End of Session Legislative Report (retired)
Legislation

• The Governor’s proposal (combined with language from Senator Jeff Smith’s Senate Bill 1117) that establishes an annual one-week “Show Me Green Sales Tax Holiday.” Beginning in 2009, Energy Star appliances will be exempt from state sales tax from April 19 through April 26. A provision was included to allow political subdivisions to opt in at their discretion.

• Language from Senator Joan Bray’s Senate Bill 1263 which requires the Department of Natural Resources to establish minimum energy efficiency standards for state buildings, based on the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code. State buildings must meet the new standards on or after July 1, 2009.

• Senator Bray’s language from Senate Bill 1261 that requires representatives from the departments of Labor and Industrial Relations, Elementary and Secondary Education, Agriculture, Economic Development, and Natural Resources to collaborate and find ways to secure grants established under the federal Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

• Senator Brad Lager’s language from Senate Bill 1161 that allows low-interest loans through the Linked Deposit Loan Program to be used for eligible alternative energy operations that producing and sell fuel or power from alternative energy sources. Alternative energy sources include solar, hydroelectric, wind, and qualified biomass.

The bill is interesting as well because of some of the provisions that did not make it into the final version, and because of some of the “theater” that surrounded its final passage:

• Representative Maria Chapelle-Nadal made several attempts to amend the Renewable Energy Credit language proposed in the ballot initiative. This would have mandated that 15% of the electricity provided by investor-owned utilities come from renewable energy sources (i.e., wind, solar and biomass). After lengthy debate regarding the minimum requirements and discussion of the upcoming Renewable Energy ballot initiative, the amendment was defeated.

• Representative Jason Holsman was successful in amending the “Green Building Tax Credit” to incentivize developers and buyers of sustainable housing. However, the program was estimated to cost $1 million and the measure was removed from the final bill during conference.

• Representative Shane Schoeller worked hard to pass this legislation in the House. On the House floor, he offered an amendment allowing electric retail suppliers to recover costs associated with renewable mandates. Solar rebates will be available at up to 25% of the cost of solar panels. Schoeller‘s amendment was adopted and is in the bill.

• This omnibus bill would not have passed without the help of numerous legislators. Of particular note is Senator Kevin Engler, Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Energy and the Environment, who went to extraordinary lengths to see the bill through.  After an arduous 15-hour day, the Senator awoke at 3:00 a.m. Friday morning (the last day of the session) to sign the conference report.  This enabled the final bill to be brought up for debate later that day. 

If you would like to view a full text of the legislation, please go to the Missouri Senate web site, type in SB 1181 and click “GO”. 

Electronic Waste 
Representative Shannon Cooper and Senator Dan Clemens -- two legislators not normally considered strong allies of environmental interests -- were successful in inserting language to encourage recycling of outdated electronic appliances, such as computers, into Senate Bill 720. The billed passed in the final days of the session.  It calls for producers and distributors of computers and other electronic equipment to establish and maintain recycling programs so consumers have a way to recycle these products. (Numerous MVC supporters who attended Conservation Lobby Day on Feb. 26, 2008, had testified at a house hearing in support of Cooper’s original legislation.)

Utility Legislation
For the past few years, MVC has worked to develop stronger ties with the utility lobby in order to find areas where we can cooperate. (Such ties were important to the passage in 2007 of the Easy Connect Act.)

One bill that generated much discussion in 2008 was Senate Bill 1277. Senator Delbert Scott’s legislation would have allowed electric and gas corporations to recover expenses for approved energy efficiency investments, and would have allowed the Public Service Commission to authorize such expenditures. As such, the bill would have encouraged utility companies to invest in energy efficiency measures.

Although the fundamental idea behind the bill was one which drew support from many environmentalists, there were significant concerns about the language of the bill. In the end, opposition from a variety of groups (primarily large companies that use large quantities of electricity) caused the legislation to die in committee.

SB 1277 highlighted the strong need for the environmental community to be able to coordinate about legislation.

Aquila
Aquila, a power company in western Missouri, built a gas-fired electrical plant without appropriate legal authority. Earlier in 2008, Aquila lost a lawsuit and was told it would have to relocate the power plant. (Estimates were that “moving” a new power plant would cost about $130 million.) The so-called “Aquila fix” in SB 720 permitted this power plant to stay put, essentially forgiving the company for not getting the appropriate permits.

Legal language being obscure and obtuse, the bill does not explicitly mention Aquila by name. For one year, the state legislature is giving the Public Service Commission the authority to approve the construction of an electric plant in a county of the first classification after any such electric plant has been constructed or acquired. As part of the fix, the legislature also included the following language intended to punish future infractions: “For electric plants that are unlawfully constructed after August 28, 2008, the amount of damages awarded in any claim against the electric plant shall be 3 times the actual damages to the plaintiff's real estate plus court courts and attorney fees.”

Audit Privilege
Once again, Rep. Walt Bivins introduced Audit Privilege legislation allowing companies to self-report pollution spills and other environmental “incidents.” In return, information about the incident would be kept secret, and the company would receive limited immunity from prosecution for the spill. The language in this year’s audit privilege bill (nicknamed the “Dirty Secrets” bill by its detractors) was better than that in past versions. Still, the fact remains that there has never been a case where a company self-reported a problem and was subject to punitive actions by the Department of Natural Resources.

Bivins’ bill did not move out of committee again this year – a victory for the conservation community.

Sand and Gravel Mining
Rep. Tom Loehner once again introduced sand and gravel legislation, which would loosen already weak regulations regarding the removal of gravel from Missouri’s streams.  As with Audit Privilege, the bill this year reflected significant input from environmental groups, and was considerably “better” than versions from previous years. And, as with the Audit Privilege bill, the Sand and Gravel bill did not reach the House floor – another victory for the conservation community. 

CAFOs
There’s good and bad news concerning legislation involving CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations, also known as “factory farms”).

Good News:
In past years, this issue has been a major headache for environmental lobbyists and legislators. Factory farms have major waste disposal problems: a medium-sized CAFO can generate as much waste as a small city, but the waste-disposal process essentially comes down to spreading the waste on neighboring farm fields. Spreading manure on the fields might make sense in small family farms, but 5,000 hogs (a medium-sized CAFO) simply produce too much waste to avoid significant environmental and public health hazards.

Past years have seen significant efforts by the corporate agriculture lobby to weaken laws that are already too weak. These efforts have been beaten back in the past by a strong coalition of environmentalists, small farmers, and residents of rural communities. In 2008 there were very few pro-CAFO bills introduced. We believe this is a tacit acknowledgement by legislators that pro-CAFO stances are bad for their re-election chances.

On another front, Managed Environment Livestock Operation (MELO) language that would have created a tax credit for odor abatement activities by concentrated animal feeding operations was defeated in several omnibus agriculture bills. Rep. Therese Sander had an amendment to delete the language from Senate Bill 942; however, the bill was never brought up for debate on the House floor.

Bad News: 
Unfortunately, anti-CAFO legislation still does not get much of a hearing in the legislature. For instance, Rep. Jeff Harris introduced several bills regarding construction permits for concentrated animal feeding operations. One such bill would prohibit construction of factory farms within a three-mile buffer zone surrounding state parks. MVC has supported Harris’ bills; however, no action was taken on them this year.

Also Senate Bill 738 – Senator Gary Nodler’s measure which would increase penalties for persistent violations of air or water pollution laws and prohibit certain county solid waste laws – didn’t survive. His language made it through the Senate and picked up some energy efficiency language in the House Committee. But the bill failed to make it through the House Rules Committee, and was never brought before the full House for final debate.

Billboards and Scenic Highways
Senator Bill Stouffer introduced legislation that would roll back the changes put in place in 2002, and would allow presently nonconforming billboards along I-10 and I-44 to be rebuilt. MVC opposed the legislation. Even though Senator Stouffer got his omnibus transportation bill passed, the billboard language was stripped from the bill. We consider this a small victory in the fight against the billboard proliferation along state highways.

State Parks
This is the first year in a long time that the state has had funding for capital improvements. House Bill 2016 and House Bill 2023 included funding for State Parks and the Department of Conservation.

For State Parks, $6,195,000 was appropriated for land acquisitions and for renovation, construction and improvements at State Parks, and for maintenance of historic properties.  For Conservation, $36 million was appropriated for stream access acquisition and development; lake site acquisition and development; and land acquisition for upland wildlife, state forests, wetlands, and natural areas. In HB 2023, there was another $10 million appropriated from the Conservation Commission Fund for major improvements and repairs to buildings, roads, hatcheries, and other departmental structures, as well as for soil conservation activities and erosion control on department land.

Other
There were numerous other pieces of legislation that MVC monitored. A brief explanation of these bills is listed below.

HB 1727 – Rep. Walt Bivins – We supported this legislation that would reduce ambient night light at state parks, riverways, wilderness areas and various other sites that allow camping. It was known as the “night sky” or “light pollution” legislation. It was referred to the House Energy and Environment Committee, however, and never had a hearing.

HB 1832 – Rep. Shannon Cooper – Missouri County Planning Act: This act allows any county to create, adopt, amend, and carry out a county plan. Any county commission may establish and appoint a planning commission. While it looked like this bill was going to reach the Governor’s desk, the Senate stripped the original language from the bill and added the village law fix. The bill then died on the Senate floor on the last day of session.

SB 1040 & SJR 45 – Sen. Dan Clemens – Currently, the way that populous (i.e., first class) counties and less populous (i.e., rural) counties in Missouri receive state storm water and sewer funding is uneven. Taken together, these companion bills change the manner in which tens of millions of dollars of storm water funds are allocated to populous counties, freeing up state dollars for much needed storm water projects. Both bills passed during the end of the session, meaning the issue will appear on the November ballot, since it requires amending the Missouri constitution. MVC recommends Missouri voters approve this measure at the polls this fall.

HB 1469 – Rep. Bryan Pratt – Administrative Hearing Commission: Currently, all authority to hear administrative appeals regarding the rules on environmental control, mining, natural resources, air conservation, and water conservation is vested in the Administrative Hearing Commission. This bill authorized the commission to recommend decisions based on comments from the parties, consent order, agreed settlement or by disposition of a default judgment, judgment on the pleadings, or summary determinations. The same authority will be granted to the Hazardous Waste Management Commission, Land Reclamation Commission, Safe Drinking Water Commission, Air Conservation Commission, and Clean Water Commission in order to make final decisions in their specified areas of regulation. As of June 2nd, this bill was on the Governor’s desk awaiting his signature.

HB 1670 – Rep. Shannon Cooper – Sales Tax Exemption for Pollution Controls:
This bill removed the required certification by the Director of the Department of Natural Resources before a sales and use tax exemption applies to purchases or leases of machinery, equipment, appliances, and devices used solely to prevent, abate, or monitor water or air pollution and any materials and supplies used in the installation, construction, or reconstruction of the machinery, equipment, appliances, and devices. This bill finally passed.

HB 2058 – Rep. David Pearce – Tax Incentives for Business Development: Allowed a company that leases or owns facilities that produce electricity derived from qualified renewable energy sources, or which produce fuel for the generation of electricity from qualified renewable energy sources, to participate in the program as a technology business project if it meets the other requirements of the program. Qualified renewable energy sources include open-looped biomass, close-looped biomass, solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower but not ethanol distillation or production or biodiesel production. This is part of the Quality Jobs Program that is on the Governor’s desk for approval.

This bill also contains changes to the tax increment financing laws that would specify terms served by TIF commissioners in St. Louis, St. Charles, and Jefferson Counties. It also requires public hearings related to TIF projects in these counties.

SB 907 – Senator Kevin Engler – Real Property Transfers and Petroleum Storage Tanks: This bill makes changes to the laws regarding petroleum storage tanks fund. It prohibits the transfer of petroleum to tanks unless spill prevention, leak detection, and other types of equipment are installed on tanks and allows the Department of Natural Resources to red flag tanks that are ineligible to receive petroleum. It also requires owners of aboveground storage tanks to maintain insurance for spills in the amount of at least $1 million per spill and $2 million in aggregate or to participate in the fund. We worked with the Department and sponsor on language in this bill. We did not openly oppose this year. The bill finally passed.