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| Political Action |
Legislative Updates 2008Sierra Club 2008 Legislative Update #22 “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” — Albert Einstein June 6, 2008 Hi all! It was another week of people showing up at the Legislature for a few hours, voting on a couple of bills, and then just leaving or working on other issues. They had another three-day week with limited work on the Floor and very few bills advanced. There is still no budget, but they have started meeting more on it. The same bills that were stuck in the Senate Republican caucus last week are still stuck there, so please continue to encourage senators to release and also support them. SB1167 NOW: user fee; off-highway vehicles (L. Gray) is one of those bills. The more time drags on, the less likely the bill is to make it to the floor and pass. It would be a shame to see the bill die after all of the work and extreme effort it took to get people on the same page and to get the needed improvements for land protection. SB1167 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 send a polite email or make a phone call encouraging Senator Huppenthal to allow this bill out of the Republican Caucus soon, so it can make its way to the floor for a vote. You can reach him by clicking on Senator Huppenthal or by calling (602) 926-5261. Also contact Senate President Tim Bee and ask him to please help the bill get through the process and to the Floor for a final vote. You can reach him at Senator Bee or call (602) 926-5683. HB2766 omnibus energy act of 2008 (Mason, Ch Campbell, McClure, et al.) also remains in the Senate Republican caucus purgatory. Please encourage senators to support the bill and to keep it clean. They should not 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. HB2156 NOW: railroad projects; review (Paton, Pancrazi) should be on the Senate Committee of the Whole calendar whenever they get back to doing Committee of the Whole calendars. Please ask senators to support this bill as well. 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. SUPPORT. Finally, ask senators to oppose HB 2666 aggregate mine reclamation law; exemption (Biggs). It awaits a Third Read in the Senate (this one did get out of the caucus). 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. To find your senator’s 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. Volunteer Opportunities!Jun 28-29 (Sat-Sun) "C+" Sierra Ancha Wilderness trail maintenance trip. Please join us for a service trip in the beautiful Sierra Ancha Wilderness. This is a great opportunity to help out and also beat the heat, if you are one of the desert dwellers. We will be doing routine trail maintenance on the Reynolds Creek Trail (#150). This will mainly consist of brush removal and the sawing of deadfall trees. As we are working in wilderness, we will be using minimum tools. Participants will get to visit scenic Knoll's Hole and the surrounding aspen forest. This trail ranges in elevation from 6,200 to 7.600 feet so temperatures should be moderate at this time of year. Folks may wish to drive up on the afternoon or evening of June 27th, but there will likely be a group leaving early Saturday morning as well. We will be camping near the trailhead and the Sierra Club will provide snacks, drinks, and Saturday night dinner. For reservations, meeting time and place contact your leaders Sandy Bahr at sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org or (602) 253-8633 or Jim Vaaler at (602) 553-8208 or jimvaaler@msn.com. Conserve Arizona’s State Trust Lands – If you would like to help get the Conserving Arizona’s Land and Water initiative on the ballot for this November, please contact me about getting a petition to circulate. They are due at the Secretary of State’s office on July 3, so there is limited time remaining, but still enough time to gather 15 signatures from friends and family to fill one petition. Call or email me if you would like a petition. Also, don’t forget that these must be notarized when you are finished. I am a notary and can help notarize local petitions. 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 |