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Legislative Updates 2007Sierra Club 2007 Legislative Update #16 "We think of our land and water and human resources not as static and sterile possessions but as lifegiving assets to be directed by wise provisions for future days." — Franklin D. Roosevelt April 20, 2007 Hello Conservation Friends! Happy Earth Day! There are a lot of fun activities this weekend in celebration of Earth Day. If you are free, come help dig out buffel grass (an invasive nonnative grass) in the Phoenix Mountain Preserves, or just take a moment or two to write a note to your legislators or the governor. The best thing we can do to help this Earth is support leaders who will act to protect the air, land and water. There is still nothing much out on the state budget, so predicting when the session will actually end is difficult. There are more meetings on air quality this week, but it is very likely that there also will be a special session on air later this year. The water bills are all still stalled this week the bill to fund infrastructure stalled in the Senate majority caucus. Many people are saying that the state trust land measures are dead for this session, although people are still trying to work that out. Some key issues are oversight of the land department as well as funding. Good news! Please call the Governor and thank her for her veto of HB2369 NOW: temporary signage; preemption; abatement (Robson). The bill would have preempted municipalities from regulating these advertising schemes via sign walkers 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 the service delivery but would be deposited in a "beautification" fund. Also ask the Governor to veto SB1557 water; municipal conservation requirements (Flake). While the Arizona Department of Water Resources is purportedly working for water conservation, the agency here supported a bill that will undercut conservation and allow for backsliding. The bill eliminates specific conservation requirements for certain municipal water providers under the non-per capita program located within Active Management Areas (AMAs) and instead requires them to adopt Best Management Practices, which are generally not enforced. Furthermore, it extends the agricultural best management practices program into the fourth management period, despite the fact that there has been no evaluation of the program. While it may be designed to achieve conservation, is it? If this bill becomes law it will allow backsliding on water conservation in the AMAs. OPPOSE. To send an email message to the governor email azgov@az.gov or go to http://azgovernor.gov/contact.asp and type in your message. Call 602-542-4331 or outside the Phoenix area 1-800-253-0883. You can also contact the governor via mail at: The Honorable Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona, 1700 West Washington, Phoenix, Arizona 85007, fax 602-542-1381. Please continue to remind your Arizona State Representatives to oppose SB1119 overlapping service area providers (C. Gray, Aguirre, Harper, et al.). It was heard in the House Committee of the Whole on Thursday and will likely go to Third Read on Monday. It will undercut water conservation efforts in many cities and towns, but is particularly aimed at Gilbert. If this passes, it means that anyone who is part of the irrigation district is not subject to any of the city or town’s ordinances or regulations relative to water. It is a terrible bill and bad precedent. OPPOSE. To contact your representatives, go to http://www.azleg.gov/memberRoster.asp?Body=H or in the Phoenix area call (602) 926-4221, in Tucson you can call (520) 398-6000 or for any area outside the Phoenix area, call toll free 1-800-352-8404 and ask to be connected to your legislator’s office. In Tucson, you can call (520) 398-6000. Ask Arizona State Senators to oppose SB1311 channelization districts; formation (Flake) on Final Read. It passed out of the House 33-23-4 and by 17-12 the first time it was voted on in the Senate, so the vote could again be close. This measure is totally unnecessary and just 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 only the portion of a district located within its boundaries within 90 days of the notice. If the governing body does not disapprove within 90 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. This bill also does not consider the impacts of these districts downstream. OPPOSE. 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. In Tucson, you can call (520) 398-6000. Here are a few bill updates: HB2019 county insurance; technical correction (McClure) S/E Upper San Pedro Water District and SB1001 general election ballots; technical correction (Bee) S/E: Upper San Pedro Water District are both dead, but there is supposed to be yet another version on another bill next week. OPPOSE. HB2443 NOW: user fee; off-highway vehicles (JP Weiers) still awaits action by the Senate Committee of the Whole. It was retained on the calendar on Thursday. It establishes a user fee for off-road vehicles. While we support increasing funding for law enforcement and the safety provisions in the bill as well as the language that prescribes where these vehicles are allowed and where they are not allowed, we still have some concerns about the allocation of the 60 percent of the dollars that will go to grants administered by Arizona State Parks. Our main concern is that these grants will be used to open new areas to off-road vehicle activities and to promote a use on the land that is decimating wildlife habitat, destroying vegetation, and promoting soil erosion. We would like to see the dollars for these grants targeted to restoration and used for trails only in areas that are currently used and appropriate for ORV use. HB2491 solar energy tax credit; application (Mason, Boone: Anderson, et al.) awaits action by the Senate Committee of the Whole. It is merely a technical correction bill to clarify the commercial solar energy tax credit program established last year, so the credit can be claimed by a third party who finances the solar installation. This will help to support installation of more solar on state buildings, schools, etc. SUPPORT. HB2496 schools; energy and water savings (Mason, J. Burns, Aboud, et al.) awaits action by the Senate Committee of the Whole. It creates an energy and water savings mechanism which allows schools to use the cost savings in maintenance and operations portion of their budgets to pay for capital investments in energy or water saving measures and to use dollars from utility companies to pay for water and energy saving measures. This provides an opportunity for schools to invest in cost-effective measures that save money, energy, and water over time. SUPPORT. HB2638 local energy plans (Cajero Bedford, Bradley, Mason, et al.) awaits action by Senate Rules. It adds an energy element to cities’ general plans and counties’ comprehensive plans to encourage and reward efficient use of energy. SUPPORT. HB2692 water supply development revolving fund (Mason, Ableser, Saradnik, et al.) awaits action by the Senate Committee of the Whole. It establishes a water development revolving fund for the purpose of providing financial assistance to water providers for water supply development. This bill is another mechanism for fueling urban, suburban, and rural sprawl. It does not provide any protections for stream or river flows and therefore could be used by Prescott or Prescott Valley to pipe from the Big Chino and dry up the upper portion of the Verde River. OPPOSE. HB2693 water adequacy provisions (Mason, Ableser, Saradnik, et al.) and SB1575 water adequacy amendments (Arzberger, Aguirre, Landrum Taylor, et al.) await final action in the House. These bills authorize cities and counties outside of active management areas to adopt by a unanimous vote an ordinance requiring a determination of water adequacy from the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) before a subdivision may be approved. They define “adequate water supply” as sufficient groundwater, surface water or effluent of adequate quality to satisfy the needs of the proposed use for at least 100 years. The water supply must be continuously, legally and physically available. There are numerous exceptions for these water adequacy requirements including for developers who have made a substantial capital investment when the adequacy provisions are adopted. The bills allow counties, cities or towns to provide an exemption for subdivisions that will be served by projects under construction provided the construction will be completed within a twenty year timeframe, if the current supplies can sustain the subdivision for that time period. They provide exemptions for subdivisions that will be hauling water by truck or train these are commonly referred to as “Dry lot subdivisions.” While the bills provide additional consumer protection, they do not provide any additional protection for surface water rivers, streams, springs, etc. HCM2008 urge protection; Kofa herd (JP Weiers, Nelson, Aguirre, et al) passed out of the Senate 19-9-2. This is a “postcard” to congress asking it to affirm that Game and Fish should be able to kill mountain lions in the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge. They are trying to once again blame the decline in bighorn sheep on lions, despite no evidence to support that. This “postcard” to congress is inaccurate and inappropriate. OPPOSE. HCR2039 NOW: state trust lands; public use (Nelson) awaits action by Senate Rules as people continue to meet to see if the differences can be addressed. The Arizona Education Association is still opposed to the measure and would like to see some stronger oversight, including from representatives of the beneficiaries. It refers to the ballot a constitutional amendment to conserve some of the urban state trust lands, including lands in Scottsdale, Pima County, Coconino County, etc. It includes about 195,000 acres, all of which would have to be bought at true value (appraised value), but without auction. This measure would not be comprehensive reform or address rural lands, but would provide the opportunity to conserve the urban state trust lands that communities have been trying to protect. The pre-1968 easements can be conveyed without the trust receiving any compensation per this measure. New rights-of-way could also be conveyed without auction. There is also some language relating to leases and nonmonetary value that we are evaluating. HB2312 state air quality rules; hearing (Barnes) also awaits action in Rules. The strike everything amendment on state trust land conservation lands moves the specific lands addressed in HCR2039 into session law. SB1112 toxic fire response (Landrum Taylor, Miranda, Rios, et al.) sets up the Arizona Chemical Fire Response Coordination Task Force in order to better limit the exposure of the public and first responders to hazardous chemicals during an emergency. It requires that the task force 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 protection and risks associated with a chemical or other toxic fire event. The bill passed out of the House and awaits Final Read in the Senate. SUPPORT. SB1326 NOW: concurrent jurisdiction; Barry Goldwater range (Leff) awaits a Third Read in the House. It amends state law concerning jurisdiction to enhance the ability of the federal law officers to manage public use of the Barry M. Goldwater Range more safely. It allows them to enforce state laws like the Arizona Native Plant Law and take enforcement action to protect the land as well as public safety. SUPPORT. SB1531 vehicle emissions inspection; sunset extension (Allen) continues the vehicle emissions inspection program in both Area A (Phoenix and surrounding area) and Area B (Tucson) through January 1, 2017. It passed out of the House 43-15-2 and awaits Final Read in the Senate. SUPPORT. SB1552 air quality program (Allen, Huppenthal) is supposed to go to conference committee where some additional measures to curb dust and ozone will be added, including requiring a dust coordinator for construction sites, a dust training program, cleaner burning gasoline in parts of Pinal County, and more Best Management Practices for agriculture. It is looking very likely that a special session will be required to really address air quality issues. The measure currently includes limited provisions to improve air quality including some minimal regulation of leaf blowers, expanding alternative work hours, and no burn expansion. It includes a dust-free development certification program and to limit off-road vehicle activities on high pollution days. We support adding an amendment that will protect public health by expanding the nonattainment area, requiring developers to do more to limit dust via indirect emissions impact fees, requiring agriculture to limit tilling on bad air days, and placing further limitations on leaf blowers; as well as measures limiting ozone pollution. We also would like to see a cumulative impacts analysis included in this bill to address issues with sand and gravel operations. SUPPORT. For more information on bills we are tracking, 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 |