February 15, 2010

ACTION ALERT!

SF 13 will create paralysis by analysis and will have a
chilling effect on passing and implementing environmental
protections and regulations

As early as this Wednesday, February 17, 2010, the Wyoming Senate will be considering a bill that has the potential to curtail the ability of federal and state agencies--such as the Department of Environmental Quality or Bureau of Land Management--to pass regulations or otherwise act to protect our land, air, and water.

This bill would make it mandatory for the state to analyze the costs--but not the benefits--of any federal or state regulatory or administrative action to protect the environment.

Although it is appropriate for government take into consideration economic impacts, SF 13 goes too far. It does not take into consideration the financial benefits to local economies of environmental protection and mandates unnecessary bureaucratic red tape process at taxpayer expense.

Please tell your Senator to vote against SF 13: The Economic Analysis Bill

Here are some talking points that you can use in your email to inform your Senator why SF 13 goes too far for the following reasons:

* Wyoming needs to economically value its water, air, and land. Regulations that will protect these resources for future generations create benefits to landowners, hunters, recreationists, and the state as a whole. Because SF 13 only requires the Division of Economic Analysis to look at the costs but not the revenue that hunting, fishing, recreation, and tourism bring into the state. The bill is unbalanced and the result will be that the analysis will be biased against protection.

• SF 13 creates a mandatory economic cost analysis with no exceptions even in the case of emergency rulemaking when agencies need to pass rules without delays to protect public health, clean water and air, and wildlife populations. This could delay solutions in times of environmental crisis.
• SF 13 will create a chilling effect as elected officials and decision makers will be reluctant to pass regulations or implement administrative actions that protect the environment and wildlife if they have to go through expensive, time consuming, and bureaucratic hoops.
• Conducting the broad tasks outlined in SF 13 will require significant staff time and other state resources. As written, the projected cost of implementing SF 13 over two years is estimated at $378,000. This fiscal note greatly underestimates the cost of doing all of this analysis. Tom Power, an economist at Montana State University, says that a credible cost analysis of each regulation or administrative action costs between $5,000 to $10,000 and according to the Environmental Quality Council, the cost of an economic analysis for a statewide regulation is $150,000.
• The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) already requires that federal agencies conduct socio-economic impact analysis, therefore SF 13 will cause unnecessary duplication.

You can read the bill, check the status of SF 13, and find out who your state Senator is and how to contact them by email by googling on Wyoming Legislature. You can also call 307 777-7711 and leave a message for your Senator to vote NO on SF 13. Finally, you can show your opposition to the bill by using the Legislature's online voter hotline athttp://legisweb.state.wy.us/PostComments/HotlineDisclaimer.aspx

Thank you for helping to protect Wyoming's environment and wildlife!