Week of February 2, 2009

For the seventh year in a row, the environmental community will prepare weekly Hot Lists detailing positions on no more than ten of the highest priority issues being considered that week in the House and Senate. If you are interested in receiving pdf version of the hotlist by Monday morning of each week, please email sudha (at) wcvoters.org.

• Hot List for the State House

• Hot List for the State Senate
  

HOUSE

HOUSE COMMITTEE ACTION

Local Government & Housing Committee: Executive Session

POSITION: SUPPORT

• HB 1172 is based on the consensus of a two-year stakeholder process focused on enhancing the transfer of development rights tool as a voluntary mechanism to preserve working farm and forest lands.  Amendments should be limited to technical clarifications.

• The state loses an average of 23,720 acres of farmland to development annually.  This bill creates a voluntary tool to better focus growth in the central Puget Sound’s urban areas while permanently protecting the region’s rural and resource land from encroaching development.

Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee: Possible Executive Session

POSITION: OPPOSE

• This bill would allow agricultural water users to consume more water by transferring conserved water to new irrigated acreage. Although water conservation should be encouraged, it should not be used to further draw down already burdened rivers and streams.

• This bill undermines the Columbia River Management Program by unilaterally amending statutory language that was agreed to in 2006 by both agricultural and environmental communities.

Local Government & Housing Committee: Executive Session

POSITION: SUPPORT

• HB 1360 creates a state fund for basic infrastructure that supports increased capacity for dense, affordable residential development in neighborhoods near transit centers. The fund is financed if and when REET collections exceed the fiscal growth factor to provide jurisdictions with low interest loans.    

• In addition to environmental organizations, the Associated General Contractors of Washington, Washington Realtors, American Planning Association, PSRC’s Prosperity Partnership, Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, Puget Sound Partnership and the Cascade Land Conservancy are supporting this bill.

Local Government & Housing: Public Hearing & Possible Executive Session

POSITION: SUPPORT

• Fully contained communities are threatening working lands and rural communities all over Washington. The lack of clear standards and adequate safeguards has prevented these developments from being “fully contained,” thereby threatening nearby rural and resource areas with increased traffic and urbanized encroachment.

• HB 1456 is a commonsense approach to prevent future fully contained communities from being developed on natural resource lands, helping to reduce the pressure to urbanize these working lands.

Environmental Health Committee: Public Hearing

POSITION: SUPPORT

• Creates a producer-provided recycling program for CFLs and other mercury-containing lights from residents, small businesses and small school districts. The program will properly handle the mercury while also bolstering consumer confidence in using energy-efficient lights that reduce greenhouse gases.

• Budget-neutral to the State. A fee paid by producers of mercury-containing lights recovers agency oversight costs.

Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee: Possible Executive Session

POSITION: SUPPORT

• Each year, thousands of new water wells are drilled around the state, promoting sprawl and placing an immense and unsustainable burden on both ground and surface waters. Under existing law, these wells are exempt from the permitting requirements that apply to other water uses.

• This bill requires future water users to connect to an existing water system if available, rather than drilling a permit-exempt well.

Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee: Possible Executive Session

POSITION: SUPPORT

• Adjudication is a critical tool to understand how much water is actually used in a basin and the amount of water available. Unfortunately, only a small fraction of water rights in Washington have been adjudicated, leaving the state unable to adequately manage its rivers and streams.

• This bill allows Ecology to initiate limited adjudications and streamlines the adjudication process to promote efficiency and provide certainty for water users.

Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee: Executive Session

POSITION: SUPPORT

• Water is a limited and publicly owned resource that is asked to meet many demands. Water policies must fairly balance multiple needs for critical fish habitat, agriculture, industry, and use in our homes.

• This bill establishes a pilot project for collaborative water management in the Walla Walla basin to enhance instream flows for fish while also providing flexibility and certainty to water users.

Technology, Energy & Communications Committee: Public Hearing

POSITION: SUPPORT

• One of the four environmental priorities for 2009, this bill asserts Washington’s regional and national clean-energy leadership by putting efficiency first by promoting super-efficient, low-energy-use buildings.

• This bill requires super efficient energy codes, disclosure of buildings’ energy use scores to prospective buyers, makes our public buildings models of energy efficiency, and provides financing energy-saving upgrades to existing buildings.  

Ecology & Parks Committee: Public Hearing

POSITION: SUPPORT

• One of the four environmental priorities for 2009, this bill implements the limits on global warming pollution established by the Legislature in 2008 by authorizing Washington’s involvement in the pollution reduction program created by the Western Climate Initiative.

• Last year, the businesses and residents of Washington State spent over $16 billion on oil imports – far more than our deficit. Cap and Invest is a commitment to keep energy dollars in-state, creating more – and better – jobs than importing dirty energy.

SENATE

SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION

SB 5073: Improving budget transparency by consolidating accounts into the state general fund.
Ways & Means Committee: Public Hearing
POSITION: OPPOSE

• This bill would eliminate Water Quality Account and transfer the balance to the state general fund.

• The Water Quality Account was established decades ago to provide $90 million per biennium for water quality projects to protect our communities and public health. Abolishing the account would eliminate stable funding for critical infrastructure projects such as sewage treatment plants.

SB 5137: Regarding energy resources.
SB 5280: Recognizing conservation achieved in excess of biennial conservation targets as an eligible renewable resource under chapter 19.285 RCW, the energy independence act.
SB 5345: Regarding renewable energy.
SB 5505: Providing a consistent definition for renewable or alternative energy resources.
[S-____]: Relating to renewable energy (regarding I-937, sponsored by Senator Marr).
Environment, Water & Energy Committee:  Public Hearing
POSITION: OPPOSE ALL FIVE BILLS

• Washington state will reap many benefits from Initiative 937, including new jobs, savings on energy bills, protection against future price shocks, income to rural landowners, new property tax revenues, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

• Any changes to the law should be narrow in scope, address actual implementation barriers, and preserve voters’ intent to increase development of clean and affordable energy. These bills all include amendments that will weaken the law and decrease the amount of renewable energy and climate pollution reduction we expect from this key policy.

SSB 5165: Implementing a transfer of development rights program.
Government Operations & Elections Committee: Public Hearing & Possible Executive Session
POSITION: SUPPORT

• SSB 5165 is based on the consensus of a two-year stakeholder process focused on enhancing the transfer of development rights tool as a market-based mechanism to preserve working farm and forest lands.  

• The state loses an average of 23,720 acres of farmland to development annually.  This bill creates a voluntary tool to better focus growth in the central Puget Sound’s urban areas while permanently protecting the region’s rural and resource land from encroaching development.

SB 5279: Providing safe collection and disposal of unwanted drugs from residential sources.
Health & Long-Term Care Committee: Public Hearing
POSITION: SUPPORT

• Reduces risks of accidental poisonings, drug diversion, and contamination of surface and ground water by requiring drug producers to provide residents with a secure and convenient statewide program for disposing unwanted and left-over prescriptions and over-the-counter medicines.

• Budget-neutral to the State. A fee paid by drug producers recovers agency oversight costs.

SB 5282: Regarding the use of bisphenol A.
Health & Long-Term Care Committee: Public Hearing
POSITION: SUPPORT

• The Safe Baby Bottle bill protects children's health by banning the toxic chemical—bisphenol A (BPA)—in baby bottles, sippy cups and other food containers kids use.

• Safer alternatives to this chemical are widely available and already in use. Wal-Mart, Toys ‘R’ Us, Whole Foods, and Safeway Stores have announced that they will stop stocking BPA containing products for babies. Nalgene, Camelbak, and Playtex and others have announced that they will stop making products with BPA.

SB 5377: Concerning funding for infrastructure that supports dense, affordable development in transit-oriented areas.
Government Operations & Elections Committee: Public Hearing & Possible Executive Session
POSITION: SUPPORT

• SB 5377 creates a state fund for basic infrastructure that supports increased capacity for dense, affordable residential development in neighborhoods near transit centers. The fund is financed if and when REET collections exceed the fiscal growth factor to provide jurisdictions with low interest loans.  

• In addition to environmental organizations, the Associated General Contractors of Washington, Washington Realtors, American Planning Association, PSRC’s Prosperity Partnership, Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, Puget Sound Partnership and the Cascade Land Conservancy are supporting this bill.

SB 5504: Concerning reclaimed water permitting.
Environment, Water, & Energy Committee: Public Hearing
POSITION: SUPPORT

• This bill requires the Department of Ecology and the Department of Health to work together to develop comprehensive rules for using treated wastewater from homes, agricultural, or industrial activities for specific purposes.

• Although the rulemaking process may raise additional questions, we support the directive to Ecology and DOH to draft rules that authorize the use of sufficiently treated water to increase flows in streams, recharge aquifers, and reduce water demand.

SB 5518: Reducing the amount of petroleum pollution in stormwater (a.k.a. Invest in Clean Water; Sen. Pridemore, Prime Sponsor).
Environment, Water & Energy Committee: Public Hearing
POSITION: SUPPORT

• One of the four environmental priorities for 2009, this bill would raise $100 million for clean water by imposing a fee on petroleum products that contribute to stormwater pollution.

• This polluter-pays fee on oil companies will provide money for new jobs, relieve financial pressure on local governments, and promote new economic stimulus.   

SB 5647: Establishing a pilot local water management program in one qualified jurisdiction.
Environment, Water, & Energy Committee: Public Hearing
POSITION: SUPPORT

• Water is a limited and publicly owned resource that is asked to meet many demands. Water policies must fairly balance multiple needs for critical fish habitat, agriculture, industry, and use in our homes.

• This bill establishes a pilot project for collaborative water management in the Walla Walla basin to enhance instream flows for fish while also providing flexibility and certainty to water users.

SB 5735: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions (a.k.a. Cap and Invest; Sen. Rockefeller, Prime Sponsor).
Environment, Water & Energy Committee: Public Hearing
POSITION: SUPPORT

• One of the four environmental priorities for 2009, this bill implements the limits on global warming pollution established by the Legislature in 2008 by authorizing Washington’s involvement in the pollution reduction program created by the Western Climate Initiative.

• Last year, the businesses and residents of Washington State spent over $16 billion on oil imports – far more than our deficit. Cap and Invest is a commitment to keep energy dollars in-state, creating more – and better – jobs than importing dirty energy.