ARIZONA STATE SENATE

RESEARCH STAFF

TO: MEMBERS OF THE SENATE

KERRI MOREY

LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH ANALYST

NRAE COMMITTEE

Telephone: (602) 542-3171

Facsimile: (602) 542-7833

NATURAL RESOURCES, AGRICULTURE

AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE

DATE: April 17, 2002

SUBJECT: Strike Everything Amendment to H.B. 2130

Purpose

Exempts certain permits issued by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality from overall licensing timeframes and evaluation for sunset review.

Background

In the late 1990s, a series of legislative efforts resulted in the reform of state regulatory procedures, including the state rulemaking procedures and establishment of a comprehensive bill of rights for persons subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of the State. As part of this effort, every state agency was required to adopt licensing timeframes during which the agency must either grant or deny each type of license that it issues (Title 41, Chapter 6, Article 7.1). Once adopted, failure by an agency to grant or deny an application within the overall timeframe may subject the agency to sanctions.

Some of the permits issued by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) require the submittal and review of substantial technical information. Because of this, some applicants are agreeing to extend the established timeframes for application review. Additionally, some permits approved by ADEQ are subsequently reviewed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is not required to comply with the requirements of licensing timeframes.

The strike everything amendment to H.B. 2130 exempts certain permits that are reviewed by the EPA from the overall licensing timeframe for that permit. This amendment also exempts certain air permits from consideration in evaluating ADEQ’s progress towards meeting performance objectives outlined for the upcoming sunset review of the agency.

There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state general fund relating to the provisions of this amendment.

Provisions

1. Declares that ADEQ’s submission of a revised permit for EPA approval is the same as granting or denying the application. This ends the accrual of time for purposes of determining compliance with the overall licensing timeframe, and applies only to Arizona pollutant discharge elimination system permits and air permits for major sources subject to Title V of the federal Clean Air Act.

2. Exempts Title V permits for existing sources from the evaluation of ADEQ’s progress towards reaching performance objectives for the 2002 sunset review of the agency. The exemption applies only to sources that waive issuance of the permit by June 30, 2002, or if the EPA objects to a final proposed permit.

3. Contains a retroactivity clause of February 28, 2002.

KM/jas