Please, contact your Reps and Senator regarding HB2005 and SB1493 & SB1494. I have included the Sierra Club's prepared message below so you can copy and paste into an e-mail or use it as a script when you call them. (For more impact, feel free to personalize those messages.) Under that find two links to help you locate your Reps and Senator.
According the the Sierra Club, APS drafted a strike-everything amendment that got introduced by Senator Borrelli. The amendment seeks to undermine and effectively preempt enforcement of the Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona initiative (50% renewable energy by 2030). Please contact both your senator and representatives and ask them to oppose HB2005 with this striker. It could come to the floor of the Senate as early as Tuesday and then be voted out of the House soon after that.
Ask your senator and representatives to vote NO on HB2005 and for clean energy:
Please vote NO on HB2005 that now includes a strike-everything amendment on corporation commission; penalty. This sneaky strike-everything amendment was drafted by Arizona Public Service (APS) lobbyists to block more clean energy such solar for Arizona. The amendment would allow utility companies, including APS, to break the law and not comply with basic requirements for renewable energy, with just a slap on the wrist -- a maximum fine of $5,000, which is small potatoes for these large monopoly utilities.
It is clear that this measure is intended to undermine the Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona ballot initiative that requires utilities such as APS and Tucson Electric Power to obtain 50 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Instead of investing in our future and taking advantage of the power of Arizona's sun and the local sustainable jobs that can come with clean energy, APS is trying to protect its shareholders by stopping our clean energy economy from developing.
As if this all is not bad enough, the amendment would infringe on the Arizona Corporation Commission's constitutional authority as well.
Please reject HB2005 with this strike-everything amendment.
Thank you for considering my comments.
The Sierra Club also encouraged us to keep up the pressure on the bills that give the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality authority to pursue control of an important Clean Water Act permitting program and a key Safe Drinking Water Act program. These bills could open the door for weakening these important protections.
Ask your representatives to vote NO on SB1493 and SB1494 to protect Arizona waters:
Please protect Arizona waters and oppose both SB1493 and SB1494.
SB1493 (environmental quality; dredge, fill permits) allows ADEQ to adopt a Clean Water Act dredge and fill permit program no more stringent than the federal program. I oppose this effort as I am concerned that ADEQ will not provide for a robust public involvement process, nor do I believe there is adequate funding, staffing, and enforcement for the program at the agency. This means less protection for our state's waters. The bill also does not mention consideration of endangered species or cultural resources.
SB1494 (environment; underground injection control program) directs ADEQ to develop a program to permit underground injection wells. I am opposed to this as well due to the potential risk to our groundwater and the focus on streamlining rather than on having protective permits, plus the agency's failure to have an adequate stakeholder process upfront. That does not bode well for the permit process itself. Protecting Arizona's waters is critical to our future. Now is not the time for backsliding. Now is the time for ensuring strong protections for the future.
Please vote No on both SB1493 and SB1494.
Thank you for considering my comments.
----- Find your Representatives and Senator ----
To find out who your Representatives and Senator are, first find out which district you are in - at this sight:
https://azredistricting.org/districtlocator/
Use that district to find your Reps and their contact information here:
https://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster/
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