’t want transparency … Because they don’t want the public to know who’s talking to them and who’s influencing them,” he said. [NJ.com]

REGULATORY REFORM | Idaho Gov. Brad Little said that he has cut 30,936 of the state’s 72,000 regulatory rules, surpassing South Dakota to become the least regulated state. The 40% cut has been a goal of the Republican governor’s since taking office. “Idaho’s conservative approach to governing has truly transformed the state’s administrative code into a set of regulations that are streamlined and easier for citizens and businesses to navigate. When we reduce the friction on entrepreneurs and businesses, good-paying jobs follow,” Little said. Scott McIntosh, the opinion editor of the Idaho Statesman, noted that many of the cuts likely wouldn’t have an impact on businesses because they were eliminating things like “moral turpitude” from the state code and nixing licensing boards that hadn’t issued rulings in decades. “A lot of these changes target outdated and archaic rules and regulations that are just kind of lying there, not doing any harm or standing in anyone’s way from doing business in Idaho. It’s not like we’re overturning the Clean Air Act or allowing businesses to dump raw sewage in the Boise River again … These “cuts” are closer to cleaning up the books than real regulatory reform,” he said. [Idaho Statesman]

DEVELOPER DONATIONS | The Los Angeles City Council voted to ban developers with pending project applications from making campaign donations to candidates or municipal officials. City Councilmember David Ryu introduced the proposal, and said that the status quo eroded public trust. “Doing nothing will cost us the trust of Angelenos. Trust is the basis of our power, and in any government by the people and for the people, the public’s trust must always be held as our highest goal,” Ryu said. Some council members said the measure didn’t go far enough, though, as it won’t affect independent campaign committees. Councilmember Mike Bonin said that the council should have been more radical in their approach. “I don’t think this is a particularly groundbreaking or particularly important piece of legislation today. When it comes to campaign finance reform, all we’re doing is feeding a vitamin C tablet to someone with pneumonia until we do full public financing (of campaigns),” he said. [Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles Daily News]

CORRUPTION CHARGES | Pennsylvania state Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell announced she would resign last week after she was charged with allegedly stealing more than $500,000 from a nonprofit she founded. State Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office has charged the first-term lawmaker with theft, perjury, and tampering with public records, saying she used the stolen money to “buy expensive trips, clothing, to pay overdue utilities and to fund past-due car payments” over the course of a decade. “Defrauding a nonprofit, defrauding taxpayers, and then systematically lying over many years to cover it up is unjust, it’s unfair, and it’s a crime.... She is going to spend time behind bars,” said Shapiro. Johnson-Harrell said that she was still committed to promoting the well-being of those in her district. “I am saddened and dismayed by the nature of the allegations brought against me today. I vigorously dispute many of these allegations, which generally pertain to before I took office, and I intend to accept responsibility for any actions that were inappropriate,”she said. [NBC Philadelphia; Philadelphia Inquirer]