Week of March 30 - April 3, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Taxpayer Protection {action item}
H.3253 by Representatives Herbkersman, Erickson, Brantley, Sandifer and Sottile would reform our state’s outdated annexation laws. The bill expands statutory standing, improves public notice requirements for all annexation proposals, requires a plan of services to ensure cities can pay for the new services and infrastructure to support new annexation proposals, requires consistency with countywide comprehensive plans, and limits shoestring annexations of remote properties by requiring shared borders with an annexing municipality and that the proposed area to be annexed be urban. H.3253 has been referred to the House Special Laws Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. The bill is expected to be considered by the House Subcommittee in late April. Click here to write you Representative and Senator as well as members of the Judiciary Committee on this important bill.
Contact: Patrick Moore and Patty Pierce
The "Un"Fair Share Water Bill {action item}A Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee chaired by Senator Paul Campbell debated S.452 this week, but due to time constraints the bill was carried over until the subcommittee’s next meeting on April 14th at 9:00AM. Subcommittee members are committed to meeting as long as necessary that morning to try and reach agreement on a bill that can be supported by all stakeholders and sent to the full Agriculture Committee on April 15th. If a water withdrawal bill is not reported out of the full committee on April 15th, a bill will not make it to the Senate floor this year in time to be sent to the House for consideration.
We are working to build support for several amendments that will improve S.452. The industry-friendly bill, by Senator Campbell, places future industries’ rights to water above the public’s right to water. Specifically, provisions that allocate the vast majority of water in the state’s rivers, lakes and streams to existing and future industries and allow them to be drawn down to near drought-level conditions must be changed. Supporters of Campbell’s bill feel that existing and future industries should be given special treatment and permit rights to use the majority of the public’s water in return for agreeing to participate in a new regulatory program.
S.425 is bad for the environment, bad for negotiations with neighboring states, and is at odds with the good Fair Share Water bill (S.275) introduced by Senator Wes Hayes. Please click here to urge subcommittee members to oppose S.452 as written and support amendments that will protect our rivers and streams and foster responsible economic development.
S.452 gives higher consideration to future industries than to the people who live here now.
S.452 establishes a one-size-fits-all minimum flow policy for the state that would allow rivers and streams to be drawn down to near drought level flows (20% MAF). Big business and industry believe that year-round drought level flows are “adequate” for the health of our rivers and for the public’s use.
As written, S.452 would exempt some of the state’s largest water consumers from the permitting process. The bill also creates a regulatory process that favors upstream users over downstream users. There are only a few users who aren’t downstream of others.
S.452 is bad for negotiations with Georgia and North Carolina: By adopting the “low flow” requirements noted above, South Carolina would be conceding that it needs nothing more than drought level flows, leaving everything else on the table for our neighbors to claim.
News Coverage:
- The State, “Water bill crucial to court fight with NC,” by Bob Waldrep
- Post & Courier, “Protect our state’s rivers”
Senate Votes to Stop Wasting SC!
Letters and phone calls from concerned citizens turned the tide in the Senate this week and moved S.324, a joint resolution calling for a two-year moratorium on permits for landfills, from the contested calendar to the floor for a vote. The resolution passed the Senate unanimously on Wednesday and was introduced in the House on Thursday where it was sent to the House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee for consideration. The resolution, by Senator Gerald Malloy (D-Darlington) and others, applies to new and expanded Class III “megadumps.” Existing municipal landfills looking to expand and construction and debris landfills will be exempt. Please take a moment to thank your Senator for supporting S.324.We’re halfway there, but we’ve still got to move the resolution through the House by May in order for it to take effect this year. Please take a moment to write members of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee in support of S.324.
New Coverage:
- Florence Morning News, “South Carolina needs to limit waste from other states”
- The State, “Predatory dumping hazardous to our economy” by Senator Tom Davis
- The State, “Panel votes to stop dumps”
- Post & Courier, “Landfill Moratorium Advances”
- In 2007, South Carolinians produced 4.6 million tons of solid waste destined for S.C. landfills.
- There are 18 fully operational Class III (municipal solid waste) landfills in South Carolina, with a 19th nearly permitted.
- The permitted annual capacity of these 18 landfills is 9.9 million tons, and an additional net 3.5 million tons of capacity could be added if the proposed Williamsburg and Marlboro County double its needed capacity, and could soon have more than three times its needed capacity. landfills were built. This means the State already has more than
- In 2007, 28% of all municipal solid waste landfilled in South Carolina was imported from out of state. This amount has increased steadily as statewide capacity has increased over time. This is a clear market signal that South Carolina has far more capacity than it currently needs.
- The SCDHEC Board recognized in August, 2008 that the state’s Determination of Need Regulation (61-107.17) is not fulfilling the intent of Title 44. The Board also recognized that the DON changes proposed this legislative session do not adequately address the problems. Therefore, the Board directed DHEC staff to set up a Statewide Landfill Capacity Taskforce to review the capacity issues generated by the regulation. This taskforce is directed to report findings by August 2009.
Energy Standard Act
Representative Harry Cato’s (R-Greenville) Energy Standard Act, H.3550, that aims to establish a new energy standard for residential construction was approved this week by the House Real Estate Subcommittee of the Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee. The Subcommittee Chaired by Representative Jimmy Bales (R-Richland) adopted an amendment prior to approving the bill that removed the outdated prescriptive energy provisions in our South Carolina code and added language to make the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code for new residential construction and renovations our new energy standard. This simple change in law could help our state achieve 7% electricity savings and 5% natural gas savings by 2020. The estimated costs for the change are approximately $600, but the energy savings are more than $400 annually, so a homeowner could expect to be paid back for his investment in less than two years. The amended version of H.3550 is expected to be reviewed by the Labor, Commerce, and Industry Committee at its next meeting during the week of April 20th. We’ll work to ensure the Committee supports the provisions of the bill to ensure this legislation moves forward this legislative session.
Contact: Ben Moore and Patty Pierce
Nuclear Reprocessing Amendment Defeated
This week the Senate debated S.232, a bill by Senator Ryberg and others relating to the definition of the renewable energy and the state energy plan, and defeated in a vote of 23-20 Senator Greg Ryberg’s (R-Aiken) amendment that would have added nuclear fuel reprocessing to the state’s energy plan. We want to thank Senator Phil Leventis (D-Sumter) for his leadership and tireless efforts to defeat the Ryberg amendment. After the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee amendment was adopted, S.232 was further amended to require the State Energy Office to submit its annual state energy action plan to the Public Utility Review Committee, the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee and the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. This annual report includes activities by the State Energy Office to carry out the Plan for State Energy Policy, recommendations for long-term quantitative and qualitative energy goals for the residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, governmental, and utility sectors, and measures of progress for these goals, an outline of the obstacles to efficiency for which legislative, regulatory, or other governmental remedies are appropriate. S.232 was adopted as amended by the Senate and forwarded to the House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee for its review.
Contacts: Patty Pierce and Ben Moore
Contact: Ben Moore and Patty Pierce
Senate Finance Committee Considers Conservation Bank This Week {action item}
The Senate Finance Committee will consider funding for the Conservation Bank this week. Funding for the continued existence of the Conservation Bank, a State program that has produced $6 in land value for every $1 it has received, is in serious jeopardy. The Bank has protected more than 152,000 acres at a price of $534 per acre in South Carolina and without funding this year, could cease to exist. Please write and call your Senators and ask them to support funding for the Bank or its administrative costs.
Contact: Patrick Moore
