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Friday, May 31, 2013

Enviros Losing Ground on Slopes and Setback Bills

By TIM FAULKNER/ ecoRI.org News staff

PROVIDENCE — Several bills have been swept up in the pro-business “moving-the-needle” agenda pushed by pro-business advocates.

On May 29, the House Budget Committee passed a bill (H6063) that creates a new Executive Office of Commerce. In its latest draft, the legislation was revised so that the state Department of Environmental Management (DEM), Department of Administration and Coastal Resources Management Council are free from direct oversight by the new commerce office. The original draft was strongly opposed by environmental groups such as the Environment Council of Rhode Island and Save The Bay, the DEM and Gov. Lincoln Chafee.

The original draft gave ultimate permitting authority and environmental oversight to the new commerce director. The House is scheduled to vote on the bill June 4.

Wetlands and slopes. Efforts to oppose the so-called “slopes” and “setback” bills largely failed. The setback bills (H5425 and S672) call for the creation of a task force to oversee the drafting of uniform standards for building next to wetlands, waterways and septic systems. Municipalities such as Charlestown, which has no public septic and water systems, initially opposed the setback bill for fear it wouldn't allow the town to regulate its environmentally sensitive land and preserve its natural space.

At a May 24 Senate hearing, opponents suggested that the bill would be more palatable if the task force was allowed to conclude that current, locally managed standards are most suitable. That change, however, wasn't in the latest Senate draft, which was passed by the Senate Committee on Environment and Agriculture on May 29.

The 10-member task force, overseen by the Division of Planning, has until the end of 2014 to come up with new statewide standards.

The House Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources is scheduled to vote on the bill May 30.

The slopes bill (S544 and H5703) was passed by the House on May 14. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill May 23. The bill allows for unbuildable sloped land to be included in the size of a buildable lot. The slopes and setback bills were supported heavily by home builders and opposed by environmental groups, land trusts and advocates for open space.

A House bill (H6167) introduced Tuesday also has municipal planners concerned because it prevents planning boards from requiring additional documents and information than those already required by local regulations.

Two energy-related bills and a climate-change bill were passed by the Senate on May 29:

Financing for solar. The Senate approved the PACE program, which allows homeowners to borrow against their residence to pay for renewable-energy and energy-efficiency upgrades. The Property Assessed Clean Energy program allows homeowners to pay for energy projects through their municipality as they do for property taxes or a sewer assessment. National Grid, the state’s largest energy provider, supports the PACE program.

The five other New England states and 23 other states have passed PACE legislation.
The House version of the bill (H6019) was last heard by the House Finance Committee on May 14.

Biodiesel. The Senate passed the Biodiesel Heating Oil Act of 2013. The bill (S816) requires all standard heating oil sold in Rhode Island contain a minimum of bio-based products, such as cooking oil, plants, trees, organic portions of municipal solid waste, organic portions of construction and demolition debris, algae and/or grease trap waste. The minimum percentage starts at 2 percent and increases to 5 percent by 2017.

The House version of the bill (H5802) is still in committee.


Climate Commission. The Senate passed a bill (HS671) May 29 that ends the existing Rhode Island Climate Change Commission at the end of 2013 and replaces it with a permanent advisory commission overseen by the State Planning Council. 

The new committee would focus on adaptation strategies that will be used to update the state guide plan. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston. 

Opponents of the bill argued that the climate commission would be more forceful if overseen by the Coastal Resources Management Council or the state Department of Environmental Management.