Last year's session

2007 Legislature Makes Environment a Top Priority : Reforms Provide Improved Protections for People, Land, Air and Water

(April, 2007) - Olympia, WA – As the 2007 legislative session concluded, it is clear that the environment has won big.  The Priorities for a Healthy Washington coalition applauded the Legislature for taking bold steps to prioritize and protect the health of people, land, air and water.

In 2007, the environmental community approached the Legislature with an ambitious and focused set of its four Priorities, and ultimately it achieved unprecedented success with passage of all four of the community’s priorities:

• Clean-Air/Clean Fuels - signed into law on May 7, 2007– will reduce global warming pollution and encourage in-state production of sustainable bio-fuels, helping build new jobs and a clean energy economy

•  Save Our Sound legislation - signed into law on May 7, 2007 -- establishes a new agency to achieve strong recovery and protection goals, an independent science advisory committee, and important accountability measures to make sure state funding delivers action and results. Additionally, there is a down payment on Puget Sound recovery in the biennial budget.
•  $100 Million for Wildlife and Recreation Program appropriation – doubles the state's appropriation to this highly competitive and “pork-free” program, funding 135 new state and local parks, protected shorelines and wildlife habitat, plus the state's first ever funding for a farmland preservation program. 
•  Eliminating Toxic Flame Retardant - signed into law on April 17, 2007 – for the first time in the nation, this new law creates a ban the use of these particularly toxic chemicals and replaces them with safer alternatives that provide fire safety protection, while reducing risks to people and the environment.

 
The Priorities are the agreed upon top four proposals of leading groups in the state advocating reforms for the better health of our communities and the people who live there through improved protection of our land, air and water. By limiting the number of proposals to four, and choosing issues that connect with the general public, the Priorities have seen ever-increasing success since beginning in 2003.

“The Legislature has done great work for the environment this year. The success of the all four coalition priorities speaks volumes about the priorities in Olympia,” said Clifford Traisman, State Lobbyist for Washington Environmental Council and Washington Conservation Voters. “We continue to show how improved protections for the environment go hand in hand with a strong economy.”

“Doubling the funding for the Wildlife and Recreation Program will help provide a better future for people and wildlife all around the state through increased parks, trails, habitat and farmland conservation projects,” said Joanna Grist, director of the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition.

KC Golden of Climate Solutions, one of the leading groups on the Clean Air – Clean Fuels proposal said, “Washington is turning a corner toward a smarter, cleaner energy future.  We’re turning away from the dead-end of fossil fuel dependence and climate disruption.  By passing the Clean Air Clean Fuels Bill, the Legislature is offering Washington consumers and businesses more clean fuels and clean vehicles to help us make that turn.”

“This year the legislature took a big step toward the recovery of Puget Sound,” said Kathy Fletcher, executive director of People For Puget Sound. “An independent state agency will now be accountable for restoring the Sound to health by 2020. The next steps for the legislature will be to create the funding we need, and to take the specific actions necessary to save the Sound, including oil spill prevention and protecting our shorelines from damaging developments.”

And at the April 17 bill signing ceremony on the legislation to ban toxic flame retardants, Gregg Small of the Washington Toxics Coalition said, “Washington is the first state in the nation to ban toxic flame retardants and replace them with safer alternatives. This is a major victory for the health of our children and Puget Sound, and will likely lead to similar laws in other states."

Some other bills of note from the 2007 Session included efforts to address legitimate concerns by some landowners that were brought to light during I-933. A summary follows:

• SSB 5248, which outlines a process to resolve longstanding issues regarding critical areas ordinances on agricultural land. A two-year policy consensus process will be conducted by the Ruckelshaus Center, based out of the University of Washington and Washington State University. The measure was approved after agreement by coalition members and the Washington State Farm Bureau, which was the primary backer of I-933.

• SSB 5108, which establishes an Office of Farmland Preservation within the state Conservation Commission to focus attention on the importance of retaining agricultural lands and related infrastructure so that future generations can have thriving farms.

• 2SHB 1636, which expands Transfer of Development Rights programs to purchase development rights from farmers and rural landowners, providing a source of income while keeping more land undeveloped.

• EHB 1648, which protects family farmers from nuisance lawsuits over agricultural activities by strengthening the Right to Farm Act.

The final budget approved by the 2007 Legislature includes funding for the state’s Wildlife and Recreation Program, including $9 million for farmland preservation. Governor Gregoire has already signed one measure that the coalition supported with both agricultural and property rights groups, SHB 1458, which changes eminent domain laws to provide property owners with more timely notification of government actions.

“We did what we said we were going to do after the defeat of I-933,” said Joan Crooks, Executive Director of the Washington Environmental Council. “We listened to people’s concerns and supported common sense changes that will improve our environment and protect our quality of life.”

Organizations that opposed I-933 and worked on this collaborative legislative agenda included:

Audubon Washington, Cascade Land Conservancy, Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association, Futurewise, The Nature Conservancy, Washington Conservation Voters and the Washington Environmental Council.