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Legislative Updates 2009Sierra Club 2009 Legislative Update #11 “If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.” March 27, 2009 Hi all! Not a lot happened at the Legislature this week, but a draft of the House budget was leaked. I have not had a chance to review it carefully, but it does not look good. The House continues to move a few bills along here and there. The Senate is doing no bills, but is forwarding a few executive nominations and, apparently, continuing to discuss the budget. There really is no sunshine in the budget process right now, despite promises there would be. I expect they will pass it at some point and then just get out of town as quickly as possible. Please attend the public meeting on the APS rate case at the Arizona Corporation Commission on Monday, March 30 at 10am. To expand energy efficiency requirements for all utilities as well as the availability of the APS energy efficiency programs for utility customers, the Commission needs to hear from all Arizonans as well as APS’ residential and business customers who support energy efficiency programs. This support can be provided as a letter to the Commission (Docket Control, Arizona Corporation Commission, 1200 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85007, indicating Docket Numbers E-00000J-08-0314, G-00000C-08-0314 for the open docket on efficiency and E-01345A-08-0172 for the APS rate case), and/or as a public comment at the hearing. You can also email it to commissioners by clicking on their names or pasting in their email address -- Kris Mayes mayes-web@azcc.gov, Paul Newman Newman-web@azcc.gov, Sandra Kennedy Kennedy-web@azcc.gov, Bob Stump Stump-web@azcc.gov, and Gary Pierce Pierce-web@azcc.gov. Please copy me on your letter. Also, let me know if you will be able to attend the hearing on March 30. On Saturday, you can vote with your light switch. Turn your lights out from 8:30pm to 9:30pm for Earth Hour. For more information click on Earth Hour or go to http://www.earthhour.org/home/. Keep the calls coming to your representatives in the Arizona House of Representatives. Ask them to oppose HB2352 aquifer protection permits; natural gas (Mason). 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. Arizona’s Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) program was a landmark program when passed in 1986 as part of the Environmental Quality Act. Rather than focus on remediation – trying to clean up a mess after the fact – and enforcement, it focuses on prevention. The program is aimed at keeping pollutants out of our precious aquifers. This is both more environmentally responsible and cheaper in the long run. It is especially important as it is often the public (the taxpayers) that has to pick up the tab for clean up. Arizona also decided at that time that all of its aquifers are important and should be designated as drinking water aquifers. Never before have we just written off an aquifer. This bill does that, but does so in a less than forthright manner. If Arizona does want to change the designation of an aquifer, there is a process for doing so. It is a very public process, involves studying the aquifer, and it allows for public comments and requires a public hearing. HB2352 will write off those aquifers without the proper findings and without the same level of public involvement. That is just plain wrong. The exemption hands the process over to EPA, where the requirements are not as stringent. Arizona’s water and future are too important to write off so cavalierly. The company seeking this exemption, Multifuels out of Houston, Texas, has indicated that it needs this exemption to secure its financing. They want to do this project in Pinal County, but the exemption applies statewide. There are also salt caverns in western Arizona, in Mohave County, and near Luke Air Force base. Is it really worth risking Arizona’s aquifers and possible future drinking water supplies to allow them to get financing for this project? 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. 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. In the Phoenix area call (602) 926-4221 (House) and ask them to connect you with your legislators. Monday, March 30, 2009 Arizona Corporation Commission, 1200 W. Washington, Phoenix Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Infrastructure & Public Debt at 1:30 p.m. SHR 109 Executive Nominations Presentations To email your legislators or find their direct phone numbers, click on Legislators or paste http://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp into your browser. If you are not sure who your legislators are, please 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. For more information on bills we are tracking, go to http://arizona.sierraclub.org/political_action/tracker/ . Thank you! Sandy Bahr |
2009 Legislative Updates Bill Tracker
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