A cultural resources bill, HB2498, is being heard at the Arizona Legislator's Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Energy, and Water TODAY, Monday, March 12th. This means you can register your position on the Request to Speak system anytime before the hearing at 2 p.m. (See Request to Speak directions below the bill descriptions and our concerns.)
I know, this isn't exactly an environmental bill per say. But this is one of the many bills to weaken protections that slow down development. (Remember SB1515 that weakened the requirement to make sure there is enough water to support developments?)
Another bad water bill being heard in the Senate Committee on Appropriations 2 p.m. Tuesday is SB1511 which encourages farmers to take their land out of production and sell it off to developers as soon as possible. Pretty much anything with Griffin's name on it promotes unhampered envelopment - which Griffin profits from as a realtor.
According the Sierra Club:
SB1511 Pinal AMA; groundwater; extinguishment credits (Griffin) directs the ADWR director to adopt rules that calculate the volume of extinguishment credits for extinguished grandfathered rights in the Pinal Active Management Areas and specifies the formula for calculating Type 1 Non-irrigation rights, Type 2 Non-irrigation rights, and Grandfathered Irrigation rights. The results of these provisions may mean that all new development, not just desert development, in the Pinal AMA will be required to join the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District, which promotes sprawl development on undisturbed desert lands. Oppose.
(Register your position on Request to Speak anytime before the 2 p.m. meeting Tuesday.)
HB2498 historic preservation; rangeland improvements; requirements (Cook: Barton, Bowers) requires the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) to develop a streamlined survey report process for range improvements -- fences, corrals, stock ponds, etc. -- and requires the process to allow an individual who has completed a national culture resources training program to perform the survey. It provides for some minimal buffer zones. This is still a bad bill as it allows people with minimal training to sign off on activities that could do great harm to cultural resources. If livestock interests are doing work on state trust lands, they should have to do the proper clearance. Oppose.
Executive Nomination -- Richard B. Williams, Arizona Game and Fish Commission Appointment Recommendation Board
(Register your position on Request to Speak anytime before the 2 p.m. meeting TODAY.)
This is the exact wording in section B.4. of the proposed revision: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF REASONABLE AND PRUDENT BUFFER ZONES OF AT LEAST SEVENTY-FIVE FEET AROUND KNOWN SITE BOUNDARIES IN WHICH MAY BE UNDERTAKEN WITH ARCHAEOLOGY MONITORING. There are two problems with this sentence. First, it is not a complete sentence! What does it even mean? In which what may be undertaken? Who's doing the monitoring? How often? And, second, the 75 foot buffer zone appears to be a significant reduction from the current buffer zone requirements, which can vary from 200 feet to a mile, depending on who has jurisdiction.
If I had submitted a report like this when I was in school, I would rightly have received an F on it. Likewise, this bill needs to be rejected until the author has done their homework!
If you've signed up for Request to Speak, this is your opportunity to put it to use. You can register your opposition to HB2498 while it is being heard in the Senate Committee on National Resources, Energy, and Water - anytime now before the 2:00 p.m. hearing. Signing up for Request to Speak doesn't mean that you speak in person at the committee meeting. It means that you register your position "For, Neutral or Against" the bill on the website. Your position will become a part of the public record.
Sign in here:
https://apps.azleg.gov/account/signon
When you get to Request to Speak page-
On the menu in the left column, click on New Request.
At the Request to Speak Topic Search, type HB2498 into the Search Phrase box and click the search button.
In the Search Results, is a list of all the committees the bill is being heard in.
In the Request to Speak column on the right-hand side, click ADD REQUEST.
Register your position on the bill by clicking on: For, Neutral or Against.
Click "no" on: Do you wish to speak (because you have to be in Phoenix to speak in person.)
You can leave a short, one sentence comment if you wish.
Then click on Submit.
If you don't have one, please, sign up for a Request to Speak. If you don't get it in time for this Monday's hearing, you will be prepared for the next opportunity. There is a bad coal mining bill on Wednesday...
To request a Request to Speak account: http://www.cebv.us/
HB2498 historic preservation; rangeland improvements; requirements (Cook: Barton, Bowers) requires the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) to develop a streamlined survey report process for range improvements -- fences, corrals, stock ponds, etc. -- and requires the process to allow an individual who has completed a national culture resources training program to perform the survey. It provides for some minimal buffer zones. This is still a bad bill as it allows people with minimal training to sign off on activities that could do great harm to cultural resources. If livestock interests are doing work on state trust lands, they should have to do the proper clearance. Oppose.
Executive Nomination -- Richard B. Williams, Arizona Game and Fish Commission Appointment Recommendation Board
(Register your position on Request to Speak anytime before the 2 p.m. meeting TODAY.)
More information on HB2498.
Dan Stormont (from Sustainable Tucson) also studied the bill. Here are his primary concerns:
This bill was obviously hastily written and not fully thought through. It consists of three new paragraphs intended to make it easier for construction and other projects to proceed when cultural resources (like artifacts) are present in the project area. Here are some examples of the shoddy nature of this legislation:
In section B.1. of the revision to Arizona State Statutes proposed by this bill, it states that survey reports can be performed by any individual who has completed a national culture resources training program. It's not clear what training program this bill refers to, perhaps the NRCS Cultural Resources Training Program? If survey reports can be submitted by individuals, the training requirements need to be clearly specified.
Dan Stormont (from Sustainable Tucson) also studied the bill. Here are his primary concerns:
This bill was obviously hastily written and not fully thought through. It consists of three new paragraphs intended to make it easier for construction and other projects to proceed when cultural resources (like artifacts) are present in the project area. Here are some examples of the shoddy nature of this legislation:
In section B.1. of the revision to Arizona State Statutes proposed by this bill, it states that survey reports can be performed by any individual who has completed a national culture resources training program. It's not clear what training program this bill refers to, perhaps the NRCS Cultural Resources Training Program? If survey reports can be submitted by individuals, the training requirements need to be clearly specified.
This is the exact wording in section B.4. of the proposed revision: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF REASONABLE AND PRUDENT BUFFER ZONES OF AT LEAST SEVENTY-FIVE FEET AROUND KNOWN SITE BOUNDARIES IN WHICH MAY BE UNDERTAKEN WITH ARCHAEOLOGY MONITORING. There are two problems with this sentence. First, it is not a complete sentence! What does it even mean? In which what may be undertaken? Who's doing the monitoring? How often? And, second, the 75 foot buffer zone appears to be a significant reduction from the current buffer zone requirements, which can vary from 200 feet to a mile, depending on who has jurisdiction.
If I had submitted a report like this when I was in school, I would rightly have received an F on it. Likewise, this bill needs to be rejected until the author has done their homework!
Ready to Request to Speak?
If you've signed up for Request to Speak, this is your opportunity to put it to use. You can register your opposition to HB2498 while it is being heard in the Senate Committee on National Resources, Energy, and Water - anytime now before the 2:00 p.m. hearing. Signing up for Request to Speak doesn't mean that you speak in person at the committee meeting. It means that you register your position "For, Neutral or Against" the bill on the website. Your position will become a part of the public record.
Sign in here:
https://apps.azleg.gov/account/signon
When you get to Request to Speak page-
On the menu in the left column, click on New Request.
At the Request to Speak Topic Search, type HB2498 into the Search Phrase box and click the search button.
In the Search Results, is a list of all the committees the bill is being heard in.
In the Request to Speak column on the right-hand side, click ADD REQUEST.
Register your position on the bill by clicking on: For, Neutral or Against.
Click "no" on: Do you wish to speak (because you have to be in Phoenix to speak in person.)
You can leave a short, one sentence comment if you wish.
Then click on Submit.
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If you don't have one, please, sign up for a Request to Speak. If you don't get it in time for this Monday's hearing, you will be prepared for the next opportunity. There is a bad coal mining bill on Wednesday...
To request a Request to Speak account: http://www.cebv.us/
It's actually pretty easy to use Request to Speak once you've done it - much easier than it is to explain. Next time it should be a snap! Or a few clicks anyways! :)
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