|
|||
| Political Action |
Legislative Updates 2008Sierra Club 2008 Legislative Update #3 January 25, 2008 Hello Conservation Friends! This week seemed to accomplish very little budget wise, but then that was expected. At some point, they need to seriously look at the shortfall in the FY2008 budget and then get serious about the FY2009. I heard they were talking about the room and the size of the table, so perhaps this coming week will bring about some serious discussions. This week, please call legislators and ask them to pledge to safeguard the Arizona Heritage Fund and to adequately fund state parks, as well as wildlife programs in the budgets. Parks has suffered significantly from budget cuts, even in the good years. The agency really cannot afford any more hits. To view the pledge go to http://www.azheritage.org/2008pledge.php. You can also see a list of legislators who have already signed on to protect it. The Governor has committed to not raiding the fund as well. I still think phone calls are better than emails, but if you only have time for an email, please go ahead and send one, along with the above link. To email legislators go to http://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp. If you are not sure who your legislators are, 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). Don't forget to mark your calendar for Environmental Day on February 6, 2008! We will be meeting in the lobby of the Executive Tower from 8am-11am. R.S.V.P. if you have not already so we know how many people will attend, can prepare enough packets and ensure that we have enough food. Don't forget to make appointments with legislators. If you need help with that, would like us to make the appointment for you, or would like someone to go the meeting with you, please contact me right away. Coming up this week: Monday, January 28 Senate Judiciary Committee at 1:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 1 SB1059 elections; counting center video; multiple (Harper) corrects conflicting enactments relating to live video recording of ballots at the counting center. This seems fine and relatively minor. Senate Government Committee at 1:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 3 SB1076 sign walkers; municipal regulation (Harper) has been modified from last year, but still requires municipalities to allow the use of sign walkers, but allows their regulation. Considering what is happening with all the billboards in Phoenix and elsewhere, this may be relatively minor. WATCH House Committee on Homeland Security and Property Rights at 1:30 p.m. in House Hearing Room 1 HB2373 Arizona emergency response commission; continuation (Clark, Crandall: Barto, et al) continues the Arizona Emergency Response Commission (AZSERC) for five years and adds the Director of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security to AZSERC. Tuesday, January 29 House Committee on Counties, Municipalities & Military Affairs at 1:30 p.m. in HH Room 5 HB2154 county plans; major amendments (Paton) At the public hearing, the board may refer a major amendment back to the planning and zoning commission for consideration at a public hearing and recommendation of any new proposed changes. I don't see a problem with this. HB2155 transfer of development rights (Paton) allows the transfer of development rights among municipalities and counties. For example, it would allow Pima County to transfer development rights to Tucson. This seems like an okay tool and could allow for some better planning and accommodate a way to protect sensitive lands. SUPPORT HB2156 railroad sites; review (Paton, Pancrazi) is similar to last year's bill. It allows the Arizona Corporation Commission to review railroad siting projects. They would have to look at alternatives and consider impacts. Again, they make the case for a state environmental policy act that would require this of all state actions. SUPPORT Wednesday, January 30 House Committee on Environment at 1:30 p.m. in House Hearing Room 5 HB2024 Megan Evans' law (Tom, Bradley, Chabin, et al) requires a warning sticker regarding carbon monoxide on all watercraft as well as distribution of a brochure. It prohibits people from following immediately behind a watercraft. This is to address the deaths associated with carbon monoxide poisoning. SUPPORT HB2280 emission testing; motorcycles; area A (JP Weiers: McLain, Nichols, et al) exempts motorcycles in Area A from emissions, provided that the Environmental Protection Agency allows the amendment to the State Implementation Plan. This is premature at best. A relatively recent study indicated that removing the emissions requirement would have a negative impact on air quality. OPPOSE Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Rural Affairs at 1:30 p.m. in SHR 109 Presentation by Arizona Department of Water Resources SB1095 air quality; clean burning gas (Flake, Aguirre, Blendu) moves back the date so there are 30 additional days of the required cleaner burning fuel - it is an ethanol blend - in Area C. There are some marginal air quality benefits, so it is fine. Apparently the fuel producers are battling over this one. SB1120 navigable stream adjudication commission; continuation (Flake, Brown, J. Burns, et al) continues this commission through 2012. They are charged with determining navigability, at statehood, of all of Arizona's rivers and streams. The state has tried repeatedly to give away to private interests all of the rivers except the Colorado. SB1168 department of agriculture omnibus act (Arzberger, Aguirre, Landrum Taylor, et al) includes a multi-state pest insurance fund provision where states would commit to taking agressive actions to eradicate pests, includes a notice provision for when livestock is confiscated. WATCH. SB1180 state land department; sunset continuation (Flake) continues it to 2019. SB1181 Arizona beef council; sunset continuation (Flake) continues it to 2019. You have to ask is it really necessary. Thursday, January 31 House Committee on Judiciary at 9:00 a.m. in House Hearing Room 4 HB2288 initiative and referendum amendments (Stump: Barton, Clark, et al) allows suspension of a political committee after failure to file three consecutive reports, makes it a class 1 misndemeanor to knowingly falsely describe an initiative to get someone to sign it (not sure how they can enforce this), gives the Secretary of State's office additional time to certify petitions and determine the total number of valid signatures, and allows the Secretary of State with the approval of the Attorney General to place an argument in the support or opposition category, irrespective of how it was submitted. This is to address people submitting arguments for the support of a measure that are really in opposition and vice versa. These are generally relatively minor requirements that do not appear to infringe on this important right in any way. House Committee on Transportation at 9:00 a.m. in House Hearing Room 3 HB2091 transportation plans; ballot; mode delineation (Biggs, Murphy, Gorman, et al) requires ballot measures that include multiple modes of transportation to list them separately, include the costs, and allow people to vote on them separately. The intent is to kill rail projects, but perhaps it could be used to kill a few freeways. It does not seem consistent with developing an integrated regional transportation system however. HB2094 highway project advancement notes (Biggs) broadens this to include all political subdivisions. House committee on Water and Agriculture at 9:30 a.m. in House Hearing Room HB2328 heat and power tax credit (Mason) provides tax credits for combined heat and power and caps it at one million dollars total. This will have a tough time moving forward with the current budget situation. 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.
Environmental Day at the Capitol Promote a Greener Arizona A Brighter Future A Cooler Planet Wednesday, February 6, 2008 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Please join us on Wednesday, February 6, 2008 for Environmental Day at the Arizona State Capitol, located at 1700 W. Washington in Phoenix, in the lobby of the Executive Tower. Governor Janet Napolitano will be our featured speaker. She will discuss the environmental programs outlined in her State of the State address and her work to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to promote clean renewable energy and energy efficiency. It will be a fun and interesting day. In the morning, we will serve a light breakfast and hear from some fantastic speakers including the governor and environmentally friendly legislators, as well as pass along a few lobbying tips. We strongly encourage you to set up an appointment with your legislators and will help you do so - just give me a call or send me an email. We can also accompany you for a meeting. (Try to set up your meetings for after 11am, if at possible.) There will be opportunities to attend various committee hearings in the afternoon as well. No experience is needed - just enthusiasm and a willingness to speak up for environmental protection. For more information or to r.s.v.p. contact Sandy Bahr at (602) 253-8633 or sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org. Please do let us know if you plan to attend, so we can have enough food and materials. We hope to see you there! PROPOSED ENERGY CORRIDORS WILL AFFECT AND HARM THOUSANDS OF ACRES OF ARIZONA'S PUBLIC LANDS Please help protect Arizona's special places Submit Comments by February 14, 2008 . Pursuant to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Departments of Energy, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense have issued a draft plan proposing over 6,000 miles of energy corridors through public lands in eleven western states. Each corridor is 3,500 feet (2/3 a mile) wide unless otherwise specified. Thousands of acres of Arizona's public lands are in the draft plan's cross-hairs, including proposed corridors through Lake Havasu National Wildlife Refuge and Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The November 2007 "West-wide Energy Corridor Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement" (DPEIS) which can be viewed at http://corridoreis.anl.gov , proposes huge swaths of habitat-fragmenting corridors through hundreds of thousands of acres of public land (including national recreation areas, monuments, wildlife refuges, and more) to "accommodate multiple pipelines (such as for oil, gas, or hydrogen), electricity transmission lines, and related infrastructure, such as access and maintenance roads, compressors, pumping stations, and other structures." Once these corridors are designated, energy companies will then push to "connect the dots" between far-flung segments of public land over thousands of miles of private and state lands, such as state parks and wildlife areas. Help protect our priceless public lands. Tell the Department of Energy that energy corridors don't belong in special places! When the Department of Energy took on the challenge of creating these corridors, they also took on the responsibility of doing it right. Doing it right would involve making sure that:
You can submit written comment online at: http://corridoreis.anl.gov or mail comments to: West-wide Energy Corridor PEIS, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Ave., Bldg. 900, Mail Stop 4, Argonne, IL 60439. Fax comments toll-free to: 1-866-542-5904. Thank you! Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633 |
