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In this Edition:
Immediate Action Alert!

The Bill
what YOU must do
Why it's Important to YOU
Talking Points
Follow-up with your Members and the Governor
Report Back

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Jefferson believed that our government belonged to citizens, not to politicians or to special interests.  To guarantee the continued ownership of this government by its people, we must always look for opportunities to safeguard and improve citizen participation.
--Governor Timothy M. Kaine, State of the Commonwealth Address, 09 January 2008. 

The Bill:
This move to defang the Citizen Boards (SB423) will be heard in the Senate Agriculture,Conservation and Natural Resources committee for a hearing early Monday morning, 28 January 2008.  BTW the companion House bill is HB 1332.  More information here:

http://www.richmondsunlight.com/bill/2008/sb423/


Your Action Item:
Time is short, so no time for letters.  Here are the email addresses for the committee members (cut and paste the following list into the "TO:" field of your email):

district30@sov.state.va.us, district14@sov.state.va.us, district25@sov.state.va.us, district24@sov.state.va.us, district02@sov.state.va.us, district04@sov.state.va.us, district09@sov.state.va.us, ralph@northam2007.com, district26@sov.state.va.us, district38@sov.state.va.us, district20@sov.state.va.us, district15@sov.state.va.us, district10@sov.state.va.us, district31@sov.state.va.us

And then call each of the committee member's directly:

• Sen. Patsy Ticer (D-30) Chair
• Sen. Harry Blevins (R-14)
• Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-25)
• Sen. Emmett Hanger (R-24)
• Sen. Mamie Locke (D-2)
• Sen. Ryan McDougle (R-4)
• Sen. Don McEachin (D-9)
• Sen. Ralph Northam (D-6)
• Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-26)
• Sen. Phil Puckett (D-38)
• Sen. Roscoe Reynolds (D-20)
• Sen. Frank Ruff (R-15)
• Sen. John Watkins (R-10)
• Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (D-31)

Why this is important to all Virginians:

decisions on any public or private project will be in the hands of a single, politically appointed person, the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality.  
This move is:

1. anti-democratic,
2. anti-citizen, and
3. frankly unAmerican
   

Talking Points:

(Do not say "save the Citizens Boards"; they're all for saving them.  Instead say  "the POWER of the Citizens Boards must be preserved". )

•  as a constituent you OPPOSE both SB 423 and HB 1332
  
•   Virginia's Citizen Boards have a 69-year history of playing in a key role in protecting Virginia's environment.
•   When the Department of Environmental Quality was created in 1993 by combining Air, Water and Hazardous Waste agencies, there was agreement to keep each of the Citizen Boards in place.
•   Virginia's governors appoint the members of the Air, Water and Waste Boards and the appointees reflect the choices of different governors and have provided a balanced group of citizens with expertise in the specific field.
•   It is an unacceptable consolidation of power to allow one politically appointed chief bureaucrat to have the decision making power over controversial permits that may affect human health and well being.
•   The Citizen Environmental Boards hold meetings and hearings in public and provide accountability and transparency on important environmental issues.
•   If the Citizen Boards are stripped of permit authority, federal laws will then allow the regulated industries to sit on the Boards and write their own regulations too. 
    Keep the foxes out of the hen house.
•   The former Director of DEQ said this is the worst piece of environmental legislation in the last 35 years.
•   It is unacceptable to reduce the Citizen Boards to mere staff advisors on pollution permits.
•   The proponents reasons for supporting this bill are "to streamline the permitting process", "to create permitting certitude" and to create an atmosphere of certainty for industry pollution permits.  All of their pretty language means a rubber stamp permitting regime would be established for controversial pollution permits that deserve the most scrutiny.
•   For years running Virginia has been ranked as the #1 Business Friendly state in the country due to the favorable regulatory climate.  What needs fixing?  There is no need to make it even easier to pollute, especially at the expense of citizen input.
•   Some believe there should be a series of public hearings across the state to examine this bill and the consolidation of power it entails.  Tell this to the Governor and your representatives.
•   Stripping the Environmental Boards of their authority to review and decide certain permits is unacceptable.  We must preserve the right of Virginians to be heard on environmental protection, particularly in cases that have heightened public interest and could have a significant impact on the environment and human health.
•   The Air Pollution Control Board and Water Control Board have already delegated permit authority for most cases & only decides cases where permits have been identified as significant (less than one-percent of all permits are decided by a citizen board)
• in the past 15 years, these boards (that docket 20-30 issues per meeting, per board) have only gone against the advice of the DEQ 29 times, mostly asking for more information. 
  

 Follow-up:

contact your delegate and senator today with the same message: 

http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform

Finally, also call AND write Governor Kaine and remind him of his words during his State of the Commonwealth Address.  Right now he is for defanging the Citizens Boards of Virginia. 

http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/contactGovernor.cfm
 

Report:
Please report back to me completion and any reactions by the legislature.