2006 Legislative Round-up

by Mark Clemens

Each general session of the Utah legislature holds the seeds of either environmental greatness or disaster. Rumors circulate of disastrous budget cuts and draconian bills. Sugarplums dance in the heads of pro-environmental lobbyists; perhaps this year we’ll get a decent appropriation for the LeRay McAllister Open Space Fund. In Utah it seems too often to veer towards disaster, but this session didn’t turn out too bad. For this we have to thank friends on both sides of the aisle.

What appeared at the beginning of the session to be the biggest ogre we would have to face during the session was Senate Bill 170. SB 170, sponsored by Alma Mansell (R-Sandy) would have eliminated planning and zoning in Utah. The standout provisions forbade cities from zoning to diminish congestion or sprawl, to protect hillsides, or to provide for density in one area different from contiguous areas; however, the more insidious effect was to change technical and procedural aspects of the law uniformly to favor any proposal brought forward by developers. With the passage of SB 170 cities would have been substantially unable to deny anything a developer dreamed up.

Mansell was reported saying that SB 170 was a “report card” prepared by developers. "I decided to put this out there and let the cities see how unhappy their customers are with them," Mansell said. [Salt Lake Tribune, 31 January 2006] No, you didn’t read that last quote incorrectly. Mansell does believe that cities should be accountable to developers, not citizens.

Improper Influence?

Chris Kyler, registered to lobby for both the Salt Lake Board of Realtors and the Utah Association of Realtors, was quoted with great authority about what the bill was going to contain and what it was intended to do. Neither Kyler nor Mansell took any trouble to disguise the fact that the most extreme faction of developers and their registered lobbyists wrote the bill and its watered-down successors: SB 267 and SB 268.

Environmental organizations and the Utah League of Cities and Towns were among the many groups that opposed his bill. Save Our Canyons and the Utah Chapter teamed up to issue a press release alerting the public to its dangers.

Although Mansell, himself a realtor, abandoned the bill after several weeks and conceded that parts of the legislation were “over the top,” the sour smell of conflict of interest hung over the whole debate. Mansell, who stepped down as president of the Utah Senate after the 2005 session to serve as president of the National Realtors Association, is not running for re-election in 2006 so perhaps he’s just indifferent to how corrupt his behavior appeared.

As the session progressed, the more pressing threat was clearly a trio of bills that would have denied Utahns their day in court. House Bill 100, sponsored by Rep Aaron Tilton (R-Springville), would have required organizations appealing for a stay or an injunction in either state or federal court under a long list of environmental protection statutes—including the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act—to post a bond equal to the putative losses incurred as a result of the stay. Its homely siblings, HB 259 and HB 335, would have imposed similar bonding requirements on organizations appealing any decision of the Air Quality Board or the Radiation Control Board.

Of the three, only HB 100 survived the senate. Whether we attribute the failure of the other two to the superior wisdom of the solons of the upper house or friction between the leadership of the house and the new senate president is a matter of personal taste and judgment.

Veto Glory Hallelujah

Governor Huntsman vetoed HB 100. Huntsman also vetoed Senate Bill 70 which would have limited his own authority to influence future decisions about importing hotter classes of low-level nuclear waste. Governor Huntsman reminded us (if that were necessary) of the virtues of checks and balances.

It wasn’t only the bad that fell by the wayside unfortunately. Rep Craig Buttars (R-Logan) introduced his very modest open space bill that would have allowed a handful of smaller counties to decide—only after a popular vote—to increase sales taxes slightly to pay for protection of agricultural lands and watershed. Buttars has introduced this narrowly-crafted bill for at least three sessions. This session it actually passed out of committee but failed in the house. Alas Buttars has decided not to run for re-election so this bill is orphaned for the time being.

And even in from $1 billion surplus the legislature could find no more than $1 million for the LeRay McAllister Open Space Fund that was originally projected to be funded with at least $3 million per year.

Environmental Heroes

Rep Sheryl Allen (R-Bountiful, pictured) introduced an extension of the renewable energy tax credit that will expire at the end of 2006. The credit supports a range of renewable energy installations in both commercial and residential settings. The credit fell victim to the uncertainty surrounding tax reform this session. Allen was also one of several Republicans who voted against Tilton’s unconstitutional bills.

Proving once again that even the best idea should be rejected at least two or three times before it’s adopted, the senate voted down Sen Scott McCoy (D-Salt Lake City) moratorium on the disposal of electronic waste after 2007. (Rep Ralph Becker has tried similar legislation in the house.) McCoy watered it down to a task force to study electronic waste disposal, but the amended legislation died in the senate during the last hours.

McCoy is one of four senators with perfect scores on the legislative scorecards. Six representatives share the same honor. The complete scorecards for the 2006 General Session and several past sessions are also available on the chapter website, http://utah.sierraclub.org/legislative.asp.

Progressive environmental legislation did come out of this session. Rep Ronda Menlove (R-Garland) took a swipe at Utah’s mercury crisis with House Bill 138 that mandates the removal of mercury switches from junked automobiles. And we took a small step forward towards energy efficiency with Rep Fred Hunsaker’s (R-Logan) HB 80 that establishes procedures for saving energy in state buildings and recommends energy-saving devices and appliances.

With deep regret, I have to report the retirement of two senators who have scored one hundred percent for several years running, Patrice Arent and Karen Hale. Arent and Hale have served with integrity, perseverance and grace. The upper house won’t be the same without them.

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