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WVEC Green Legislative UpdateTo read the update online, scroll down to articles (or click on index links below). If you want to view or print an exact copy of the printed newsletter, try the PDF version. February 16, 2007
Under the Dome By Donald S. Garvin, Jr. Week 6 – The "All State Forests" Bill Remember SB 460? You probably don’t recognize the bill number, but it was the one we dubbed the "Kanawha State Forest Bill." Well, you can’t call it that any more. It has morphed. Now we can call it the "All State Forests Bill." This bill was originally proposed to address serious problems that arose last year from oil and gas drilling operations in Kanawha State Forest. More than 60 gas wells have been drilled over the years on this relatively small piece of prized public land. And last summer in drilling another well, Equitable Gas cut a new 60-foot wide well road that became a muddy mess and cut down a lot of beautiful old trees in the process – all unnecessarily. The company could have, and indeed should have, simply used already existing access roads. So a group of concerned Kanahwa State Forest users decided to do something about it. One of those users is Dave McMahon. Dave is a lawyer and a lobbyist (on other issues), and a long-time advocate for protecting the rights of surface owners against abusive oil and gas exploration practices. The group drafted legislation that would have required oil and gas operators in Kanawha State Forest to consult more closely with DNR, and notify DNR officials and seek public comment before commencing operations, among other things (back in the 2000 legislative session, legislators outlawed timbering in Kanawha State Forest and put the management in the hands of the Division of Natural Resources instead of the Division of Forestry). The group got almost all of the Kanawha County legislative delegation to sponsor the bill. And I am sure that the thinking at the time was that it would be easier to get the Legislature to approve if was aimed at only one forest and had the full support of delegates and senators from the area affected. Well, you know the old saying about the best-laid plans. When SB 460 was taken up this week by the Senate Natural Resources Committee, Chairman John Pat Fanning (D-McDowell) was more than supportive. It turns out that there are two state forests in Sen. Fanning’s district that also contain oil and gas operations. The next thing you know there was a committee substitute drafted that made the protective provisions of the bill apply to ALL state forests! The committee passed the bill for consideration by the full Senate, with only one drawback: the requirement for a public hearing was removed. When I first heard about the possibility of legislation addressing the problems at Kanawha State Forest, my reaction was that any "fix" proposed ought to apply to all public lands owned by the state. After all, there is an extensive public comment process for all federal public lands. That process is called the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and it requires public hearings, public comment periods, and assessment of the environmental impacts of development projects on public lands. The problems with the drilling operations in Kanawha State Forest might not have occurred at all, if West Virginia had a "SEPA" – a State Environmental Protection Act. I am not the first WVEC member to suggest such a thing. Our very own president, Jim Kotcon, has been "lobbying" for a SEPA process for years now. Perhaps we can make it an E-Council priority in a future legislative session. But for now, we’ll just concentrate on getting SB 460 all the way through the legislative process. The wintry blast continues, so please help out our fine-feathered friends and keep your bird feeders full this week. By Cindy Rank, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy Persons who signed up to receive email notices from DEP about pending permitting actions were puzzled to have their in-boxes crammed full with over 100 public notices this past week. Why? DEP is proposing to extend the time they’ve allowed for mining companies to comply with selenium limits. That type of adjustment to permits must first go to public notice – hence the multitude of ads in local newspapers across the state and email notices from DEP. Background: Selenium is a toxic mineral that builds up in living organisms when levels in the water are elevated. The potential effects of excess selenium on aquatic life are severe and include reproductive failure, birth defects, damage to gills and internal organs, and ocular disease. In humans, while selenium is an essential nutrient at low levels (found in the foods we eat and in daily vitamin tablets), it can be extremely toxic at higher levels causing hair and fingernail loss, damage to kidneys and liver, and damage to nervous and circulatory systems. Ingesting high levels of selenium – from the water you drink or eating fish from streams where selenium is a problem – can be a serious problem. Studies published in the 2002 Mountaintop Removal/Valley Fill Environmental Impact Statement identified streams located below several valley fills as selenium hot spots. Once the problem was identified, and with the insistent prodding of folks like Margaret Janes (Appalachian Center), selenium limits and compliance orders to meet those limits are now part of approximately 123 individual NPDES water discharge permits. In November, the Highlands Conservancy and OVEC challenged two specific mining operations for failing to comply with these permit requirements. The companies had 60 days to clean up their acts or face Citizen Suit lawsuits over the ongoing violations. In a bit of an end run, DEP decided to take action against those companies itself — essentially taking it out of our hands. As for the larger universe of similar permits, DEP is retreating from its earlier actions and is now giving operations more time to come into compliance. So while DEP waits, the selenium continues to flow into our streams. Another Tortuous Week for Water Rules The "water rule wars" continued this week in the Senate, as industry lobbyists tried their best to gut the Tier 2.5 "waters of special concern" stream list. SB 255, the Antidegradation Rule containing the Tier 2.5 stream list (60-CSR-5), was assigned to a sub-committee of the Senate Natural Resources Committee on Monday. The sub-committee originally consisted of Senator Randy White (D-Webster) as chair, and Senator Walt Helmick (D-Pocahontas) and Senator Clark Barnes (R-Randolph). By the time it first met, two other senators had been added – Senator Karen Facemyer (R-Jackson) and Senator Ed Bowman (D-Hancock). The first sub-committee meeting was fairly rancorous. But the group met again this morning, and after DEP Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer answered a list of questions from the senators, the sub-committee voted to recommend that the full Natural Resources committee pass the bill on to the Senate Judiciary Committee, "without recommendation." Senator Barnes cast the only "no" vote in the sub-committee. It appears likely now that Senate Natural Resources Committee will pass the antideg rule on to Judiciary unchanged, and that Senate Judiciary Committee will begin consideration of SB 255 and SB 259, the Water Quality Standards rule (47-CSR-2) which contains the "Category B2" trout stream list early next week. We hear that House committees will also begin to consider the DEP rules next week. by John B. Christensen, WVEC Lobbyist Listening to late-night radio on the AM dial yesterday, I realized how deep our countrymen and women are immersed in "convenient denial" when it comes to the environmental realities that face our nation and the world at large. The announcer was chastising Al Gore for owning three houses, a jet air plane, and logging thousands of travel miles during his week to week activities promoting the realities of global warming, and that somehow that made him a hypocrite. The talk-show host went on to say that there is still no scientific evidence that Americans are mired in global warming as a result of climate change due to greenhouse gasses. I’m still trying to figure out where the announcer was trying to go with this seemingly contradictory argument. It has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt by many distinguished scientists that the greenhouse gas emission problem leads to climate change and that we are headed for the "Hot Age". The problem is international, but the U. S. A., as the most profligate greenhouse-gas emitter, has a responsibility to take the lead in the fight to curb it. Unfortunately, our radio and television outlets are chock full of shows that purport these contrary arguments. It is apparent that the reasoning behind it is to confuse the public for the enrichment of coal companies, chemical companies, oil and gas interests and other extractive industries. They continue to improve company profits, give nice dividends to their shareholders and keep everyone guessing as to the urgent consequences of continued, unabated CO2 emissions; hence, my "convenient denial" theory! This 78th legislative session is full of committee meetings where both bodies are debating the merits of passing laws that protect fish, air, water and people - yet these extractive industry types say that these laws are too confining to their business practices and hurt the future profitability of businesses to operate in West Virginia.
I find these arguments very divisive in the overall scheme of things, but that is why I’m here in Charleston fighting the good fight. I'm figuring out ways to convince our countrymen and women in "convenient denial" to prepare the mountain state for a future with less dependence on coal-burning power plants and other CO2 emitting industries. We should be encouraging O2 producing organisms like old growth forests and protecting streams. The earth may survive the coming "hot age" however, it remains to be seen whether humans will make the necessary changes to thrive and survive along with it. I encourage all our readers to write and call their representatives in Charleston in the coming weeks and let them know how you feel about convenient denial with respect to their votes on these important bills and resolutions. We just heard that the long awaited bill to permit the Mc Dowell County landfill to expand to 100,000 tons per month has been introduced. SB 629 would fly in the face of every thing we did to stop the flood of out of state garbage back in the early nineties. Nearly every ton of the proposed 100, 000 tons would be brought in on rail cars from the major eastern cities. We all should be watching this. Committee to Act on Slurry Injection Study Resolution Next Week SCR 15, the resolution establishing an official study of the injection of coal slurry into abandoned deep mines, is on the Wednesday agenda of the Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee next week. We have been lobbying members of this committee hard for the last several weeks, and we are hopeful that the resolution will pass. We will keep you posted as this progresses. By Linda Frame, WV-CAG Next week bills need to either get on a committee agenda or die and we are lobbying the House Judiciary Committee to take up the Bottle Bill so the former will happen. Key delegates to call, if you are in their district, are: Delegate Proudfoot (D-Randolph) - 340-3248, Delegate Ellem (R-Wood) - 340-3394, Delegate Mahan (D-Summers) - 340-3102, Delegate Pino (D-Fayette) - 340-3170, Delegate Lane (D-Kanawha) - 340-3275, Delegate Overington (R-Berkeley) - 340-3148. All can be reached toll-free at 1-877-565-3447. The support, both new and existing, for the bottle bill this session has been amazing and I’d like to take a minute and thank some folks who have gone above and beyond. Laura Phillips and Cyndi Bolton with the Phillips Group managed the returns of the Adopt-A-Highway surveys from start to finish. With their professional touches, we were able to present the governor and the media with an official compilation of what our survey respondents had to say. Mark Blumenstein with Friends of the Lower Greenbrier River was the energy and outrage that created the survey idea in the first place. He is now following up with other equally angry AAH volunteers to decide on other actions to help keep a bottle bill on the front burner in West Virginia politics. Fritz Boettner with Downstream Strategies developed and produced a GIS map plotting the statewide AAH survey results, creating a powerful visual we will use in so many ways to promote the Bottle Bill and publicize the survey results. Many, many citizen lobbyists turned out on Bottle Bill Day last week and they deserve special thanks: Rosemary Lockhart, Kathy Lewis, Matt Tate, Mark Blumenstein, Don Garvin, John Christensen, Norm Steenstra III, Don Gasper, Owen and Kathy Stout, Denise Poole, Regina Hendrix, Kathryn Stone, Jay Bowen, Richie Robb, Paul Hamrick, Richard Barnett, Howland and Doris Sharpe, Sue Talbott, Jesse Johnson, Kevin & Samantha von der Heydt, the WVU Student Sierra Club Coalition including Carmen Borsa, Gibron Mancus, Christy Hartman, John Neubert, Charles Holden. Carmen and Gibron delivered an empty soda can with an attached label stating bottle bill facts to each legislator, and Carmen did this despite having a broken foot! It was a busy, crazy good day and if I’ve left you off the list, I apologize. And thanks, OF COURSE, to everyone who has made phone calls to legislators and the governor, asking for support for SB 370 and HB 2773. The Public Campaign Financing Act (S118) is now in the Senate Finance Committee, where our focus continues to be on prompting Senator Helmick to put the bill on the agenda. Rumor at the Capitol is that he will do so, but it needs to happen next week, and as soon as possible! The lobby team has been talking with members of the Finance Committee this week, and we are getting some help from supportive Senators in encouraging Senator Helmick to move the bill.
We will also be in contact with the attorneys in the Secretary of State’s office. They plan to offer an amendment authorizing the Secretary to delegate administration of the bill in some way – probably either to appointees on the Election Commission or to a staff position created for that purpose. We will be encouraging the attorneys to have their amendment ready to present when the bill is taken up, so it will not be put into a sub-committee (which would basically kill it because of the limited time remaining). |
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