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| Political Action |
Legislative Update #16, April 27, 2001SIERRA CLUB - Grand Canyon Chapter To: Conservation Friends Hi all! The legislative session appears to be winding down. I am hopeful that they will finish up next week. This past Wednesday, there was a nice memorial service at the Capitol for Senator Nichols. The common themes were Andy's persistence, compassion, humor, and integrity. If you would like to send a note to the family, the address is P.O. Box 40232, Tucson, AZ 85717. In lieu of flowers, the Sierra Club is sending donations to the Arizona Mexico Border Health Foundation, 2501 E. Elm Street, Tucson, AZ 85716. This was one of the entities the family asked people to support and one that Andy supported. There will also be a service for Andy in Tucson on Sunday April 29th at 2pm at First Christian Church located at 740 E. Speedway. On Tuesday, the Pima County Board of Supervisors appointed Virginia Yrun to fill the vacant seat in the Senate. Senator Yrun is a native Arizonan, former chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona, and a graduate of the University of Arizona. She is interested in issues relating to health care, civil rights, education and the environment. We are looking forward to meeting with her and discussing the key environmental issues facing the state. This week, please cal l your senator and ask him/her to oppose HB2426 environment; NPDES program (Huffman, Blendu, Graf, Landrum, et. al.) Also, please call Senator Elaine Richardson and thank her for offering a Floor Amendment to improve the bill. She really did a good job of trying to improve the bill while both Senators Bowers and Guenther worked to kill her amendment. This bill is ADEQ's attempt to take charge of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program for discharges to surface waters. We remain unconvinced that the legislature will provide adequate funding for the program and we object to provisions that prohibit ADEQ from doing anything more stringent than the Clean Water Act. We are also concerned about the level of enforcement -- in the bill everything is discretionary -- and about how ADEQ will address endangered species issues. We think the agency should be required to consult with U.S. Fish and Wildlife regarding the impact on any endangered species and ADEQ does not. Finally, the bill limits citizens' ability to appeal agency actions related to these permits. Please call your senator and ask him/her to support HB2431 NOW: environment; electronic reporting; chemicals (Landrum, Weason, Avelar, et al.). The bill requires the Arizona Emergency Response Commission to allow reporting of certain hazardous chemicals reports required under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know law to be done electronically to the Commission's internet site. It also requires the State Fire Marshal to establish standards under the state fire code for a statewide database that includes hazardous material management plans and hazardous material inventory statements.
The best news this week was that HB2524 NOW: Management of state land and resources (Flake) was amended to remove the offensive language regarding conservation agreements. We will keep an eye on things, but I think this bad idea -- compliments of the governor's office -- is finally dead for this year. Thank you for all your calls, letters, and emails. It really made a difference. HB2556 S/E Growth Management Task Force establishes a 13-member Growth Management Task Force that actually includes environmentalists. The Task Force will conduct hearings on and study growth management issues facing Arizona. Our amendment adding someone representing education interests and also someone representing affordable housing interests was added by Senator Nichols. This bill is probably dead unless the House concurs on the Senate amendments and unless the Speaker of the House allows it to come to Floor. If you have time, please Speaker of the House Jim Weiers and ask him to set this bill free. WE SUPPORT THE BILL. And now for some bad news: SCR1004 state land exchanges; school lands (Bowers, Hamilton, Bundgaard, et al.) passed the Senate 20-8-2. It is now going to be on the ballot for the 2002 election. It refers to the ballot a measure that allows state trust land to be exchanged for other lands, provided the exchange is in the best interest of the trust and the purpose is for preserving open space on the trust lands offered. It also provides some public notice and hearing requirements. The Legislature has tried four times to amend the Constitution in this manner; the voters rejected all of these measures. SCR1004 promises more of the same. It is clear the public does not trust the government with land deals. While SCR1004 does not technically allow for private land exchanges, that is pretty meaningless; all the state has to do to facilitate a private exchange is use the federal government as the "middle man." And more bad news: SB1455 county air quality; procedures (Guenther, Bowers, Huffman, et al.) was brought back for reconsideration and passed the Senate after some extensive lobbying from Arizona Public Service Company and Salt River Project. This bill allows the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality or a county to renew an order of abatement requiring compliance with air quality laws, rules or permits for an additional year upon a showing of good cause. Right now, the law requires compliance within one year. Passage of this bill means that an entity could continue to violate our air quality laws for up to two years. This is a special bill to allow APS to fire up two older units (that pollute more) at its west Phoenix facility. Here are a few updates: HB2144 structural pests; integrated pest management (May) allows a person buying property to request information from the Structural Pest Control Commission (SPCC) regarding the number of times it has been treated for termites in the previous three years. There are important health issues related to many of these pesticides and they can be especially detrimental to those who already have chemical sensitivities. It also requires the SPCC to prepare guidelines for an integrated pest management program. The bill passed out of the Senate 28-1-1 and the House 33-19-8. It is on its way to the governor. WE SUPPORT IT. HB2364 northeastern Arizona environmental projects; appropriations (Flake, Brown, Allen, et al.) appropriates $350,000 to the state land department for distribution to a private nonprofit, the Environmental Economic Communities Organization (EECO), formed by the eastern Arizona counties for planning and implementing of "environmental programs." This is an inappropriate use of the public's dollars. They've already used tax dollars for the incorporation costs and fundraising costs of this private non-profit and for opposition to Proposition 202. Dr. Martin Moore was campaign chair of "Arizonans Against Proposition 202," and is also the director of EECO. This bill passed out of Senate Appropriations 9-0-3. WE OPPOSE IT. HB2432 NOW: delinquent property tax reduction; contamination (Landrum, Huffman, Avelar, et al.) allows a county board of supervisors to reduce the lien for delinquent taxes, interest and penalties up to the amount of the actual costs of remediation for contaminated property. The person who caused the pollution and any of that person's relatives do not qualify for the breaks. Facilitating the clean up is a plus, but has anyone noticed how they have shifted the clean up costs to the public? This passed the Senate 28-0-1 and the House 53-0-7 and is on its way to the governor. WE SUPPORT THE BILL. HB2523 state trust land; appraisal (Binder, O'Halleran) brings more accountability to the state land department relating to the use of proper appraisal standards. This awaits a third read in the Senate. WE SUPPORT THE BILL. HB2538 Brown cloud study; air quality (Allen) provides $1.5 million in FY 2001-2002 and $3 million in FY 2002-2003 to the Voluntary Vehicle Repair and Retrofit Program, expands the Area A boundaries to include areas west of Goodyear and Peoria, as well as a small piece of land on the north end Lake Pleasant. It requires ADEQ to establish and administer a roadside diesel testing program in Area A and Area B and appropriates $400,000 for it. It appropriates $775,000 total to ADEQ to establish a visibility index and nearly $4 million for alternative fuel refueling stations. It includes some voluntary programs including voluntary use of low-sulfur diesel. It clarifies which pollutants are eligible for the emissions trading program and appropriates $600,000 over two years for it. We are opposed to the trading program, because it does not includes adequate enforcement and public accountability. This awaits a Third Read in the Senate. This really does little for the Brown Cloud. WE SUPPORT IT. Thanks for all your help! For more information on legislation go to the web page at www.azleg.state.az.us. If you're outside the Phoenix area, you can call your legislator's office toll free at 1-800-352-8404. In the Phoenix area call (602) 542-3559 (Senate) or (602) 542-4221 (House). Correspondence goes to 1700 W. Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85007-2890. To email legislators use first initial + 7 letters of surname@azleg.state.az.us. If you are not sure who your legislators are, please go to www.vote-smart.org or call the House or Senate information desks. Page updated: 04/27/01 Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633 |