2003 Legislative Victories Tarnished by Water Setback

Advancing shoreline protection and reducing mercury pollution were two of several victories for the environment in the 2003 Legislative Session. Progress was made amidst an unprecedented fiscal crisis and despite a very challenging political environment.

Unfortunately, a governor-backed water package passed the legislature as the first special session drew to a close on June 10, tarnishing the best legislative performance for environmental protection seen in years.

The environmental community entered the legislative session on January 14, 2003, more focused than years past, advocating four community priorities: mercury pollution reduction; adequate environmental funding; a balanced transportation package; and halting environmental regulatory rollbacks.

This effort was complemented and strengthened by the formation of a legislative partnership between the Washington Environmental Council (WEC) and Washington Conservation Voters (WCV). The WEC/WCV Partnership also made advancing shoreline protection a priority.

Following 136 days of legislative debate, wins were achieved on mercury reduction, preventing environmental rollbacks and advancing shorelines protection. To round out the priorities, environmental funding fared better than expected and the transportation package resulted in a mixed bag.

One of the challenges to overcome in the 2003 legislature was the debunking the tired, false dichotomy of “jobs vs. the environment.” Historically, lawmakers have sought to weaken environmental safeguards in tough economic times. Bipartisan efforts to not only forego this short-sighted thinking but actually advance environmental protection supports the notion that a strong economy and a healthy environment go hand in hand.

Following is a quick wrap up of the major issues in which WEC/WCV Partnership engaged:

•Mercury Reduction. HB 1002 will prohibit the sale of most products that contain mercury in 2006. Governor Locke’s signing of the bill makes Washington one of only 13 states to enact such legislation.

•Shoreline Protection. The WEC/WCV Partnership led the effort to pass SB 6012, which specifies a schedule for local jurisdictions to revise local shoreline plans. The most significant impact of the bill is the legislative endorsement of moving shoreline protection forward. Securing $2 million in the budget affirms this legislative support.

•Budget. While natural resource agencies will take several million dollars in cuts, these reductions are not disproportionate as compared to other sectors of government. This is an improvement from year’s past. Moreover, several priority programs were adequately funded, including shorelines, the Neah Bay oil spill prevention rescue tug, the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, the Trust Land Transfer program and new investments in clean air programs.

Unfortunately, a significant negative outcome of the budget was a $2.7 million payoff for a private timber company not to log part of their lands with spotted owl habitat.

•Environmental Rollback Defense. A host of bills were introduced to undermine existing public involvement and permitting processes. Virtually all of these “regulatory reform” bills were defeated as were a dozen bills to weaken the Growth Management Act.

•Transportation. The legislature passed a $4.2 billion transportation package that will spend 89 percent on highways and auto ferries and 11 percent on passenger and freight rail and public transportation. While the package is short on transportation choices, the road projects generally are not as damaging as those proposed in last year’s Referendum 51. Moreover, the transportation package included the Neah Bay rescue tug funding (five years worth) as well as $10 million to clean up school buses that currently use dirty diesel.

•Forestry. WEC supported a successful bill to enable the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to utilize contract harvesting and ensured that a forest health bill achieved its stated goal. The partnership also worked with a broad coalition to ensure that small foresters comply with fish passage laws. One other major success was defeating a bill that would have eliminated review of state timber sales under the State Environmental Policy Act (“SEPA”).

•Water Resources. WEC worked on more than two dozen water bills over the course of session, and the partnership fought a special session water deal advocated by the governor, the Senate and House leadership. Passage of the governor’s municipal bill, which prioritizes utility water use over stream flows, and the Senate’s water bill, which eliminates some of the state’s water quality authority, are serious setbacks for balanced management of the state’s water.

•Salmon Recovery. In addition to the water package, a bill that exempts tide gates and floodgates from fish passage laws set salmon recovery back. Fortunately, an even broader effort to weaken the state’s fish passage authority (i.e., hydraulics code) was defeated.

Despite the setbacks, particularly the water deal, on balance 2003 was a very good session for the environment. WEC will continue to work with WCV and the broader community to ensure that such legislative advancements become the rule rather than the exception. §

The Washington Environmental Council has been working at the state level to protect our land, air and water for 35 years. For more information about WEC and our work, please go to our Web site at http://www.wecprotects.org.