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Legislative Updates 2007

Sierra Club 2007 Legislative Update #23

“A river is more than an amenity, it is a treasure.” — Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

June 8, 2007

Hello Conservation Friends!  There is still no state budget.  This week they took a couple of days off while the legislative leaders continued to negotiate.  Speaker Jim Weiers is holding up any agreement.  The Senate does have an Appropriations Committee scheduled to hear budget bills on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.  Perhaps it is just wishful thinking or maybe they will actually have some agreement by then.  In the meantime, there are still several outstanding environmental issues in the legislature.

Regarding the budget, please encourage senators to keep funding for the Arizona Water Protection Fund at $1 million (it should be $5 million, but this is better than zero); provide $500,000 for drought and conservation programs; keep funding for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality for air quality, border programs, and water quality; and to include a grant program for existing schools to invest in energy efficiency and renewable programs at about $4 million and Combined Heat and Power tax credits at $1 million.

To reach senators go to http://azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp?Body=S .  In the Phoenix area call (602) 926-3559 ­Senate.  In Tucson, for both houses, 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 legislators’ offices. 

SB1552 air quality program (Allen, Huppenthal) did not go to conference committee this week.  It is supposed to conference committee on Monday.  Please ask legislators to support the bill as amended.  It 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 prohibitions on blowing debris into the roads;

• Increased open burning penalties;

• Restrictions on parking on unpaved parking lots; and

• Requirements for cities and towns to pave shoulders and alleys.

Please also contact Representative Ray Barnes, Chairman of the House Environment Committee, and ask him to support the amendment including Cleaner Burning Gasoline (CBG).  Apparently he is listening to some of the big oil interests and will try to remove the provision for CBG in western Pinal County, the new Area C.  The efforts to kill the Cleaner Burner Gasoline provisions are being led by the Western States Petroleum Association and Chevron.  Apparently, they are afraid they might lose a little of the gargantuan profits they are making.  Our legislators should listen to the people who have to breathe the air, not the people who will profit from allowing it to continue to worsen.  You can reach Rep. Ray Barnes at 602-926-5503, rbarnes@azleg.gov

• We also would like to see additional measures adopted to improve and protect our air quality including:

• 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. 

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

• Cumulative impacts analysis to address issues with permitting sand and gravel operations.

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.  For senators go to http://azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp?Body=S .  In the Phoenix area call (602) 926-3559 ­Senate.  In Tucson, for both houses, you can call (520) 398-6000 or for any area outside the Phoenix area, call toll free 1-800-352-8404 and ask for your legislators’ offices. 

HB2300 NOW: water district; upper san pedro (Burns J) authorizes the formation of an Upper San Pedro Water District, Board of Directors and transaction privilege tax (sales tax) authority on the sale of water in the District.  The district and any tax must be approved by the voters in the area.  The key provision in the bill is that the goal of the district.  The bill states, “The purpose and goal of the district are to maintain the aquifer and base flow conditions needed to sustain the upper San Pedro river and to assist in meeting the water supply needs and water conservation requirements for Fort Huachuca and the communities within the district.”  The reason this is so important is that it establishes protections of the river’s base flows ­ the flows that sustain the riparian vegetation and what keeps the river flowing during the driest times of the year.  It also makes clear the connection between ground and surface water ­ something that is acknowledged by nature, but not in our laws.  The bill also further defines water adequacy for development to include protection of river flows and would not allow dry lot subdivisions in the district.  While there are aspects of the bill we find problematic, we are supporting this small step forward.  Additional actions will be needed to protect the river, however.  SUPPORT

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. 

HB2690 clean elections; amendments (Reagan, Boone, Kirkpatrick, et al.) was a consensus bill on making some clarifying and technical changes.  It was amended in the Senate to add several provisions that are objectionable.  It is our understanding that those provisions will be removed in a conference committee.  They include changing the name of “Clean Elections” to Publicly Funded Elections, changes how they calculate the matching funds to expenditures made, which means they might not be able to get the matching funds to candidates in time to make any difference, as well as several others. MONITOR.

HCR2039 NOW: state trust lands; public use (Nelson) and its companion bill HB2312 deal with state trust lands.  They appear to be dead for the session. 

SB1254 NOW: real property; signage; solar devices (Leff) is awaiting final action in the House.  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.  SUPPORT.

SB1575 water adequacy amendments (Arzberger, Aguirre, Landrum Taylor, et al.) was signed by the Governor.  This bill authorizes 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