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Legislative Updates 2008Sierra Club 2008 Legislative Update #16 “One of the first laws against air pollution came in 1300 when King Edward I decreed the death penalty for burning of coal. At least one execution for that offense is recorded. But economics triumphed over health considerations, and air pollution became an appalling problem in England.” ~Glenn T. Seaborg, Atomic Energy Commission chairman, speech, Argonne National Laboratory, 1969 April 25, 2008 Hi all! HB2017 Now: greenhouse emissions; regulations; fuel economy (Konopnicki) will be heard in the House Commerce Committee for an “informational” hearing on Tuesday at around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday. I know many of you will be working or would have a long way to travel, but for those of you who can, please come down to the hearing. Please call your House members no later than Tuesday and ask them to oppose HB2017. To find your House members’ contact information just click on HOUSE or paste this website into your browser http://www.azleg.gov/memberRoster.asp?Body=H or you can call (602) 926-4221 or outside the Phoenix area 1-800-352-8404 and just ask to be connected to your House members’ offices. This bill sends the message that Arizona does not want to do its part to clean up the air or reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. It will undercut “Clean Car” and clean air programs and significantly restrict the Governor’s ability to participate in regional efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions as well as other pollutants. The Clean Car rule will reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as other pollutants, including the precursors to ozone. Regarding the Western Climate Initiative, this bill is premature, at best. Arizona should not sit on its hands while the rest of the western states act to reduce emissions. Also, be sure and thank the following senators for voting no on SB1017: Aboud paboud@azleg.gov , Burton-Cahill mburtoncahill@azleg.gov, Cheuvront kcheuvront@azleg.gov, Garcia jgarcia@azleg.gov, Landrum-Taylor llandrumtaylor@azleg.gov, McCune-Davis dmccunedavis@azleg.gov, and Rios rrios@azleg.gov. Senators Allen, Gorman, and Pesquiera were gone. The rest of the senators voted yes on SB1017. Please let them know that you are disappointed in their vote as well. To find your senator’s contact information just click on Senators or paste http://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp?Body=S into your browser or you can call (602) 926-3559 or outside the Phoenix area 1-800-352-8404 and just ask for your senator’s office. Tuesday, April 29 House Commerce Committee at 11:30 a.m. or when the Floor adjourns in House Hearing Room 5 HB2017 Now: greenhouse emissions; regulations; fuel economy (Konopnicki) See above. House Appropriations Committee upon adjournment of Floor in Senate Hearing Room 109 HB2063 employer sanctions; federal citation; correction (Pearce) has a strike everything on regulatory tax moratorium that will stop any rules for the next year that would cost businesses, individuals, or the state even one dollar. It allows an exception for imminent threats to public health and safety, but that means there has to be a danger that you will die or get sick in the next year. This is ridiculous. OPPOSE. Here is an update on a few bills we are following: HCR2044 voter-protection; temporary budgetary suspension (Pearce, Barnes, Biggs, et al) awaits action in the Senate Rules Committee. It refers to the ballot a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the legislature to reduce appropriations for measures approved by the voters in any year where there was a projected budget deficit of at least one percent. This would eviscerate the Voter Protection Act. The Voter Protection Act was enacted in 1998 after years of the legislature diverting dollars and undermining citizen initiatives. You only need to look at measures that do not have this protection to see what can happen. OPPOSE. HB2156 NOW: railroad projects; review (Paton, Pancrazi) awaits action by the Senate Rules Committee. It requires railroads that are considering potential sites for a major rail project to notify the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). The railroad has to provide ADOT with the various alternatives for sites and routes and an assessment on the potential impacts to air quality, water resources, areas of historical or geographic significance, and the economic effects on the surrounding communities. It requires ADOT to review the existing or proposed major rail project and hold at least one public hearing to record public comments. We should have analysis and public review of all major projects involving state lands or resources. SUPPORT. HB2221 county subdivisions; notification (Paton) had a strike everything on Green Building in the Senate Government Committee and passed out 4-3. It still awaits action by the Rules Committee. It limits the ability of cities and towns to implement green building programs and requires them to prepare a green building impact analysis that includes documentation that they examined a range of alternatives, explanation and basis for the preferred alternative, estimated materials costs, estimated water and energy savings, and impact on new home buyers and low income homes. It pre-empts them from requiring green building as a condition of land use. We should be promoting green building not erecting roadblocks. OPPOSE. HB2235 administrative rules oversight committee (DeSimone, Burns, Cheuvront, et al) passed out of the Senate 16-13-1 and has been transmitted to the Governor. It reestablishes the Administrative Rules Oversight Committee (AROC), a committee that has oversight on rules and consists of 10 legislators and a representative from the governor’s office. This committee was not an effective mechanism for addressing concerns when it existing previously and just adds more bureaucracy to an already cumbersome process. There were good reasons that Governor Hull vetoed the bill that would have kept the AROC and that no one has really missed it since. An identical bill, SB1255, has also gone to the Governor. We requested a veto on both of these. OPPOSE. HB2333 county powers; outdoor fires (Mason) had a strike everything on renewable energy; generation; manufacturing; classification in Natural Resources and Rural Affairs. It is assigned to two other committees, so will die unless it is withdrawn. It places real and personal property used in generating electricity using renewable energy and the manufacturing of renewable energy equipment into property class six with a 5% assessment ratio. To qualify for this lower assessment ration a facility must generate at least two megawatts of electricity and have a grid connection to a public or private transmission system or the property must be used exclusively for the manufacturing equipment. SUPPORT. HB2614 renewable energy valuation; expiration extension (Mason, Miranda, O’Halleran, et al) passed out of the Senate Finance Committee 5-1-2 and awaits action in Rules. It extends the date for the property tax incentive for the valuation of renewable energy equipment from 2011 to 2040. SUPPORT. HB2615 NOW: solar construction permits (Mason, Ableser, Reagan) awaits final action in the Senate. It specifies that counties and municipalities adopt standards for issuing permits for the use of solar photovoltaic systems and creates the Local Government Solar Equipment Permit Process Improvement Study Committee. SUPPORT. HB2766 omnibus energy act of 2008 (Mason, Ch Campbell, McClure, et al.) awaits Senate Rules action as well as possible shenanigans from the dirty car and utility lobby. It promotes energy efficiency and clean renewable energy in Arizona. It requires school districts to reduce their energy consumption by 10% by July 1, 2011, 15% by July 1, 2015 and 20% by July 1, 2020; and it requires that school districts, universities, community colleges, and state agencies purchase 10 percent of their energy from renewable and nonpolluting energy sources. The bill gives schools flexibility to use the dollars they save on utilities to pay for capital investments that would help save energy. It includes additional provisions. SUPPORT. HB2772 NOW: groundwater transfers; Coconino plateau (Mason) awaits action in the Senate Committee of the Whole. It allows the Town of Williams to transfer water from one basin to another – from the Verde Valley Sub-basin to the Coconino Plateau Basin, thus codifying a mistake into law and granting a special exception to the groundwater code. This bill ratifies a mistake and sets a bad precedent. Every time someone drills a well in the wrong location, will they be able to expect special legislation? In an age when we have much better mapping, GPS coordinates, and all kinds of ways to verify locations, this should not be happening. OPPOSE. SB1027 elections; conflicting amendments (now: municipal incentives; technical conforming changes (Tibshraeny) has a second strike everything amendment on toll roads; public highway authorities thus resurrecting a bill for toll roads. It was not heard in Transportation so it is dead unless the Speaker withdraws it from that committee. On the floor of the senate, Senator Gould indicated that they needed toll road authority to build roads such as the I-10 Bypass and the I-17 alternative, both of which would be devastating from an environmental perspective. OPPOSE. SB1167 NOW: user fee; off-highway vehicles (L. Gray) was held in the Republican Caucus this week. It provides funding for law enforcement and mitigation and restoration of areas damaged by off-road vehicles, plus limitations on where new trails can be built with the grant dollars. It is a step in the right direction to help better protect important public and private lands from irresponsible off-road vehicle activities. SUPPORT. SB1264 NOW: public rights-of-way; claims (Johnson) was held in Rules, but could resurface. It asserts and claims, on behalf of the state and its political subdivisions, rights-of-way across public lands acquired after the effective date of Revised Statute 2477. SB1264 is likely to just create confusion rather than open up any roads as its proponents would like to do, but it is a bad message, and could slow down efforts to protect our public lands from irresponsible off-road vehicle use and to protect resources by closing certain roads. Supporters of this bill say it is needed because the Forest Service is closing 80 percent of the roads on the national forests and specifically have referenced the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. That is flat wrong. OPPOSE. SB1288 NOW: local stormwater pollution prevention programs (Flake, Rios: Barnes) awaits a Third Read. They did not amend it as they said they would, so we are still opposed. The bill authorizes establishment of local pollutant discharge elimination system stormwater programs (county, town or agency of the state), collection of fees, and authorizes, but limits penalties for violations. It includes language that says the program can be no more stringent than the Clean Water Act and also any new ordinances or changes in ordinances can only comply with the “minimum requirements” of the Clean Water Act. This gives no flexibility to local communities to work to address local conditions that might require more protective standards. OPPOSE. Thank you for taking action on these important issues! 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 |