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Legislative Updates 2007

Sierra Club 2007 Legislative Update #21

“The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open." — Günter Grass, author

May 25, 2007

Hello Conservation Friends!  This week, the House reconsidered its budget and passed it with the minimum 31 votes required.  As you may recall, the Senate passed its budget last week.  Now we will see how long it takes the two chambers and the Governor to come to agreement.  It is looking like it will be later in June.

They also passed two water bills, one on water adequacy that will have limited applicability, and one that sets up a fund for infrastructure, so we subsidize more urban, suburban, and rural sprawl.  It is too bad they missed the opportunity to do something real on water this session.  There are still discussions about trying to pass a bill on the San Pedro River. Concerns about Fort Huachuca are driving that effort.  We are encouraging them to only pass a bill that includes a goal to protect the river flows.  Ultimately, it will likely require direct citizen action to change our water laws.     

This week, please call your Arizona House Members and ask them to support solar energy and to vote yes on SB1254 NOW: real property; signage; solar devices (Leff).  It passed out of the Senate on Thursday and will come to the House floor early next week.  This bill includes provisions that make it more difficult for Home Owners’ Associations (HOAs) to block installation of solar energy panels.  It 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.  For far too long HOAs have used arbitrary restrictions to prevent homeowners from installing clean renewable solar energy.  Arizona ought to be leading the way on the use of solar energy.  Greater production of solar energy technology and use of solar energy will lead to greater energy independence, fewer polluting power plants, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and cleaner air for our communities. 

To contact your Arizona House Members, please go to http://www.azleg.gov/memberRoster.asp?Body=H.  In the Phoenix area call (602) 926-4221-House.  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. 

It looks like SB1552 air quality program (Allen, Huppenthal) will go to conference committee for additional amendments next week.  Ask legislators to make it as strong as possible.  Currently, there is a draft that includes:

• Dust Training and Dust Coordinator requirements;

• Cleaner Burning Gasoline summer and winter provisions for a new Area C (part of Pinal County);

• Requirements for development of off-road vehicle ordinances;

• An additional Agricultural Best Management Practices (basically nothing);

• Leaf Blower use, training and public education provisions ­ only use vacuum mode on high pollution days and requirements for ordinances that prohibit blowing debris into the roads;

• Open burning penalties; and

• Parking Lot Paving Requirements.

We would still like to see the following included:

• 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.

• Provide funding for more mass transit statewide.  Additional roads and freeways will give us more bad air.

• Require cleaner burning gasoline statewide.

• Require no till days for agriculture when there is a high pollution day.

• Establish a ban on leaf blowers in Maricopa County, especially on high pollution days

• Include a requirement for a cumulative impacts analysis to address issues with sand and gravel operations.

• Include phased grading that limits the amount of desert they can bulldoze all at once.

We oppose all efforts to allow backsliding relative to enforcement.  This is something the industry people are trying to get in the bill.

To contact your representatives, see above, for senators go to http://azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp?Body=S .  In the Phoenix area call (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.  We hear it will be early next week, too.  The bill 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. 

HB2638 local energy plans (Cajero Bedford, Bradley, Mason, et al.) is on the Governor’s desk.  It adds an energy element to city and county plans to encourage and reward efficient use of energy.  SUPPORT.

HB2692 water supply development revolving fund (Mason, Ableser, Saradnik, et al.) is on the Governor’s desk.  It establishes a 13 member Water Supply Development Fund Committee and a water development revolving fund for the purpose of providing financial assistance to water providers for water supply development.  It allows the fund to be used by water providers who are located within a county or municipality that has adopted the adequacy requirements for new subdivisions in SB1575 or that is within an active management area.  This bill is another mechanism for fueling unsustainable urban, suburban, and rural sprawl that depletes and dries up rivers and streams.  HB2692 does not require that entities that receive these funds provide any protection for stream or river flows.  The grants 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.

HCR2039 NOW: state trust lands; public use (Nelson) and its companion bill HB2312 still await action by Senate Rules and appear to be dead unless there is some agreement with the Arizona Education Association and 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. 

SB1575 water adequacy amendments (Arzberger, Aguirre, Landrum Taylor, et al.) is on the Governor’s desk.  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.  NEUTRAL.

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.  

All 2007 Legislative Updates

Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633