Legislative Updates 2006

Sierra Club 2006 Legislative Update #15

April 21, 2006

Hello Conservation Friends!  Please celebrate Earth Day tomorrow by doing something nice for the plants, animals, and people with whom we all share this great planet.  Plant a tree, ride your bike or walk instead of driving, replace that old light-bulb with a compact fluorescent, read a book and turn off all the electronics, and most of all, call your legislators!

SB1356 hazardous air pollutants; de minimis (Allen) passed out of the House this week in a close vote 31-26-3.  It will go back to the Senate for a final vote early next week.  Please call your senators and ask them to oppose SB1356.  This measure makes it more difficult to trigger regulation of existing facilities relative to their hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) emissions.  HAPs include many chemicals with known and potential human health effects, including cancer and birth defects. This bill will derail the HAPs rule which just passed ­ 13 years later than the law mandated.  OPPOSE.

Also, call your senators and ask them to support HB2129 NOW: illegal hunting; penalties (JP Weiers, Mason: Biggs, et al).  This bill provides higher penalties for poaching wildlife, including a stronger penalty for poaching “trophy animals”.  It was amended on the Senate Floor to make it a petty offense to feed wildlife intentionally in Pima and Maricopa Counties, thus targeting the more urban areas of our state.  The bill excludes tree squirrels and birds and people who are in the process of hunting or fishing or people who are engaged in wildlife management activities.  Feeding wildlife is a bad idea for many reasons. Animals become habituated to humans and associate them with food.  Ultimately, that results in some kind of conflict between the people and the animals where one or both lose.  As Arizona continues to urbanize and move our cities and towns farther and farther into important wildlife habitat, there are increasing conflicts. Some conflicts can be avoided if people refrain from feeding animals, especially the predator species and the species on which they prey (deer, javelina, etc.) SUPPORT.

Please call House members and ask them to oppose SCR1013 S/E campaign finance revisions (Huppenthal, Barnes, Leff, et. al).   It not only repeals the Clean Elections law, but also blows the lid of campaign contributions to the candidates who do not run as clean elections candidates.  In a 38-page strike everything amendment, the legislature is proposing to allow individuals to contribute up to $5,000 in the primary and another $5,000 in the general election.  That is more than what is allowed for federal races.  The last thing the public wants is for big money to have even more of an influence on politics. OPPOSE. 

For contact information, go to http://www.azleg.state.az.us/MemberRoster.asp or to the bottom of this update.  Check out the Legislative Tracker at http://arizona.sierraclub.org/political_action/tracker/  for information on these bills.

Quick Updates:

SB1221 structural pest control: licensure exemption (Leff, Harper) adds an exemption from licensure for landscapers who apply herbicides that are not labeled for restricted use and that are commercially available to the public.  This is a bad idea for a number of reasons.  People who apply these chemicals should be trained properly. Just because something is commercially available to the public does not mean it is safe.  OPPOSE.  It awaits action by the House Rules Committee.

SB1350 pesticides; child care facilities; notifications (Allen) requires that parents of children in childcare facilities receive 48-hours notice of any pesticide spraying and that the facilities use licensed applicators for pesticide application.  The Department of Health Services must work with child care facilities, personnel and the pesticide applicators to develop a policy to notify parents, guardians, and personnel.  SUPPORT.  The bill has still not been heard in House Rules, but should get set free in the budget process. 

SB1441 S/E: wildlife habitat restoration fund; appropriation (Allen, Arzberger, Bee, et al) gives money to the Game and Fish Commission, but it comes with strings including requiring them to use it for the pet projects of the bill supporters. OPPOSE.  It awaits action by the House Rules Committee.

SB1468 Arizona trail (Allen, Arzberger, Flake, et al) appropriates $500,000 for the Arizona trail and memorializes Bob Stump.  It is difficult to see what the connection is here.  SUPPORT.  It awaits action by the House Rules Committee.

SB1550 copper state park (Flake, Brown, Chase, et al) establishes a state park near Kearny that is contingent on the conveyance of BLM lands and state trust lands, but no longer includes the private parcels belonging to Asarco.  That makes this a ridiculous proposal and not something we can support.  This is part of the Resolution Copper Company land swap in congress that will result in them getting Oak Flats campground.  OPPOSE.  It awaits the House Rules Committee.

SCR1019 NOW: Private Property Rights Protection Act (Bee, Bennett, R. Burns, et al) refers to the ballot a measure that requires governments to compensate property owners for nearly every zoning or land use decision they make. OPPOSE.  It awaits action by the House Rules Committee.

HB2291 chemical fire response; task force (Landrum Taylor: A. Aguirre, J. Allen, et al) sets up this response task force and requires that it establish a hazardous material tracking process program for municipalities to identify buildings that use or have hazardous materials on site.  It requires coordination of public health and risks associated with a chemical or other toxic fire event.  SUPPORT.  It was re-referred to Rules and has just sat there for several weeks.

HB2317 NOW: mining reclamation act (Barnes) exempts mines from even more regulation by prohibiting the counties from regulating reclamation activities.  Just when you thought there was no place left in the statutes where the mines were not exempt.  OPPOSE.  It was retained again on the Committee of the Whole Calendar.

HB2381 NOW: development fee; capital improvements plan (Paton, Bee) requires municipalities to jump through even more hoops in order to assess development impact fees.  It also limits the use of impact fees for cultural facilities and limits the use of the construction sales tax for use on the light rail. OPPOSE.  It awaits Committee of the Whole action.

HB2429 solar energy tax incentives (Mason, Boone, Chase, et al) establishes commercial solar tax credits that allow a 10% credit for the installation of solar energy devices for commercial or industrial purposes in a trade or business located in Arizona, and includes an annual cap of $7 million. It also states that the value of solar systems will not be added to property tax valuation. SUPPORT.  It awaits action by the Senate Rules Committee and will likely be held for the budget.

HB2430 energy cost saving measures; requirements (Mason) cleans up several aspects of the statutes addressing energy efficiency and renewable energy and encourage state agencies and schools to utilize energy efficiency and renewable energy mechanisms. SUPPORT.   This was signed by the Governor.

HB2686 S/E off-road highway vehicles (Huffman, O’Halleran, Reagan, et al) sets up some weak requirements for off-road vehicles and virtually does nothing.  NEUTRAL.  It awaits action by the Senate Rules Committee.

HB2836 S/E forest health (Chase: Jarrett) directs the State Forester to do something that is contrary to federal law and would put the public’s safety at risk.  It requires him to negotiate memoranda of understanding to allow private land owners to log trees on our national forests. OPPOSE. It awaits action by the Senate Committee of the Whole.

HB2843 tax credit; energy efficient products (Mason, O’Halleran, Bee, et al) makes it easier for consumers to buy products that save energy and reduce pollution associated with our fossil-fuel dominated energy generation.  It provides a tax credit for certain energy efficient appliances applicable to tax years 2006 and 2007. SUPPORT.  It was finally withdrawn from Senate Finance and awaits action by the Rules Committee.

HCR2045 state trust land reform (Nelson, Boone, Brown, et al) is a measure to counter the Conserving Arizona’s Future Initiative.  While we are not supporting the initiative, we do not think it is appropriate for the Legislature to try and confuse voters in order to defeat it.  HCR2045 protects very little land and does not adequately protect the identified conservation.  OPPOSE. It awaits action by the Senate Rules Committee.

Thanks for your help and support! To email legislators go to http://www.azleg.state.az.us/MemberRoster.asp  If you are not sure who your legislators are, please go to http://www.vote-smart.org  (You will need your 9-digit zipcode.) or call the House or Senate information desks.  If you're outside the Phoenix area, you can call your legislators’ offices toll free at 1-800-352-8404.  In the Phoenix area call (602) 926-3559 (Senate) or (602) 926-4221 (House).  Correspondence goes to 1700 W. Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85007-2890.  For more information on legislation go to http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ .