Ag advocates ask Gregoire to see big picture

Agricultural and business groups are calling on Gov. Chris Gregoire to partially veto a bill that they say would incorporate climate change goals through the back door into the state Growth Management Act.

Rep. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, urged the action in a recent letter to Gregoire, saying a section of the bill calling for a reduction in greenhouse gases will hurt farm communities and could lead to mandates on how far vehicles can travel.

"Farming by its very nature includes greater distances to travel and larger vehicles, yet our state's farm communities are not the ones that suffer emissions problems," Warnick wrote.

Warnick wants Gregoire to veto a section of the bill that directs the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development to offer technical tools to local governments for climate change planning efforts.

Specifically, the legislation asks the department to identify whether local land use and building projects would lower greenhouse gas emissions and to find ways to reduce those emissions by lessening vehicle travel.

Environmentalists acknowledge that Gregoire is under "tremendous pressure" from business and agricultural interests to veto part or all of Senate Bill 6580, which was sponsored by Sen. Chris Marr, D-Spokane. Among those taking aim at the legislation are the powerful Association of Washington Business, the state's chamber of commerce, and the Washington Farm Bureau.

Gregoire rarely telegraphs her plans on bills that have passed the Legislature. Her communications office in Olympia didn't respond to several requests for comment.

The legislation carries an emergency clause, which means it will take effect immediately after it is signed into law. Gregoire has until Saturday to take action.

Warnick and other Central Washington Republican legislators didn't support any part of the bill. But she said at least removing the section in question would prevent unintended consequences, such as expensive litigation before growth-management hearing boards.

Rep. Bruce Chandler, R-Granger, said the measure would lead to regulatory requirements that would hurt local economies.

"This is just a way of using global warming as an excuse for not permitting development," Chandler said.

But Marr said Yakima area legislators "have their heads in the sand" about the legislation's impact on development.

"Yakima has a downtown core that retail has left. Perhaps a more enlightened approach to how a community grows would help," Marr said.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, countered that making an economic development argument for the bill is "a stretch." He also pointed out that Yakima is enjoying a wave of downtown revitalization.

"I bet it's been a while since Sen. Marr has been to Yakima," Newhouse said.

Clifford Traisman, state lobbyist for the Seattle-based Washington Environmental Council, said the legislation would in no way limit how far a truck transporting apples, for example, could travel, or how big a tractor a farmer could use.

"That is a far-fetched analysis of the legislation," Traisman said. "There's not an ounce of a requirement in the bill."

The original bill had mandatory goals, but Marr said they were removed after considerable testimony from a variety of interest groups.

"We have a very different bill that creates another optional element in GMA," he said.

* Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com.

• The Classified Marketplace
• • Announcements
  • Public Notices
  • Legal Notices
  • Merchandise
  • Yard Sales
  • Animals
  • Finance

• Newspaper Ads
  View All