AWC Legislative Bulletin - Volume 30, No. 6
November 16, 2007 (Plain Text Version)

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In this issue:
From the Director: Initiative 747 Declared Unconstitutional
SAVE THE DATE!
2008 AWC City Legislative Action Conference (CLAC):
January 30-31
Legislative Committee Meetings
Energy & Telecommunications
Environment & Water
General Local Government
Infrastructure, Transportation & Economic Development
Land Use & Housing
Law & Justice
Municipal Finance
Personnel & Labor Relations

Environment & Water

Cities Engaged in Climate Change/Sustainability Issues

As mentioned in last month’s Bulletin, a growing number of cities are considering or adopting programs to address energy consumption, emissions of greenhouse gasses, and sustainability in their city operations and communities.

The environmental community – a coalition of groups such as the Washington Environmental Council, Futurewise, Audubon Washington and others – is planning to promote legislation in 2008 requiring certain cities and counties to amend local GMA plans and regulations to address Climate Change issues.

They have spent the last few months developing their proposal and sharing it with individual city officials, AWC staff and others. They met with a number of city lobbyists (those representing cities of 30,000 or more people – the cities impacted by this proposal) on October 31 to talk through their proposal.

AWC’s Legislative Subcommittee on Land Use and Environmental Stewardship discussed their proposed ideas during its meeting earlier this month and have forwarded some ideas to the full Legislative Committee for their consideration on November 19.

Whether or not impacted cities and AWC are able to reach full agreement on the environmental community’s proposal, it is clear this is an important emerging issue and one in which a growing number of cities are getting engaged. More information about their ideas and city responses will be made available after the matter is considered by AWC’s Legislative Committee. Follow up meetings and discussions are being scheduled for early in December.

The proposal is one of the environmental community’s four priority issues for the upcoming 2008 session (information about it and other priorities can be found on their website at www.environmentalpriorities.org/).

Their proposal is in addition to the work of the Governor’s Climate Advisory Team (CAT) (www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/index.htm) whose deliberations and work are aiming to provide recommendations for state and local actions. Their work is not necessarily broad enough or at a fast enough pace for the environmental community.

In addition, general information and resources about climate change challenges and sustainability can be found on MRSC’s webpage at www.mrsc.org/Subjects/Environment/climatechange.aspx.

ICLEI Works with Cities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) is a membership association of local governments committed to advancing climate protection and sustainable development. Since its inception in 1993, ICLEI has grown to include nearly 1,000 cities in the world, more than 300 of which are in the United States.

In Washington, ICLEI is working with almost twenty cities and six counties to help them achieve tangible reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts. ICLEI provides: tools, technical expertise, software training, policy assistance and national and international peer networks.

Through this work, ICLEI helped local governments reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 23 million tons in 2005 alone. This translates into about $600 million in annual cumulative savings, largely on energy expenditures. Local governments have led the effort in recent years to envision, accelerate and achieve strong climate protection goals, and ICLEI is proud to support and facilitate their efforts to create cleaner, healthier, economically viable communities. To find more about ICLEI and its programs, contact Amy Shatzkin at amy.shatzkin@iclei.org.

Puget Sound Partnership - Support Coming to foster Communications

After a few months in existence, the seven-member Leadership Council of the new Puget Sound Partnership (www.psp.wa.gov) has held a number of meetings and is getting down to the tough job of developing and adopting an Action Agenda (due this time next year) for Puget Sound restoration.

All 112 cities within and the 12 counties abutting the Sound are expected to play a significant role in implementing whatever Action Agenda is adopted. Implementation will almost certainly rely upon local government land use and the capital budgeting and environmental protection authorities of cities and counties.

AWC and the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) have approached the Leadership Council Chair, Bill Ruckelshaus, and Puget Sound Partnership Executive Director David Dicks. We have asked for funding to support our joint efforts to help educate and inform impacted cities and counties about the work of the Partnership and, as the Action Agenda is developed on a very fast track, to facilitate interactions. They have agreed in principle to provide funding for such an effort through at least the development of their Action Agenda. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be working out the details.

For questions or more information, please contact Dave Williams, davew@awcnet.org.

The next meeting of the Puget Sound Partnership Leadership Council takes place on December 17, 2007. The Ecosystem Coordination Board’s next meeting takes place December 14. The meeting times/locations have yet to be announced and will be posted on their website at www.psp.wa.gov.

Residential Yard Waste Burn Ban Update

For many cities with 5,000 or fewer people, the ban on residential yard waste burning that took effect January 1, 2007 has been difficult to understand and implement. Residents in fully-planning GMA cities with 5,000 or fewer people can no longer burn yard waste, nor can residents in the unincorporated urban growth areas next to them.

The Department of Ecology’s Solid Waste Division has concluded a series of "listening sessions" in several impacted communities as part of their requirement to report back to the 2008 Legislature on issues surrounding this ban.

The Department of Ecology (DOE) has scheduled the first meeting of an Advisory Committee to consider feedback on "what’s working and not working" as these smaller communities attempt to implement alternatives to burning. The Committee includes representatives from the cities of Waterville and Forks and AWC.

The first meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 26.

Upcoming Legislative Hearings of Interest

Senate Water, Energy & Telecommunications Committee
Climate Change Recommendations, November 30, 10 am, Olympia
Agenda will include updates and early action recommendations from the Climate Advisory Team (CAT); an update on Washington's automobile emissions standards; and an update on required rulemaking under ESSB 6001.