|
 1. Graywater Bill Moves to Senate
House
Bill 2080 allows households to reuse certain types of water, known
as graywater, to water their lawn or garden. On Monday, this bill
passed the House on a 49-10 vote now moves to the Senate. The bill is
championed by Senator Jackie Dingfelder and was carried in the House by
Representative Ben Cannon.
Read
more in the Statesman Journal.
2. SB 596 - Deca PDBE
Remember Rachel Carson's Silent Spring? We
have a chance to get one serious toxic substance out of the
environment. Senate
Bill 596 bans the use of the flame retardant decapolybrominated
diphenyl ether (decaBDE) a widely used flame retardant known to bioaccumulate
in humans, fish and wildlife (i.e. collect in the body).
The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee passed the bill
out of committee with a unanimous bipartisan vote on March 15 and it
will be soon heading to the Senate floor for a vote. We cannot take
this one for granted as the opposition has hired a flock of high power
lobbyists who are steadily working to defeat this important
environmental bill.
Your voice is needed to keep this harmful chemical out of our homes and
the environment.
Contact: Sue Marshall on
behalf of Willamette Riverkeeper and The Audubon Society of Portland,
(971) 506-4617.
3. Ridding Noxious Weeds with HB 2212
House
Bill 2212 is an effort by the Oregon Department of Agriculture to
use existing legal structure set up to fight the tansy ragwort weed to
fight all noxious weeds, while including key national model weed law
provisions to ensure we have the best response possible. OLCV worked
with representatives of the Oregon Toxics Alliance, Nature Conservancy,
and Oregon Tilth to ensure the integrated weed management approach
language in the bill is strong and functional. The House Agriculture,
Natural Resources, and Rural Communities Committee sent the amended
bill to the floor on a 6-1 vote earlier this week. The full House is
scheduled to vote on it within a week.
Contact: Tom Wolf of Trout
Unlimited, (503) 883-1102
4. Bill to increase Fines for the breaking of
Environmental Laws
Senate
Bill 105 proposes to increase the maximum penalty amounts for violation
of certain environmental laws. The current maximum penalty for most
pollution control laws is $10,000 per violation per day. The amount was
set in 1973 and is not a serious deterrent to prevent violations of
environmental laws. Raising the maximum penalty will put Oregon in line
with many other state's environmental penalties. Of concern is that
penalty fees now go into the state general fund rather than support
DEQ's enforcement efforts which are woefully underfunded.
Urge committee members and your legislator to support SB 105 as it is
long overdue and encourages more support of DEQ's role in environmental
enforcement.
Contact: Sue Marshall of
Confluence Consulting, (971) 506-4617
5. Bottle Bill Expansion
On Thursday the House Environment and Water Committee considered a
series of amendments for the a bill to expand Oregon's Bottle Bill, House
Bill 2184, and adopted three (HB 2184-3, HB 2184-5 and HB 2184-10).
These amendments remove wine and liquor bottles from the list of
covered beverages to be added to the bottle bill in 2013 and allow the
raise in deposit to 10 cents only when we fail to make the 80% recovery
goal, the first report of which will be in 2015. However, one of the
amendments does ensure the return to retail model is maintained even if
redemption centers are established, which is allowed under the current
bottle bill but have never been implemented.
Another work session is expected soon to consider additional amendments
and to vote on the amended bill.
Contacts: Katy Daily, Recycling
Advocates, (503) 515-3474
Kristen Leonard,
Association of Oregon Recyclers, (503) 320-9427
6. HB 2534, Ensuring State Agencies Consider
Environmental Impacts
House
Bill 2534 requires executive level state agencies complete
environmental impact statements and analyze alternative courses of
action before making decisions that would significantly effect Oregon's
environmental quality. It also allows those potentially harmed by a
poor environmental decision by a state agency to seek a contested case
hearing to challenge the results of an environmental impact statement.
Currently, Oregon operates under a patchwork of rules governing how
agencies study and disclose the environmental impacts of major
decisions, sometimes leaving the public with little or no recourse when
poor decisions are made. HB 2534 would increase transparency, consistency
and accountability in state environmental decision making and help make
sure state agencies are consistent in helping protect Oregon's land,
air and water while meeting our greenhouse gas reduction
strategies.
The House Environment and Water Committee will hold a public hearing on
HB 2534 next Tuesday, March 24 and 3pm in Hearing Room D at the state
capitol.
Contact: Ivan Maluski
of The Sierra Club, (503) 238-0442.
7. Expand the Bike Bill for more Funding
2009 could be a big year for the cycling community of Portland. HB
2971, being advocated for by a number of bike organizations, is an
expansion of the 1971 Bike Bill and would increase the required amount
of the State Highway Fund spent on bicycle and pedestrian
infrastructure from 1 to 2%. This increase would allow the state to
double its efforts in expanding Oregon's transportation choices. Please
remind your legislator of the importance of expanding bicycle and
pedestriainfrastructure in our state.
There is a hearing this Wednesday, March 25 in the Transportation
Committee, 1:00 PM, Hearing Room D. For information on testifying, see
contact below.
Contact: Karl Rohde of the
Bicycle Transportation Alliance, (503) 226-0676 ext. 12
8. Product Stewardship has first Public Hearing
The Product Stewardship Act of 2009, HB
3060, will have its first public hearing on Tuesday, May 31, 3pm in
the House Environment and Water Committee. HB 2060 creates a framework
that defines a process for products to be brought under the product
stewardship umbrella in Oregon, whose free and convenient end of life
management will be the responsibility of the manufacturers of the
products, similar to the e-waste bill passed last session. Products
considered for inclusion will be evaluated by DEQ on a number of
factors, such as the potential to reduce waste, toxticity, greenhouse
gas emissions, public demand for environmentally safe management, producer
readiness, and fiscal impacts for local governments, producers,
retailers, consumers and other affected parties. Through a public
process DEQ will then recommend to the legislature products to be
included under the product stewardship framework. Legislative action
will be required for product inclusion.
This bill also contains two product classes to be immediately brought
under the product stewardship framework: mercury containing lamps
(flourescent light bulbs) and rechargeable batteries. Separare but
parallel individual product stewardship bills are also being drafted
for paint, mercury containing lamps (SB 742) and rechargeable batteries
(SB 320).
Contact: Katy Daily of Recycling
Advocates, (503) 515-3474
9. Destination Resort Update
Last week, the House Land Use Committee held a hearing on HB
2227, destination resort reform legislation by the Department of
Land Conservation and Development. Witnesses from across the state
testified, as did 1000 Friends of Oregon. To
see their testimony and list of recommended changes to the bill, click
here.
There will be another public hearing and possible work session on this
bill at the Capitol on Tuesday, March 24th at 3pm in front of the House
Land Use Committee, Hearing Room E. For more information on testifying
please contact Tara Sulzen, of 1000 Friends of Oregon.
Contact: Danielle Welliever
of 1000 Friends, (360) 259-8385
10. HB 2999, Pesticide Use Reporting System (PURS)
bill up for first hearing next week
On Tuesday, March 24th the House Agriculture, Natural Resources, and
Rural Communities Committee will hold its first hearing and possible
work session on HB
2999. Oregon's PURS program collects data on what pesticides are
used in Oregon and in what areas they are used. HB 2999 would extend
the sunset of the PURS program to January 2, 2016 in order to collect
six more years of vital data and improve the scientific usefulness of
the data collected by moving from a water basin level of reporting to a
watershed level of reporting. Please contact your local legislator and
encourage them to support a healthy Oregon by continuing the critical
and unfinished work started by the Oregon pesticide use reporting
system through passage of HB 2229.
Contact: Kristin Leonard,
of Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Peticides, (503) 320-9427
11. A Bill that Bans Phosphorus from Our Dishwashing
Soap
SB 631 would ban phosphorus from automatic dishwashing soap. With a
minor amendment to bring the implementation date in line with fourteen
other states that are proposing similar bans, the bill passed out of
the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee unanimously.
Excessive phosphorous seriously impacts the water quality of many water
bodies in Oregon. This ban will help clean up waters and save on the
cost of waste water treatment.
SB 361 will soon go before the full Senate for a floor vote so letters
to your senators in support are needed now.
Contact: Sue Marshall, on
behalf of Tualatin Riverkeepers, (971) 506-4617
12. Editorial on Field Burning
In this article, one of many affected local residents remarks
on the health detriments that come along with field burning, and the
immediacy of the issue. Two bills are working their way through the
legislature that attempt to end field burning. HB
2183, introduced by Governor Kulongoski, would phase out field
burning gradually over a three-year period. SB
528, sponsored by Representative Paul Holvey and Senator Prozanski
(D-Eugene) would enforce an immediate end.
Read
more in the Register Guard.
13. Read about our Bright Future
Yesterday, the
Northwest Energy Coalition released a revealing report showcasing
that the four-state Northwest region has ample, affordable energy
conservation and renewable energy resources to serve future power needs
while at the same time fulfilling our climate responsibilities. Along
the way, we can revive our economy and create thousands of good local
jobs.
Bright
Future is the second in the Light in the River
series of analyses on the interconnections of climate, clean energy and
species survival. Light in the River is sponsored by NW Energy
Coalition, Save Our Wild Salmon, and the Sierra Club.
Check
it out here.
14. Gainsville, FLA takes the lead in Solar Power
A groundbreaking event occured in the US this month: Gainsville became
the first US city to adopt higher payments for solar power, an
advancement that until now, few families have been able to afford.
"The new payment method is referred to as a 'feed-in tariff' in
Europe. It is, in essence, a mandate by the government telling a
utility to pay above-market rates for green electricity. It shifts the
burden of subsidizing green energy from taxpayers, as is common in the
US, to electricity ratepayers." This step was taken with eyes set
on the solar energy success in Germany, where feed-in tariffs have been
in effect since 1991, and now has about five times as many photovoltaic
panels installed as the US.
Read
more about the progress in the New York Times.
Sierra Club LNG Presentation
On April 9th, join the Sierra Club for a
presentation on Liquefied Natural Gas (what is it? who likes it? why is
it a threat?). Olivia Schmidt, Statewide LNG Organizer, and Greg Jacob,
LNG Issue Coordinator for Oregon Chapter, Sierra Club, will be showing a
twenty-minute video titled "Crossroads on the Columbia" and a
four-minute video that shows where the Palomar pipeline will run
through the Mt Hood National Forest.
Following the two videos there will be a question and answer session
with Olivia Schmidt and Amy Harwood (of Bark) on the three proposed LNG
terminals and 500 miles of new pipelines proposed in Oregon.
More
Details
Legislative Town Halls
Over the course of the session, legislators, senators, and their staff
make concerted efforts to hold public town halls and coffee chats.
Usually held on a weekday evening or weekend morning, it's a great
opportunity to learn your elected officials' stances on issues, voice
your opinions, and get to know your community. To find out about these,
sign up for your
legislators' newsletter online.
Use the link to find out who your representative and senator are.
Coming Up - This
week
.png) Representative
Nancy Nathanson
Saturday, March 21st
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Lago Blu Gelato
2780 Shadow View Drive, Eugene
 Representative
Suzanne VanOrman
Saturday, March 21st
8:30 am
Charburger Country
4100 Westcliff Dr, Hood River, OR 97031
.png) Senator
Floyd Prozanski and US
Senator Jeff Merkley
Saturday, March 21st
10:30 am
Lane County Community College
1059 Willamette Street, Eugene
 Senator
Rod Monroe and Representative
Jefferson Smith
Sunday, March 22nd
3-4pm
Midland County Library
805 SE 122nd, South of Stark Street
Senator
Alan Bates
Medford
- Sunday, March 22nd
RCC/SOU Higher Education Center Presentation Hall
101 S Bartlett Street
Ashland
- Monday, March 23rd
6:30 - 8pm
Ashland Elks Lodge
255 E Main Street
.png) Representative
Vicki Berger
Monday, March 23rd
...at various locations throughout Salem, all day. Get in touch to find
a convenient time and place near you.
.png) Sherrie
Sprenger
Tuesday, March 24th
7pm
Stayton County Library
515 N First Avenue
 Senator
Laurie Monnes-Anderson, Representative
Nick Kahl,  and Representative
Greg Matthews 
Tuesday, March 24th
6pm
Mt. Hood Community College Town & Gown Room
Brought to you endearingly from Legislative
Affairs Director (and rockstar), Evan Manvel.
Groovin' Bear
|
