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March 25, 2016 I Volume 10 1 Issue 6 Zoning Bulletin <br />NORTH DAKOTA <br />Dunn County appealed a district court ruling that found that the <br />North Dakota Industrial Commission had sole jurisdiction over an oil <br />waste treatment facility in the county. The judge had found that the <br />commission "controls drilling, all operations for oil and gas produc- <br />tion, and, since 2013, the disposal of saltwater and oilfield wastes." <br />On appeal, the county reportedly argued that "there needs to be a <br />more precise distinction between activities that can only be performed <br />at an oil and gas well or disposal well, as opposed to activities, such <br />as treatment, that can be performed elsewhere and fall within county <br />zoning." The county is asking the court to "uphold its authority to ap- <br />ply zoning to oil and gas development." <br />Source: The Bismarck Tribune; http://bismarclaribune.com <br />WISCONSIN <br />In mid -February, the state Senate approved a bill that would allow <br />towns to "exempt themselves from the county's zoning plan and en- <br />able a town's governing board to enact an ordinance allowing it to <br />withdraw from any county zoning rules and a county development <br />plan." "The exemption would apply to a town located in a county <br />with a population of at least 485,000 people. The bill would require <br />the town to pass its own ordinance and development plan in lieu of <br />the county's." Opponents of the bill argued that it would "fragment <br />decision -making and disrupt the balance of farmland and develop- <br />ment in the county." The Assembly had previously passed the bill, <br />and bill was headed to the Governor's desk to be signed into law. <br />Source: The Cap Times; hUp://hostmadison.com <br />12 © 2016 Thomson Reuters <br />