By
TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News
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PROVIDENCE — Several environmental bills were close to heading to
Gov. Gina Raimondo’s desk for signing before Speaker of the House Nicholas
Mattiello recessed the General Assembly for the summer.
Although state lawmaking typically wraps up for the year by July
1, Mattiello took the unusual step of stating plans to meet again in the fall —
a move the General Assembly hasn’t done since 2011. The Senate must also agree
to reconvene for legislation to advance.
With summer break underway, here’s what happened so far and what
might move forward if there is a fall session:
Notable winners
Raimondo’s infrastructure bank. There will be more details in the months ahead, but what was originally called a green bank offers a funding and lending program for municipal, commercial and residential energy-efficiency and renewable-energy projects.
An official plan to phase out the state’s remaining 25,000 or so cesspools was a
victory for Save The Bay and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental
Management (DEM).
Environmentalists consider new statewide buffer zones and
building setbacks a success, because
the law protects streams and vernal pools in addition to lakes and rivers.
Developers benefit by having a streamlined permitting process and one set of
standards to follow.
Some losers
Renewable
energy. An agreement between renewable-energy developers and National
Grid to pay for the expensive costs for large wind and solar projects to
connect to the power grid stalled at the last minute.
The legislation was advanced by North Kingstown wind turbine
developer Wind Energy Development, to move forward with at least a dozen
projects, including replacing the Portsmouth High School wind turbine. The bill
passed the House and made it out of committee in the Senate. It seems likely to
be considered if there is a fall session.
Also failing to advance was an extension of the renewable-energy
standards. This is the annual increase in the amount of renewable energy that
comes out of your wall socket. The current target of 14.5 percent ends in 2019.
Efforts
also failed to revive a 25 percent state tax credit for residential
renewable-energy projects. A statewide model for taxing
renewable-energy projects at the municipal level was also scrapped.
Of note
Waste
management. Mattress recycling tops the list of new recycling programs. A
take-back program will be funded through a yet-to-be-determined fee paid at the
time of purchase. Several other recycling-related bills stalled in committee,
such as a statewide plastic bag ban, take-back programs for syringes and
compact fluorescent light bulbs, and broader producer-packaging programs.
Food
and farming. Very little passed to advance agriculture and increase local
food protection. None of the several bills seeking labeling of genetically
modified foods made it out of committee. Bills allowing raw milk sales, wine
sales at farmers markets and direct sales of wine all sat on the bench.
Legislation that makes changes to the system for determining fish
catch limits passed the House and Senate.
Health
and pollution. After the cesspool ban, reducing noise and rock dust from
quarries was the main public-health achievement.
EDITOR’S NOTE: the rock dust bill was sponsored by Rep Brian Patrick
Kennedy in the House and Sen. Dennis Algiere in the Senate. The CCA
Party keeps trying to give their golden boy, Rep. Flip Filippi (I-R-Tea
Party-Militia from either Providence, Lincoln or Block Island) all the credit.
In fact, Flipper did almost nothing to advance his own bills on quarries and
FAILED to win passage of the bill Charlestown wanted most – state approval to
allow Charlestown to regulate quarries, even though it already has the
authority – but is afraid to use it.
Air-quality monitoring at T.F. Green Airport was extended for two
years.
What didn’t pass?
A ban on smoking at public beaches; a ban on smoking at the
state’s two casinos; outdoor wood-furnace regulations; licensing of
naturopathic physicians; regulations on e-cigarettes; limits on fireworks; a
ban on formaldehyde in children’s products; a ban on micro-beads; a ban on
bisphenol A; a ban on hazardous flame retardants in children’s bedding, clothes
and toys; a ban on cigarette sales at pharmacies.
RhodeMap RI. Most bills intended
to dilute the effects of the new state economic plan were halted in committee.
One bill did pass the House and could return in the fall.
EDITOR’S NOTE: the one paranoid
anti-RhodeMap bill that DID pass the House (though not the Senate) was
sponsored by Richmond Militia Republican Rep. Justin Price. If you watch this video, it seems
clear Price really doesn’t know what RhodeMap
RI is really all about. Here's another video with Price on the same subject:
On YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN0p2bdijEM
A bill allowing civil lawsuits for encroachment on conservation
land died in committee, as did a bill allowing municipalities to impose fines
for environmental violations that cause a nuisance to the community.
Developers were helped by the overturn of a ban on hotels at Twin
River Casino. They also received a break on property taxes on new homes and
condominiums that are being built or not on the market.
Wildlife.
Bans on rhinoceros horns and shark fins didn’t advance. Suspended was a ban on
lead shot and the creation of a no-hunting buffer around conservation land.
A ban on wire “battery cages” for
housing egg-laying hens passed the House only, as did an exception for allowing
parrots in state campgrounds. Bills defining the treatment of dogs and other
animals passed only one chamber of the General Assembly. Bills limiting
ownership to 10 cats per household were held for study.
Climate
change. The House approved the creation of a commission to study the
economic impacts of sea-level rise. No Senate approval is needed. A joint
committee to study ocean acidification was held, as was a carbon tax proposal
and a limit on the use of geoengineering to address climate change.
Here, too, Rep. Justin Price (R-Tea Party)
distinguished himself by being the only rep to vote against the commission on
the grounds that he
is a climate change denier.
I
believe the General Assembly would have made a lot more progress on the
environment if voters had re-elected three of the smartest and strongest
environmental advocates in the General Assembly – Rep. Donna Walsh, Rep. Larry
Valencia and Sen. Cathie Cool Rumsey. Instead, Charlestown, Richmond, Hopkinton
and Exeter voters replaced them with the Three Tea Party Stooges (Filippi,
Price and Sen. Elaine Morgan).