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Legislative Updates 2007Sierra Club 2007 Legislative Update #19 “There's so much pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it all.” ~Robert Orben May 11, 2007 Hello Conservation Friends! There is still no budget at the Legislature. The Senate has the votes and agreement with the Governor, but the House is far from it. That means they are also far from ending the session. Let’s clean up the air! The Phoenix area continues to struggle with poor air quality and recently failed to meet a deadline for reducing particulate (PM10) pollution. Because of this, we must cut particulate emissions by five percent per year until we meet the federal health-based standard and must have a plan in place by the end of this year. Most of the particulates are generated by construction and construction-related activities, a great deal comes from vehicular travel on roads, and the rest comes from agriculture, leaf blowers, etc. The area also has a serious ozone problem which is at its worst during the hot summer months. Ozone is formed when sunlight reacts with volatile organic compounds emitted from vehicles, industry, and other sources. Transportation is the number one contributor to ozone pollution. Because of the weather patterns, areas like Fountain Hills suffer most from this pollution. Pima County also suffers from significant air pollution, although not nearly to the degree seen in the Phoenix-area. In 1999, Pima County exceeded the federal health standard for particulate matter on four days, a violation of the health standard. As a result, the county had to develop a plan to reduce future PM10 exceedances and protect public health. Other parts of the state also suffer from air pollution, some of it more site specific. No matter where you live, please ask legislators to support clean air for everyone. We should not accept any “bad air days.” No child should have to play indoors because of poor air quality. Emergency rooms should not be filled with people who cannot breathe because the pollution has exacerbated asthma or other respiratory problems. Please call all your Arizona legislators and ask them to support clean air measures. SB1552 air quality program (Allen, Huppenthal) should go to conference committee for additional amendments in the next week or two. Ask legislators to make it as strong as possible. A clean air program should require: An indirect source review program for development. New development contributes to the air-pollution problems by increasing both the number of vehicles and the vehicle miles traveled. Instead of focusing only on the pollution caused by construction activities, indirect source review addresses the pollution caused by the resulting use. Developers are asked to develop onsite measures to mitigate the pollution generated by the completed development. This program would encourage bicycle paths and pedestrian friendly development, mixed land use, increased energy efficiency, and accommodations for mass transit. If the on-site mitigation measures for a particular development do not achieve the emissions reductions required, then the developer has to mitigate by paying an off-site fee an impact fee. This fee reduces emissions by helping to fund clean-air projects.
Right now they are considering 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. Some of these will help make a difference. To contact your representatives, go to http://www.azleg.gov/memberRoster.asp?Body=H or for the Senate go to http://azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp?Body=S . In the Phoenix area call (602) 926-4221-House, (602) 926-3559 Senate. 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. Here are a few bill updates: HB2443 NOW: user fee; off-highway vehicles (JP Weiers) still awaits a reconsideration vote. It establishes a user fee for off-road vehicles. We would like to see the dollars for these grants targeted to restoration and only for trails in areas that are currently used and appropriate. HB2491 solar energy tax credit; application (Mason, Boone: Anderson, et al.) was signed by the Governor. It is merely clarifies 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. HB2638 local energy plans (Cajero Bedford, Bradley, Mason, et al.) finally moved out of the Senate Rules Committee. It adds an energy element to cities’ general plans and counties’ comprehensive plans to encourage and reward efficient use of energy. This will be amended on the floor to exempt smaller cities. SUPPORT. HB2692 water supply development revolving fund (Mason, Ableser, Saradnik, et al.) was adopted in 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 before a subdivision may be approved. HCR2039 NOW: state trust lands; public use (Nelson) still awaits action by Senate Rules and may be dead unless there is some agreement with the Arizona Education Association as well as the Governor’s office. HCR2039 refers to the ballot a constitutional amendment to conserve some of the urban state trust lands. It includes about 190,000 acres, which would have to be bought at true value (appraised value), but without auction. 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. SB1254 NOW: real property; signage; solar devices (Leff) states that homeowners associations can't prohibit solar panels, but they can have reasonable restrictions on placement of them provided the restrictions do not block the installation, impair the function, restrict the use, or adversely affect the cost or efficiency of the device. It provides for attorneys’ fees for the prevailing party in litigation relating to this. It awaits action in conference committee. SUPPORT. SB1326 NOW: concurrent jurisdiction; Barry Goldwater range (Leff) was signed by the Governor. 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. 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 |