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Legislative Updates 2009Sierra Club 2009 Legislative Update #15 “Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good action; try to use ordinary situations." May 7, 2009 Hi all! While there is still no real state budget, the Arizona House of Representatives did have a budget hearing this week. The Appropriations Committee met for a grueling seven hours to move along bills that everyone agreed did not have the votes on the floor. Now what? It was such a nice public process that allowed two minutes per speaker. How can you even begin to express your disgust for this budget and this process in two minutes? They did decide they could not just take the impact fee dollars from the cities, so they are now proposing that cities give them up voluntarily. This is just one of many aspects to the proposed budget that does not add up, does not make sense, and is not real. On an environmental note, the budget is very bad for state parks, again, and swipes Heritage Fund money from both Parks and Game and Fish. There is no funding for the Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, as expected, so it is likely the Environmental Protection Agency will have to take that program back, unless this changes. I do not see them adding funding for environmental programs, however. Please contact your legislators and ask them to vote no on HCM2006. The measure was heard in Committee of the Whole, but still must go to a final vote in the House. HCM2006 state land; natural resources (Jones, Konopnicki: Barto, et al) is a memorial that asks Congress and the Secretary of the Department of Interior to “. . . refrain from passing any new legislation to withdraw any lands in Arizona from mining, and refrain from enacting any wilderness designations in Arizona without the unanimous support of Arizona’s congressional delegation.” It asks, “That the Bureau of Land Management and the United States Forest Service not limit the public’s access to public lands under their jurisdiction for mining, grazing, recreation or other uses.” We do not need more trashed public lands, polluted ground and surface water, and a big mess for the public to clean up. While it is only a message or “postcard” to Congress and does not affect the law, it is a truly bad message to send – to Congress or anyone. The memorial is disrespectful of the many local and tribal entities that have been working to protect the Grand Canyon area from uranium mining. Below is some background information to include in your message. To email your House Members or find their direct phone numbers, click on Arizona House or paste http://www.azleg.gov/memberRoster.asp?Body=H into your browser. Click on the legislator’s name and his or her email will come up. If you are not sure who your legislators are, please go to http://www.vote-smart.org or call the House information desk. If you're outside the Phoenix area, you can call your legislators’ offices toll free at 1-800-352-8404 and ask to be connected. In the Phoenix area call (602) 926-4221 (House) and ask them to connect you with your legislators. Here is what is coming up this week. Monday, May 11, 2009 Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Infrastructure and Public Debt at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109 Executive Nominations: Stephen M. Brophy for the Arizona Power Authority Commission and Sanders K. Solot for the Arizona State Land Department Board of Appeals. There will also be a presentation from the Arizona Rock Products Association. Apparently they have nothing better to do. Here are some bill updates: HB2352 aquifer protection permits; natural gas (Mason) awaits a Third Read in the House. HB2352 exempts Class I and Class II injection wells for natural gas storage from getting aquifer protection permits. It will allow millions of gallons of briny water to be pumped into a deep aquifer thus writing off that aquifer for drinking water in the future. OPPOSE. HB2064 wildlife; guides; wasted meat (Konopnicki) was pulled from the Consent Agenda and awaits action in the House Committee of the Whole. It allows the Game and Fish Commission to suspend a license for up to five years for wasting of game meat. It adds in a definition of wildlife guide. SUPPORT. HB2088 NOW: public conservation monies; transfer; parks (Nichols) appears to be dead, at least for now, as they have been unable to round up a three-fourths vote. It awaits a Third Read in the House. The bill diverts $20 million from the Public Conservation Account in the Land Conservation Fund established by the voters in 1998 when they approved the Growing Smarter Act referred to the ballot by the Arizona Legislature. OPPOSE. HB2141 homeowners’ associations; sun screens (Ch. Campbell, Meyer, Sinema, et al) awaits action by the House Rules Committee. It prohibits homeowners’ associations and condo associations from preventing the installation or use of solar screens or shade structures that are intended to act as an energy saving device. This will make it easier for homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient. SUPPORT. HB2157 wildlife; aquatic invasive species (McLain, Goodale, Jones, et al) awaits a Third Read in the House. It allows the Game and Fish Department to establish a program for limiting the introduction of nonnative invasive aquatic species such as the Quagga Mussel. This is a good idea, although the floor amendment weakened it a bit. SUPPORT. HB2181 dust control practices; technical correction (Konopnicki) has a strike-everything on agricultural best management practices; dairies. The bill awaits action in the House Committee of the Whole. The striker adds two people the agricultural best management practices committee – someone representing a cattle feedlot and someone representing a dairy – and shifts the regulation of these from the county to this state best management practices committee. The Agricultural Best Management Practices Committee is a classic fox guarding the henhouse committee that is entirely made up of agricultural interests. Members are appointed by the Governor and are responsible for adopting an agricultural general permit that outlines best management practices for regulated agricultural activities in order to reduce particulate (PM-10) emissions. As drafted, the bill will mean backsliding on our state implementation plan for particulates and violates the Clean Air Act. We have always supported requiring more of agriculture. These best management practices are unenforceable, generally speaking, but the state has trouble requiring anything of agriculture. OPPOSE. HB2240 rule making; state agencies; moratorium (Tobin) passed out of the House 36-20-4, so awaits action in the Senate. It puts a moratorium on any rule making until June 30, 2010, if the rule would have any additional costs associated with it for other agencies or for anyone else. OPPOSE. HB2278 technical correction; state trust lands (Jones) awaits action in the House COW. It has a strike everything amendment on tires; abandoned mines that allows waste tires to be used to fill abandoned mines. This is a recycled bad idea from last year that was rejected. Last year’s bill did allow the filling of these abandoned mines with inert waste materials, however. There are several environmental concerns with filling abandoned mines with tires. First of all, tires are flammable and create a fire hazard. Tire fires produce a lot of smoke and toxic chemicals that are produced when rubber compounds break down via combustion. Tires present a threat to water quality. Many abandoned mines were abandoned because they filled with water. Tires leach hazardous substances into the soil and water as well, especially subsequent to burning. Abandoned mines also provide habitat for bats and other wildlife. Before filling them, we should do an assessment. If bats are utilizing the mine, then a bat-friendly gate should be installed rather than filling with materials. OPPOSE. HB2329 solar energy; permit fees (Boone, Mason) awaits a Third Read in the House. It establishes a maximum fee that can be charged for various solar systems including solar hot water ($150) and solar photo voltaic ($375), plus it includes an inflation factor for the fee and provisions for charging more if it is a more complicated system. The fee cap sunsets in 2013. Right now it is difficult for those who are installing solar panels or solar hot water to know what the fee will be from city to city – it can vary from nothing to $1000. This bill will bring some consistency to that and remove one more barrier to promoting distributed solar energy generation. SUPPORT. HB2332 schools; energy contracts (Boone) awaits a Third Read in the House. It requires the state board of education to adopt rules for energy performance contracts and renewable energy power purchase contracts to purchase energy saving and renewable energy measures. It allows schools to establish an energy and water savings account that consists of a designated pool of capital investment monies to fund energy or water saving projects in school facilities. This bill will help schools save energy, water, and money. SUPPORT. HB2335 improvement districts; renewable energy (Mason) awaits action in the House Committee of the Whole. It allows improvement districts to be formed in order to acquire, install, and improve energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements as well as for water conservation. These can include solar energy systems, combined heat and power, rainwater harvesting equipment and systems, and gray water systems. SUPPORT. HB2336 NOW: county renewable energy incentive districts (Mason) awaits a Third Read in the House. It authorizes county boards of supervisors to designate renewable energy incentive districts in any unincorporated area of the counties, provided the areas consist of vacant or underused parcels, or other property the board deems suitable for renewable energy equipment, and are the appropriate size for the construction and operation of renewable energy equipment. It must also be compatible with the surrounding uses. SUPPORT. HB2337 energy standards; buildings; contracting (Mason, Ableser, Ch. Campbell, et al.) awaits action in the House Rules Committee. It includes several of the provisions from last year’s omnibus energy bill. It makes changes and additions to statute relating to energy efficiency and renewable energy, including performance contracting for school districts and state buildings, and building energy goals. It requires cities, towns and counties to collect information as part of their standard permitting process regarding whether a residential or commercial building will meet energy efficiency standards. SUPPORT. HB2373 taxation; biogas facilities (Murphy) was heard in the House COW on Thursday and awaits a Third Read. It provides a sales tax exemption for pipes and valves included in the construction of pipelines used to transport biogas. It also provides a property valuation reduction for biogas facilities. Biogas facilities would be valued in the same manner as renewable energy equipment. This bill is being promoted for Sempra Energy. Do we really need to be providing massive tax breaks for these large established companies? MONITOR. HB2401 administrative rules oversight committee (Williams, Barnes, Burns, et al) passed out of the House 39-16-5 and awaits action in the Senate. 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 an ineffective mechanism for addressing concerns about rules when it existed previously and merely adds more bureaucracy to an already cumbersome process. OPPOSE. HB2467 western climate initiative; prohibition (Biggs) awaits action in the House COW. It prohibits the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality from participating in the Western Climate Initiative (WCI). The WCI was formed in February 2007 by Governor Napolitano and the governors of California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington. The purpose of the WCI is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through regional strategies that address climate change. This is a silly silly bill. OPPOSE. HCR2030 initiative and referendum; voter approval (Stevens, Gowan: Antenori, et al) awaits action in the House COW. It has a strike everything on Arizona’s water protection. This is not about protecting water and in fact is contrary to protecting Arizona’s rivers, streams, and washes. It sends a message to Congress opposing the Clean Water Restoration Act, a measure that would help ensure that the original intent of the Clean Water Act is clear and that Arizona’s rivers and streams continue to have protection under the act. Without it, there is a great deal of fuzziness on whether or not streams that do not run year-round have the kinds of protections they need. OPPOSE. For more information on bills we are tracking, click on Legislative Tracker or paste http://arizona.sierraclub.org/political_action/tracker/ into your browser. Please mark your calendar: Join us for an evening of film and discussion about wolves and other top predators in the West. The below screening is in Tempe, but there will also be screenings in Flagstaff, Nutrioso, and Tucson. Stay tuned on that. The Documentary Premiere is May 21, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at Valley Art Theatre in Tempe. The film is approximately 60 minutes and will be followed by brief discussion with opportunities for questions and answers. This is a free event. Following in the footsteps of wolves and cougars, and the scientists working to understand their place in the rapidly changing world of nature, award-winning filmmakers Karen and Ralf Meyer of Green Fire Productions have captured the predators' ongoing drama in their new documentary, LORDS OF NATURE: Life in a Land of Great Predators. Narrated by Peter Coyote, this captivating documentary goes behind the scenes with leading scientists to explore the role top predators play in restoring and maintaining ecosystems and biodiversity. LORDS OF NATURE is the story of a science now discovering top carnivores as revitalizing forces of nature, and of a society now learning tolerance for beasts they once banished. For more information: Sandy Bahr at (602) 253-8633 or sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org
Sandy Bahr |
2009 Legislative Updates Bill Tracker
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