|
|||
| Political Action |
Legislative Updates 2007Sierra Club 2007 Legislative Update #8 “We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” ~Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732 February 23, 2007 Hello Conservation Friends! There was a bit of good news at the Legislature. SB1112 toxic fire response (Landrum Taylor, Miranda, Rios, et al) finally passed out of the Senate 26-4. Now it is on to the House, where the Arizona Chamber of Commerce will likely try to quietly kill it. This measure sets up a 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 in order to better protect first responders and the public. Please call your Arizona Senator and ask him or her to oppose SB1119 water; overlapping service area providers (C. Gray, Aguirre, Harper, et al.) Remember contacting your own legislators is most effective and a phone call is more likely to get through to legislators than email. They get mountains of email right now. If you only have time for an email however, please send that. SB1119 prohibits water providers (primarily municipalities) in an area that overlaps with an irrigation district from limiting a landowner’s right to use water that is supplied by an irrigation district. This bill would significantly hinder cities’ water conservation efforts, drought plans, efforts to address groundwater contamination, and more. While the proponents of this legislation say it was intended to address a narrow issue, the legislation itself is very broad and would create water conservation problems statewide. The bill was dropped because of a dispute between the Town of Gilbert and the Roosevelt Water Conservation District. Gilbert passed an ordinance ten years ago to promote the use of reclaimed water, instead of groundwater, on large areas of turf. The Roosevelt Water Conservation District began objecting to this ordinance about a year and a half ago and asked to have an exemption. The Town Council in Gilbert did not agree to an exemption or special privileges for this district as they wanted to maintain strong water conservation goals. Irrigation Districts are already exempt from many water conservation measures and the assured water supply certifications, but they do use groundwater and they do have an impact. The last thing the Legislature should grant them is another exemption. Go to http://azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp?Body=S to email Arizona Senators or to find their direct office phone number. If you're outside the Phoenix area, you can call your Senator’s office toll free at 1-800-352-8404. In the Phoenix area call (602) 926-3559 and ask to be connected to your Senator. Please also call your Arizona House members and ask them to oppose HB2369 NOW: temporary signage; preemption; abatement (Robson). It preempts municipalities from regulating garish and unsightly advertising schemes on and along our public rights-of-way while at the same time mandating a permitting system whose proceeds would not cover the cost of service delivery but would rather be deposited in a "beautification" fund. It appears to be designed to create a precedent for even further preemption of local sign regulations, particularly as they apply to electronic signs and billboards. Sign regulation is a local zoning power and issues that arise out of this power should be addressed locally. Go to http://www.azleg.gov/memberRoster.asp?Body=H to email Arizona House members or to get their direct office phone number. 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) 926-4221 and ask to be connected to your House members. Here is what is coming up in Committee this week: Tuesday, February 27 House Counties, Municipalities & Military Affairs Committee at 1:30 p.m. in House Hearing Room 5 SB1082 county planning and zoning commissions (Flake, Brown, Konopnicki) permits an appointing supervisor to name a temporary alternative member to serve on a county planning and zoning commission in the absence of a previously appointed member. WATCH. SB1198 county powers; open fires (O’Halleran, Brown, Mason, et al) allows a county board of supervisors to adopt ordinances prohibiting open fires and campfires on lands in the unincorporated areas of the county that are private property islands within the boundaries of the National Forests, Bureau of Land Management Lands or state lands, if these other entities have implemented a prohibition. SUPPORT. SB1311 channelization districts; formation (Flake) continues the ongoing power grab by the sand and gravel companies via the Arizona Rock Products Association the entity which has been pushing for formation of these districts. It removes the requirement that allows a county to form a channelization district that includes a city or town, only if that city or town has also approved it. It replaces it with a notification requirement and allows a city or town to disapprove the portion of a district located within its boundaries within 45 days of the notice. If the governing body does not disapprove within 45 days the formation is deemed approved. Cities have more power to regulate these entities than do counties, so they want to further limit their impact. OPPOSE. Wednesday, February 28 Senate Natural Resources and Rural Affairs Committee at 1:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 109 HB2044 outdoor recreation commission; sunset continuation (Adams) continues it to 2017. WATCH. HB2487 agricultural management practices committee; continuation (Mason: Bradley, Clark, et al) continues this committee which has virtually no impact whatsoever. It adopts voluntary grazing best management practices. It also eliminates the position of hydrologist on the committee and replaces that person with two people involved in grazing cows. It replaces the aquaculture person with a person grazing sheep. For these reasons alone, we should oppose this. It eliminates the responsibilities relative to application of nitrogen fertilizer. OPPOSE. HB2488 drought emergency groundwater transfers (Mason, Alvarez, Brown, et al) allows temporary transfers during drought. It is an annual bill which allows only limited transfers during the drought times. MONITOR. Thursday, March 1 House Water and Agriculture Committee at 9:00 a.m. in House Hearing Room 1 SB1182 Summerhaven fire; assured water supply (Bee, McClure) exempts this area from the assured water supply requirements. MONITOR. SB1312 water storage permits; notice requirements (Flake) requires 15-day notification of cities, towns, private water companies, etc. for any water storage. MONITOR. For more information on these bills go to http://arizona.sierraclub.org/political_action/tracker/. To email legislators go to http://www.azleg.gov/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.gov. Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633 |