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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. January 25, 2008
By Donald S. Garvin, Jr. Week 3 – Ready for Prime Time WVEC rolled out our "Citizens’ Energy Plan" on the second day of this legislative session at a successful press conference that was well attended by our supporters, press and legislators. Then last week we presented the Plan at a meeting of the Public Energy Authority, a meeting that was also well attended. As these things go, our Plan has gotten considerable positive "ink" from the press. And we weren’t "laughed out of the room" at either event. WVEC lobbyist Vickie Wolfe – who seems to have an endless supply of energy herself – immediately went to work with Delegate Barbara Fleischauer (D-Monongalia) signing up co-sponsors for a list of her bills that would implement some of the elements of our Plan. Vickie made quick work of this, and all but one of Del. Fleischauer’s bills have been introduced and are now ready for committee consideration. Now comes the hard part. Getting a bill introduced is one thing; getting a bill passed by both chambers and signed by the Governor is another matter all together. But I am optimistic that at least a couple of the ideas contained in our Plan can make it through the legislative process this year. I am optimistic because of all the hard work we have done to get to this point. WVEC has been working on our Renewable Energy Campaign for several years now. And while we haven’t had a lot of money to throw at this endeavor, we have benefited from an abundance of personal energy from some wonderfully bright and dedicated people. We are where we are because of folks like Bob Hamburg, Mary Wildfire, Jim Kotcon, Tom Degen, Rick Eades, Frank Young, and Allan Tweddle. Their voices were singing the renewable energy message long before its time. We are where we are because of Sierra Clubbers Paul Wilson and Bill Price, who facilitated a strategic planning session to help us focus our campaign. We are where we are because of support e have received from Wayne Dunn and the Dunn Foundation to help us take the renewable energy message to the public. We are where we are because of folks like Denise Poole and Myra Bonhage-Hale and their long-time commitment to a sustainable planet. We are where we are because of $100 per barrel oil and indisputable scientific evidence that global climate change is real, and it is now. And, finally, we are where we are because sixteen long years ago U.S. Senator Al Gore wrote a book called Earth in the Balance. The upshot of all of the above is simply this: while not every delegate or senator we talk to about renewable energy is on our side, they all finally seem to know something about the issues. And that makes our "Citizens’ Energy Plan" ready for prime time. Don’t forget to keep your bird feeders full this week. It’s the "sustainable" thing to do. DEP Not Monitoring Pollution Reports Last week we reported the massive EPA fine leveled against Massey Energy which cited the company for more than 4,500 water pollution violations, enough to amount to 28 violations per day over a six-year period. Most of the federal government’s lawsuit was based on self-monitoring pollution reports Massey subsidiaries filed every month with the state Department of Environmental Protection. In a follow-up article this week Charleston Gazette reporter Ken Ward reported that for nearly five years, DEP officials had not been looking at the reports. Ward added: "Inspectors didn’t print them out and read them. Enforcement staffers didn’t study them on computer spreadsheets. And the problem wasn’t confined to Massey. DEP gave the entire coal industry a pass." According to Ward, DEP actually issued no citations or fines for mine water violations in late ’06, early ’07. "That doesn’t mean that we won’t," Jeff McCormick, the DEP mining division’s assistant director for enforcement told Ward. "It just means that we haven’t." When questioned by Ward, DEP mining officials blamed the situation on problems with new computer programs being used to track discharge monitoring reports. "Imagine letting the Bush administration be tougher environmental enforcers," said Joe Lovett, a lawyer and executive director of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment, in Ward’s article. "It’s astounding that the state agency with the primary responsibility for enforcing the Clean Water Act didn’t do anything about this problem, and left it to the federal government." Yes, Joe, it’s astounding! E~Day at the Capitol Friday, February 22nd
By Julie Archer, WV Citizen Action Group As many of you know, in August of last year WV-CAG helped form a new organization, the WV Surface Owners’ Rights Organization, which is dedicated to protecting and expanding the rights of surface owners when oil & gas companies explore and drill on their property. The organization has grown rapidly since its inception 6 months ago and we can now count among our ranks members from 50 WV counties, 19 states and 2 countries. WV-SORO has had a presence at the legislature since last summer. During an August special session, WV-SORO helped defeat a bill supported by oil & gas producers and Governor Manchin to let companies off the hook after they were found guilty of shortchanging landowners more than $133 million in royalty payments. In the Tawney case, the jury also awarded the landowners $270 million in punitive damages. The bill proposed by the Governor would have let the companies out of this verdict and shielded them from similar lawsuits in the future. More recently, WV-SORO has been recruiting co-sponsors and talking with legislators about a Surface Owners’ Bill of Rights. The bill should be introduced early next week. WV-SORO identified several changes that are needed to level the playing field between operators and surface owners and ensure good stewardship of the land and economic fairness in the state’s oil and gas fields. These changes include:
We also received valuable input from WV-SORO members at our first regional and information meeting in Weston in December. WV-SORO will be working on behalf of surface owners to get the legislature to implement many of these changes during the upcoming legislative session. WV-SORO will be holding another regional and information meeting in Spencer on January 31, 2008 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the Heritage Park Community Center. WV SORO is also sponsoring a Surface Owners’ Rights Day on February 6 at the State Capitol. This will be a great opportunity to come down and show support for the Surface Owners’ Bill of Rights. Visit our website, www.wvsoro.org for more details or contact norm or julie @wvsoro.org. Clean Streams: Valuable For the Future Charleston Gazette Editorial - January 23, 2008 For years, West Virginia has been arguing over how many clean mountain streams to include on a list to be protected from pollution, or degradation. The state Department of Environmental Protection narrowed a list to 309 streams it recommended for a moderate level of protection, known as Tier 2.5. Last June, Gov. Joe Manchin ordered DEP Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer to remove a number of streams, lowering the list to 157. Just before the legislative session started, members of the Joint Legislative Rulemaking Review Committee voted to put those streams back on the list, which must be approved by the full Legislature. This is a sensible move. The Tier 2.5 category was created in a series of compromises with industries to keep more streams from being listed in the even more restricted Tier 3 category. Tier 2.5 streams cannot be degraded more than 10 percent. Tier 3 streams cannot be degraded at all. The federal government requires the state to develop policies to protect streams under the Clean Water Act. "Water is the most important asset in West Virginia," Delegate Joe Talbott (D-Webster) said at the time of the joint committee meeting. "It’s more important than coal, more important than timber." West Virginia, blessed with abundant clean, fresh water, would be wise to take a conservative approach toward it. Water has become scarcer in many parts of the world and in the United States. How foolish the state would be to spoil something that its residents are going to need - and that others are going to want. Owners of land where the streams run have complained that the anti-degradation limit may prevent them from developing or using their land in the future. However, loggers and farmers are exempt from the policy as long as they voluntarily follow best-management environmental practices. The list represents less than 4 percent of West Virginia’s waterways. Status as a protected stream would not prevent hunting and fishing on those lands or many other kinds of development, as long as streams were not degraded by more than 10 percent. The House Judiciary Committee, led by Delegate Carrie Webster (D-Kanawha) should approve the policy with 309 streams and advance it through the process. West Virginia has argued about this for long enough. The feds will not wait forever for the state to follow the law. Unless someone can explain how allowing more pollution would benefit the state, West Virginia should take care of what it has. Once water is dirtied, it is much more difficult to make it pure again. Action Alert ! Contact Legislators NOW to Keep Streams Clean (click to read the alert) WV Beverage Container Recycling & Litter Control Act Presentation Scheduled By Linda Frame, WV Citizen Action Group Next Tuesday, February 5, a presentation on SB 135 and HB 2773, the WV Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Control Act will take place in the House Chambers at the State Capitol - 3:00 PM. John Ferrari, President of NexCycle's California operations, will discuss California's Container Deposit Law (Bottle Bill), which has been in effect for over 20 years. NexCycle-California is one of six divisions under NexCycle SMI Holding Corporation and provides beverage container redemption services to affected Grocers/Retailers mandated by California's Beverage Container Redemption Act of 1986 (AB 2020). SMI (Strategic Materials Incorporated) is the largest glass recycler in the United States with thirty-one plant operations in the US, Canada and Mexico. Prior to joining NexCycle, John worked for Reynolds Aluminum Recycling (20 years) and Anheuser Busch Recycling (3 years) in various operative, marketing and management capacities. In the first half of last year, Californians recycled more than 6.9 billion beverage containers, up nearly 800 million from the same period a year ago, the state's largest recycling rate increase in the last 15 years, according to a recent study released by the state's Department of Conservation. Officials believe this marked increase is due to the increase in the state's deposit (California Refund Value) to a nickel for small beverage containers - and a dime for large ones. Seven in 10 deposit containers are now redeemed, according to the study. For more information, contact linda@wvcag.org or 346-5891. For WV's Bottle Bill campaign, www.wvbottlebill.org. Learn more about NexCycle at: www.nexcyclecalifornia.com and www.strategicmaterials.com. By Vickie Wolfe, WVEC lobbyist Five of Delegate Fleischauer’s six energy-related bills have been introduced and assigned to committees. Senator Jon Hunter is going to introduce three of them in the Senate: the Green Buildings Act; the West Virginia Clean Power Act; and the bill authorizing counties and municipalities to enter into performance-based contracts with providers of energy conservation measures. Senator Hunter has also introduced a Renewable Portfolio Standard bill (SB 299). Senator Billy Wayne Bailey (D-Wyoming) has introduced a bill (SB 11) that would decrease state vehicles’ petroleum consumption by 12/31/2011. We are concerned about a couple of the bill’s provisions; one is that it requires state-owned vehicles to use at least 20 percent "alternative" fuels by 2012, and liquified coal qualifies, according to the bill’s definitions. However, we have spoken with Senator Bailey and he seems receptive to suggestions. Stay tuned! By Carol Warren Our efforts on the Public Campaign Financing Act (HB 4050 SB 240) are focused right now on the House Judiciary Committee, where the bill could be taken up for consideration soon. Please help us in contacting Judiciary members, especially if your own delegate is on the committee. Delegates Ellem, Lane, Brown, Moore, and Fleischauer are sponsors on Judiciary committee, so please thank them for their support. Delegates Proudfoot, Burdiss, Guthrie, Kessler, Shook, Pino, Tabb, and Hamilton seem inclined in our direction, but would definitely benefit from friendly contacts. And don’t forget our very special event planned for February 28. Senator Jon Hunter, a dedicated Clean Elections supporter, has agreed to join us for a reception honoring him and his work. The event will be held at the Charleston Women’s Club, on the corner of Virginia and Elizabeth Streets from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Mark your calendar now and plan to attend. The event will be a fundraiser in support of our new Challenge Grant.
NOTE: Above is a list of bills that WVEC will track throughout the session. Some will be removed as they die a natural death or when we need more room to notify you of more important legislation. Hopefully this will help you identify and track proposed legislation that is of interest to you. Rules: All of the agency rules bills were introduced in both houses on Friday, January 25. We will not list them here because their bill numbers will tell you nothing about the content of the rule. We will keep you posted on important DEP Rules as they progress throughout the session. |
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2206 Washington Street East - Charleston, WV 25311 (304) 414-0143 www.wvecouncil.org |