Good News at the End of Legislative Session!

Congrats, Environmental Advocates!

First, I want to thank all of you who signed or shared Sustainable Tucson's letter to TEP asking the company to transition faster to clean energy and not install the 10 RICE gas-fired engines.  Barbara L. Sherry and Billy Kovacs US Democratic Congressional Candidates AZ 02 signed too! 

The Arizona state legislative session has ended and we have reason to celebrate! Our advocacy paid off with several of the bills that we opposed not passing! Yay!  

First, the good news then one last call to action* for this legislative session...

Partner in advocacy Sandy Bahr shared the Sierra Club's legislative report:

Activists! We saved a seat for you! 

On the good news front, the Arizona Legislature did not refer HCR2017 Now: renewable energy standards; corporation commission. This proposed legislative referral intended to confuse voters and compete with and block the citizen initiative, Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona, which seeks to increase our renewable energy standard to 50 percent by 2030.

None of the remaining bad water bills advanced this session! Thanks to everyone who helped keep up the pressure and make it known that backsliding is not acceptable when it comes to water adequacy and protection of the San Pedro River. 

HB2512 water program amendments (Bowers) is a water omnibus bill that contains a number of provisions, but the most harmful aspect would weaken adequacy requirements for areas such as Cochise County and could cause further harm to the San Pedro River. This bill died in the Senate as it did not go to Committee of the Whole.

HB2553 adequate water supply; county review (Bowers) is a stand-alone bill for weakening the adequacy requirements for areas such as Cochise County and further threatening the San Pedro River. This also died due to lack of action in the Senate COW.

SB1515 adequate water supply; county review (Griffin) is the same as HB2553. This died in House Rules.

The San Pedro River! 

In other good news, the Arizona Senate rejected the measure to significantly change the Independent Redistricting Commission, 13-15-2. SCR1034 membership; independent redistricting commission - included some negative commentary on the Independent Redistricting Commission and would have also required that the smallest and largest districts have a two percent or less difference in population. There was great concern from the Navajo Nation and other tribal communities that the requirement for the two percent or less difference would result in a dilution of their vote. Its rejection by the Senate is good news to all of us.

SCR1005 NOW: state; municipal corporation; industrial pursuits had a second strike-everything amendment added to it regarding initiatives requiring expenditures; ten-year repeal. It would have referred to the ballot a measure that would repeal citizen initiatives with funding sources attached after 10 years. This was an attack on the citizen initiative process and would mean constant fights for important programs. It also died in the House Rules Committee.

There was some bad news too...

Unfortunately, the majority at the legislature decided to hit and run. The last bill they passed was a referral, HCR2007 clean elections; unlawful contributions; rulemaking (Coleman: Shope), to try and weaken the Clean Elections Commission's authority and limit clean elections candidates' ability to participate in coordinated campaigns or to access voter files for a reasonable rate. It passed along party lines in both the House and Senate, 17-12-1 and 33-24-3, respectively. The voters will make the ultimate decision on this, however, so please be sure to vote no and ask your friends and family to vote no.

*And one last call to action for this legislative session: 

Please ask Governor Ducey to veto HB2498!

Scroll down for more information...

- Sustainable Tucson and the Sierra Club

Arizonan Archaeologists request: Protect cultural resources - Oppose HB2498

HB2498 historic preservation; rangeland improvements; requirements (Cook: Barton, Bowers, et al.) weakens protections for cultural resources by allowing those with minimal training to provide the required review. This bill passed out of the Senate and awaits final action in the House.

HB2498 is opposed by many tribal nations and archaeologists throughout Arizona. The bill requires a so-called streamlined cultural resource protection report relative to ”rangeland improvement projects,” which could include roads, fences, and more. This bill allows people with little experience or training to provide these reports, putting at risk cultural resources.

HB2498 limits the State Historic Preservation Office's (SHPO) ability to protect cultural resources relative to activities that are defined as rangeland improvements and could mean Arizona is not in compliance with §106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

Could you identify this? 

It is not always easy to recognize important historic and cultural sites, which is why there should be someone who is well-trained to do so performing the work and issuing the reports. It should also be someone who understands the need for tribal consultation and with which tribes.

Click this link to send a message to your representatives asking them to oppose HB2498.

- The Sierra Club 

The Arizona Archaeological Council (AAC), a non-profit organization of more than 200 cultural resources professionals, is deeply concerned about House Bill (HB) 2498. 

 Arizona Archaeological Council letter to Members of the Arizona State Legislature:

http://arizonaarchaeologicalcouncil.org/resources/Documents/HB_2498_AAC-response.pdf

More information: 

Arizona Bill Would Change Rules Around Archaeological Studies — And May Violate State, Federal Law

Protect Arizona's Cultural Resources from this sloppy bill

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.)

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.

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!  :)