Legislative Updates 2009
Sierra Club 2009 Legislative Update #5
“We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” – Benjamin Franklin
February 13, 2009
Hi everyone! After decimating parks in the budget, this week the majority in the legislature came up with a clever idea to “save parks” by robbing dollars designated for conserving state trust lands and using that to offset some of what they took from parks – oh, and also fund water banking programs and a list of other measures that have nothing to do with conservation. One small detail that might get in their way, however, is the Arizona Constitution. The Voter Protection Act provisions in the Constitution state that the legislature cannot amend a voter-approved measure unless what they are doing furthers the purposes of the act and they get a three-fourths vote.
The money is being diverted in a strike-everything amendment on HB2088. (Strike-everything amendments are amendments that totally change a bill, often to a different subject entirely.) While we support providing funding for parks, this is not the appropriate way to do so. The best avenue would have been to refrain from taking the dollars from Parks, the Heritage Fund, etc. in the first place, or look at closing a loop-hole or two. This strike-everything represents another cynical move by the legislature to divide and conquer (encourage the Parks Board to fight with conservation advocates), to hurt land conservation efforts, and to weaken voter protection provisions. This is exactly the reason the Voter Protection Act was passed in 1998. Voters were fed up with the Legislature undercutting, repealing, and diverting dollars from voter-approved measures. We strongly urge rejection of the strike-everything amendment on HB2088. Please call your House members and ask them to oppose this when it comes to the House Floor.
Click on House or paste http://www.azleg.gov/memberRoster.asp?Body=H into your browser to email Arizona House members or find their direct phone numbers. If you are not sure who your legislators are, please click on Vote Smart or go to http://www.vote-smart.org 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) and ask them to connect you with your legislators.
Don’t forget to R.S.V.P. for Environmental Day on Monday, March 2.
Here is what is happening this week:
Monday, February 16, 2009
Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Infrastructure & the Public Debt at 1:30 p.m. in SHR 109
Presentation by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality – bring popcorn for the show
House Committee on Natural Resources and Rural Affairs at 2:00 p.m. in House Hearing Room 4
HB2177 national park support districts (Konopnicki) will have a strike everything amendment on game refuges; firearms that allows a person who has a concealed weapon permit to enter a game refuge with that weapon.
HB2502 mine reclamation plan review; costs (McCommish) allows a mining company that is applying for a reclamation permit, to pay a private consultant to help review its reclamation plan if the mine inspector lacks adequate resources to get the review done within the time frames. It is capped at $25,000. As weak as the reclamation laws are here in Arizona, I doubt this would make a huge difference. Besides the mine inspector’s office is a wholly owned subsidiary of the mining companies already. That being said, you have to wonder if this is a good structure.
HCM2006 state land; natural resources (Jones, Konopnicki: Barto, et al) is a memorial to congress, commonly referred to as a “postcard.” It includes a bunch of statements that are neither factual nor accurate. It goes on to ask Congress 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.” This is just what we need, more trashed public lands, polluted ground and surface water, and a big mess for the public to clean up. OPPOSE.
HB2275 technical correction; game and fish (Jones) will have a strike everything amendment on a mining study committee is a study committee that will focus on finding ways to streamline mining regulations and other wonderful things. Maybe if they waste their time on enough study committees, they will do less damage?
HB2277 technical correction; agricultural extension (Jones) will have a strike-everything on agricultural study committee. It has the same language as the striker above, but focuses on agriculture.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
House Committee on the Environment at 2:00 p.m. in House Hearing Room 5
HB2416 plastic bag recycling program (Young Wright) establishes a plastic bag recycling program and requires stores to allow customers to return any plastic bags from the store back to the store for recycling. It includes a number of specific requirements. SUPPORT.
HB2424 illegal dumping; penalties (McGuire, Barnes, M. Garcia, et al) increases the penalty for illegal dumping of trash to a class 1 misdemeanor and a $1,800 fine, among other things. SUPPORT.
HCR2023 greenhouse gas emissions (Mason) recognizes the work of the International Panel on Climate Change regarding the continued buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere adversely affecting the global climate. That is a plus. It goes downhill from there, however, and basically asks to delay action on climate change. OPPOSE.
House Government Committee at 2:00 p.m. in House Hearing Room 4
HB2141 homeowners’ associations; sun screens (Ch. Campbell, Meter, Sinema et al) 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. SUPPORT.
HB2310 subdivisions public reports (Driggs) gives the real estate commissioner 10 days to issue a certification or denial letter for a subdivision or it is just assumed to be complete. This is a really bad idea. Do we have a problem with subdivisions being slowed down or side-tracked by this? The only thing that slows them down is the economy. They tried to get this through previously, but the last administration opposed it. OPPOSE.
HB2401 administrative rules oversight committee (Williams, Barnes, Burns, et al) 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. There were good reasons that Governor Hull vetoed the bill a bill to keep the AROC around – no one has really missed it since. The entity is duplicative as there are many mechanisms for resolving issues with the rules currently. Rules are reviewed by assistant attorneys general and must go through the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council. OPPOSE.
HCR2024 sovereignty; tenth amendment (Burges, Ash, Biggs, et al) is a recycled measure that constitutes a lot of chest thumping over states rights. They could just fax a letter to Congress rather than doing these ridiculous and wasteful resolutions.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
House Committee on Appropriations at 2:00 p.m. in House Hearing Room 1
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Water Resources FY2010 budgets
Thursday, February 19, 2009
House Committee on Water and Energy at 9:00 a.m. in House Hearing Room 5
HB2329 solar energy; permit fees (Boone, Mason) establishes a maximum fee that can be charged for various solar facilities including solar hot water and solar photo voltaic. SUPPORT.
HB2335 improvement districts; renewable energy (Mason) 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 and water resource management improvements. These can include solar energy systems, rainwater harvesting equipment and systems, and gray water systems. We are still waiting to see the final amendment on this, but I expect we will support it.
HB2336 community facilities districts; renewable energy (Mason) is in flux as well. We are waiting to see where it goes.
HB2338 energy; fuels; idling (Mason, Ableser, Farley, et al) establishes a maximum idling time for heavy-duty diesel engines that are used for commercial purposes. They are limited to five minutes in any sixty minute period. There are a bunch of exceptions. The bill also includes provisions regarding establishing a low carbon fuel standard. SUPPORT.
HB2352 aquifer protection permits; natural gas (Mason) exempts injection wells for natural gas storage from getting aquifer protection permits. The list of exemptions is far too long already. There is no justification for this and it will mean we basically write off some aquifers for drinking water. The aquifer protection permit program is intended to prevent pollution and be a protective program. All of these exemptions reverse that. OPPOSE.
HB2353 cities; water softeners; salts (Mason, Pancrazi: Boone, et al) allow a city or town to establish ordinances to regulate the use, installation and disposal of water softening devices and systems that discharge sodium into the city's or town's water or wastewater system. SUPPORT.
HB2440 drought emergency groundwater transfers (Mason, Ableser, B. Miranda, et al) is an annual bill to allow emergency interbasin groundwater transfers. It is limited, so we do not have an issue with it.
House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure at 9:00 a.m. in House Hearing Room 3
HB2395 ADOT; rules compact repeal (Biggs) removes the authority of the Arizona Department of Transportation to adopt rules for transit expenditures. OPPOSE.
For more information on bills we are tracking, go to http://arizona.sierraclub.org/political_action/tracker/ . Thank you!
Sandy Bahr
Conservation Outreach Director
Sierra Club - Grand Canyon Chapter
202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone (602) 253-8633
Fax (602) 258-6533
sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org
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