March 5, 2006

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Vetoed Environmental Measure Dead
By Joe Bauman
Deseret Morning News, UT
March 2, 2006

The 2006 Legislature drew to a close Wednesday with the Legislature failing to override the governor's veto of one of the most controversial environmental bills this session.

The Senate voted late in the day to override, 21-8, the veto that Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. had slapped on SB70, the bill to remove his authority to single-handedly torpedo the establishment of a new low-level nuclear waste disposal site or the expansion of the existing one.

But House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, cast doubt on the likelihood of the override passing the House with the required two-thirds majority, which is 50 votes.

"We didn't have 50 votes when it went up and passed" the first time the House voted on it, he said. "And if we don't have 50 votes now, why spend time debating it?" He added that he was not really passionate about the measure.

The bill also applies to hazardous waste and non-hazardous solid waste but not to highly radioactive spent fuel rods. But nearly all of the debate has focused on the low-level waste issue.

After the Senate voted Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, the measure's sponsor, said he was pleased the Senate had upheld the Legislature's constitutional prerogatives. "It's ironic that it took an override" to do that, he added.

On Tuesday, when Huntsman vetoed SB70, he wrote to Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, andCurtis, notifying them of his action. The measure would "incrementally weaken the governor's authority to protect Utah's image and environment, as well as the health and safety of its 2.5 million residents," he wrote.

When the House came into session at 7 p.m., after the Senate's action, it did not immediately place SB70 on its priority list. Instead, it began debating less-controversial issues.

If the House failed to override the veto by midnight, a law would remain in effect that was passed in the early 1990s, requiring concurrence by the Legislature, governor and state regulators before such a change could take place.

Substitute HB100, sponsored by Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, passed the House earlier and the Senate on Wednesday. It requires entities that do business in the state to file a bond with the Division Corporations and Commercial Code when it begins the environmental litigation.

However, the fate of two other environmental bills launched by Tilton remained unclear as the night wore on. Also involving bonding for environmental actions, they are substitute measures HB335 and HB259. Both passed the House and were awaiting action in the Senate.

Water project bills — potentially with a $1 billion price tag — had smooth sailing.

SB27, the Lake Powell Pipeline Development Act, passed both chambers and awaits Huntsman's signature. It authorizes the Utah Board of Water Resources to construct the Lake Powell Pipeline Project, delivering water from that reservoir to booming southwestern Utah.

During legislative action, Sen. Tom Hatch, R-Panguitch, emphasized that the act does not appropriate any money but authorizes the project as a state effort. Ultimately, its costs would be paid by water users.

A companion bill, HB45, the Bear River Development Act, sponsored by Rep. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, also awaits the governor's approval. It allows funds to be spent on preconstruction activities such as acquiring land and carrying out environmental studies.

However, an earlier bill does not allow construction of facilities like a dam or pipeline until project backers sell 70 percent of the expected water.

Another bill in the series that also passed, substitute HB47, helps fund the pipeline and Bear River work by raising the cap on the state's water development fund. With this action, money available in the state's general fund could be reduced by $8.6 million in fiscal 2007 and by $8.9 million the next year, according to a fiscal note on the bill.

"There would be a corresponding increase in restricted revenue," it adds, referring to money set aside for the projects.

E-mail: bau@desnews.com