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Legislative Updates 2008Sierra Club 2008 Legislative Update #24 “What is the use of running if we are not on the right road?” - German proverb June 27, 2008 Hi all! I am sorry there was no update last week, but most of the action actually happened this week. I am optimistic that they will finish the session today, so the next update will be the wrap-up and report card. The Senate passed a budget early Thursday morning and the House passed the same budget last night. It is on its way to the Governor. Considering that they are making up a nearly $2 billion shortfall, it could have been a lot worse – although most environmental programs are already underfunded. They cannot get the votes to really increase revenues substantially, so cuts, fund transfers, bonding, and rollovers are the focus. The State Parks system is hit hard again with over $7.4 million in fund transfers; at the Department of Water Resources, the Arizona Water Protection Fund dollars were rolled back again; and the Department of Environmental Quality had $8.6 million in fund transfers. We very much appreciate that the Governor and Legislature did not hit the Heritage Fund, however. These dollars are critical to parks and wildlife and are inadequate as is. Please thank the Governor and Legislators for keeping the Heritage Fund intact. You can reach the Governor at azgov@az.gov or Click on Governor and type in your message. Call 602-542-4331 or outside the Phoenix area 1-800-253-0883. You can also contact the governor via mail at: The Honorable Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona, 1700 West Washington, 9th Floor, Phoenix, Arizona 85007 or by fax at 602-542-1381. To contact legislators, see contact information at the end of this update. In other good news, SB1167 NOW: user fee; off-highway vehicles (L. Gray) passed out of the Senate 16-7-7 on Monday after Senator Linda Gray made a motion to concur on the bill. We are optimistic that the Governor will sign it. The bill provides funding for law enforcement and mitigation and restoration of areas damaged by off-road vehicles, plus includes 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. It also includes safety provisions. Please take the time to email or call senators who supported the bill. They include the following senators: Aboud, Aguirre, Arzberger, Bee, Burton-Cahill, Cheuvront, Garcia, L. Gray, Huppenthal, Leff, McCune Davis, Miranda, O’Halleran, Pesquiera, Tibshraeny, and Waring. To find senators’ specific contact information just click on Senators or you can call (602) 926-3559 or outside the Phoenix area 1-800-352-8404 and just ask for your senator’s office. And now for the bad news, HB2766 omnibus energy act of 2008 (Mason, Ch Campbell, McClure, et al.) is in real trouble. It may go to Senate Committee of the Whole today, if the votes are there. Many senators are missing right now, however, and the vote count is very close. Senator Landrum Taylor had her baby, so she is out, and Senator Miranda is gone on a trip. Senator Soltero came back for a few days – he is recovering from his heart surgery, but it is unclear if he will be there today. There will be efforts to amend on the provisions of HB2017; the bill the governor vetoed which limited actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. HB2766 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. SUPPORT. HB2614 renewable energy valuation; expiration extension (Mason, Miranda, O’Halleran, et al) extends the date for the property tax incentive for the valuation of renewable energy equipment from 2011 to 2040. It passed out of the Senate 21-3-6. It awaits a final read in the House, but it is not looking good for the bill. SUPPORT. HB2156 NOW: railroad projects; review (Paton, Pancrazi) passed out of the House 40-12-8 and the Senate 18-6-6. It is unclear whether or not the Governor will sign it. There have been efforts to obtain a memorandum of understanding instead, but the railroads have not cooperated on that. The bill 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 ground and surface water, the proximity to sensitive lands, whether it is in a nonattainment area for air quality, and whether it is consistent with local government general and comprehensive plans. It requires ADOT to review the existing or proposed major rail project and hold at least one, but not more than three, public hearings to record public comments. SUPPORT. HB 2666 aggregate mine reclamation law; exemption (Biggs) is on the Committee of the Whole calendar for today. We are working to defeat it. It exempts sand and gravel pits which are intermittently used for specific governmental projects from aggregate mine regulatory and reclamation mandates. It is difficult to see why the bill is necessary or why someone doing government projects should get special consideration. There is already a provision in the current law which allows the mine inspector to grant three subsequent five year extensions before any reclamation has to begin, so someone can delay fixing a problem for 15 years. This additional exemption is unnecessary and provides another loophole for avoiding reclamation and cleaning up a mess. There are plenty of opportunities for delays and exemptions in our mining laws, we should not add another. OPPOSE. HB2725 vehicle emissions testing; onboard diagnostics (Nichols) allows the owner of a vehicle that receives an onboard diagnostic check that resulted in a finding that the vehicle is not ready for testing or a diagnostic trouble code to return to the emissions testing line, pay a second emissions fee and take a tailpipe emissions test. It undercuts the vehicle emissions program and clean air efforts. OPPOSE. Conserve Arizona’s State Trust Lands – Please turn in any outstanding petitions right away! 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 |