By Roy C. Hengerson
There was great interest in energy and global climate change issues during the 2008 Session of the Missouri Legislature, resulting in many bills dealing with energy issues. The Sierra Club supported most of those bills. However, many made little progress through the legislative process because of the slow pace of activity and controversies over other issues. High gasoline prices and increasing public concern about global warming did put pressure on legislators to enact something to address energy issues.
Going into the last week of the Session, essentially only one energy bill was still in play – SB1181. After hearing a number of energy-related bills, the Senate Commerce, Energy, and Environment Committee, chaired by Senator Kevin Engler, put together various measures from other energy bills into Senate Bill 1181, which became the omnibus vehicle for energy-related legislation. Senators Kevin Engler, Joan Bray, and Jeff Smith were particularly active in these efforts.
But SB1181 ran into a problem in the last couple of days of the Session, as did all bills which had not made it completely through the, sometimes cumbersome, legislative process. SB1181 was still in Conference Committee but could not move forward due to a battle which carried over from the 2007 Session over the so-called “Village bill”.
This measure was slipped into other legislation by House Speaker Rod Jetton in 2007; it would allow an individual (or small group of individuals) to incorporate their property into a “Village” and then, by virtue of being a “Village” being able to choose not follow local and county ordinances already in place. It could even be used to site a CAFO (large factory farm) in an area over strong objections of citizens in that area. It was reintroduced in 2008. A measure to repeal this provision was staunchly fought by Jetton and his supporters, but other legislators, including Senate and House Republicans, turned up the heat. In the closing hours of the 2008 Session the Senate continued to filibuster all legislation into the last days and nights of the Session. Finally, at about 4:00 a.m. on Friday, May 16th, Jetton relented. That allowed a flood of bills, including SB 1181, to be enacted that last day of Session.
Provisions in SB1181
Among the provisions of SB1181 are:
New or renovated state buildings must meet minimum energy standards and 10% of maintenance expenses must be used for energy conservation. Tax incentives for energy efficiency are available to taxpayers and there is created a green sales tax holiday in April for one week for Energy Star certified appliances. Schools must meet green school cleaning policies. Inter-Agency collaboration to secure energy grants is mandated. The Missouri Energy Task Force must report periodically to the Governor and General Assembly. The Missouri DNR is to certify home energy auditors. Product Energy Efficiency Standards shall be adopted and updated by the Missouri DNR.
Aquila Bailout Measure
The only provision that the Sierra Club strongly opposed, but which was enacted, was the “Aquila bailout language”. This measure allows the Public Service Commission (PSC) to permit utility facilities after the fact. Aquila Company had built a natural gas fired peaking power plant in Cass County, despite violating local zoning ordinances and not receiving a permit from the PSC. After losing several court rulings, Aquila then went to the Legislature to get permission to keep their already built power plant. The original language was completely open-ended, meaning that it could apply to other facilities as well. However, we were able to get that improved so it only applies to Aquila’s South Harper plant. Still, this sets a bad precedent and we continued to oppose the bill. The language was added to several bills, and the idea of requiring the Harper South plant to be dismantled was one that most legislators from both parties could not support. The language would up in SB720, which was finally passed.
Energy Efficiency
Coming out of the settlement agreement between Sierra Club and Kansas City Power & Light, SB1277 was introduced by Senator Delbert Scott. The bill’s goal was to encourage utility investments in energy efficiency and conservation. However, the bill was complex and there were some concerns that the bill’s language could lead to weakening of the Public Service Commission’s ability to control rates charged consumers of electricity and natural gas. After having a hearing in mid April in the Senate Commerce, Energy, and Environment Committee, on April 17 that Committee declined to vote do pass on SB1277, thereby killing the bill. Further work on energy efficiency legislative language is needed so a revised bill can be brought back for the 2009 Session.
CAFOs/Local Control
Family farmers, local government officials, and environmentalists continued to guard against legislation that would take away counties’ ability to regulate large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) during the 2008 Session. No such legislation was ever introduced despite some talk a bill would be filed. However, other related agricultural issues were followed closely in the 2008 Session. One such issue was giving subsidies to large CAFOs to help them with their costs of controlling their pollution. Such costs should be part of the expenses of operating these polluting facilities, and not subsidized by government. Despite such a provision being added to several bills during the 2008 Session local, we were successful in preventing its enactment.
To learn how specific environmental bills fared you can use the Sierra Club legislative tracking report available on the internet to follow the progress of bills of interest. Go to the Sierra Club website at www.missouri.sierraclub.org and then click on track legislation in the upper right area of the website. Clicking on the bill number in the report connects you to the state legislative website for specific information on the bill.
For more information on the Sierra Club’s state legislative program please contact Roy Hengerson at (573) 644-2828 or roy.hengerson@sierraclub.org.