_______________________________________________________ STATE CAPITOL REPORT – 7/23/09 SIERRA CLUB LONE STAR CHAPTER (Texas) Text Version of: http://www.texas.sierraclub.org/press/scr/scr20090723.pdf Donate here: http://action.sierraclub.org/lonestar_scr _______________________________________________________ Contents: NEWS (1) Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Updating Its Land and Water Plan; Public Meetings Being Held Over the Next Two Months (2) DOE Approves $218.8 million for Texas Energy Plan from Federal Stimulus Monies; Loans and Grants for Energy Efficiency and On-site Renewable Energy (3) Schedule of Remaining Public Meetings on the Revision of the Land & Water Plan – Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; All meetings are scheduled from 6:30 to 8 PM. (4) TxDOT Asks for Public Input; Here’s Your Chance to Tell Them What You Think (5) Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission Meets in Fort Worth August 26-27 UPCOMING EVENTS SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION ______________________________________________________ (1) Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Updating Its Land and Water Plan Public Meetings Being Held Over the Next Two Months Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (Parks & Wildlife) is currently in the process of updating the agency’s Land and Water Resources Conservation and Recreation Plan (Land and Water Plan). The goal of the Land and Water Plan, last updated in 2005, is to guide the agency in conserving the state’s natural and historic heritage and in providing public access to the outdoors. The Plan serves as a tactical document that guides planning, operational and budget decisions for the agency. The revisions to the plan will reflect current conservation challenges and the changing landscape in Texas. Parks & Wildlife is hosting a series of public meetings around the state to present the proposed changes to the Plan and to solicit public input. The first such meeting was held in Austin on July 20 and was attended by representatives of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, Texas Wildlife Association, and numerous other groups which form the constituency for the agency. In addition, Parks & Wildlife is providing an opportunity for the public to participate in an online public comment process. The Draft Plan As currently drafted – and the Plan is definitely a document in development – the Plan sets out four major goals for the agency: • Promote effective stewardship of natural and cultural resources • Increase and facilitate access to the natural, cultural, and recreational resources of Texas • Utilize relevant, current and sound science to inform policy decisions and operations • Employ best business practices to achieve our mission efficiently and credibly. There are numerous objectives and sub-objectives under each of these potential goals, but all of them are subject to revision based on public comment and further evaluation by the agency staff and governing commission. The draft document is available on the Parks & Wildlife website at: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/nonpwdpubs/land_and_water_plan/. There is a link from that web address to a site to make an online comment or set of comments on the draft Plan. Sierra Club Perspective Lone Star Chapter volunteer leaders Evelyn Merz and Brandt Mannchen, both of Houston, and Chapter staff members Ken Kramer and Jennifer Walker have been monitoring and providing periodic input to the development of the dtaft Plan. The Sierra Club representatives are promoting the need to emphasize conservation practices on all land in the Parks & Wildlife Department’s inventory, to anticipate and plan for emerging conservation issues such as the impact of climate change on fish and wildlife, and to give attention to the sustainability of nongame as well as game species populations, among other issues and concepts. The Lone Star Chapter shortly will post a set of suggested comments regarding the draft Plan on the Chapter website at www.texas.sierraclub.org. These comments will be updated as necessary until such time as the comment period for the plan is complete. The Schedule As of now, the Parks & Wildlife Department is planning to accept public comments on the current version of the draft Plan through September 18, four days after the last public meeting is held (September 14 in El Paso). Accompanying this article is a schedule of each of the remaining public meetings and their locations. Each meeting is set for the 6:30 to 8:00 PM time frame. The intention of the agency is to have the final draft available to be considered for adoption by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, the governing body of the agency, by the Commission’s regular business meeting in November. The Plan would be dated as 2010 and would serve as the agency’s strategic document for a subsequent five years or longer. ______________________________________________________ (2) DOE Approves $218.8 million for Texas Energy Plan from Federal Stimulus Monies Loans and Grants for Energy Efficiency and On-site Renewable Energy On July 10, the U. S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy approved $218.8 million for Texas’s Energy Program (SEP). The Texas Energy Program is run by the State Energy Conservation Office, a division of the Texas State Comptroller of Public Accounts. The monies, authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) – known unofficially as the federal economic stimulus package, will be utilized to run five new programs, according to SECO. These programs should lead to new jobs and direct reductions in energy use, saving money for cities, school districts and other public entities. The authorized monies are separate from other ARRA-funded programs, including the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block (EECBG) Programs for major cities (which must apply directly to DOE for these funds by August 10) and for smaller cities and a separate Energy Star Appliance Rebate Program, all of which will be run be SECO. The Texas Energy Program The Texas Energy Program includes a Building Efficiency and Retrofit Program (which will receive $158 million in ARRA funds), Transportation Efficiency Program ($17 million), Distributed Renewable Technology Program ($30 million), Energy Sector Training Centers ($6 million) and Public Education and Outreach Campaign ($5 million) on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. The Building Efficiency and Retrofit program will be based on SECO's LoanSTAR program. A revolving loan mechanism will be utilized with SEP/ARRA funding to provide loans of up to $10 million to eligible public entities to perform energy efficiency and retrofit activities on government-owned buildings and facilities. These loans may be used for installing on-site renewable energy equipment as well, with a payback of 10 or 15 years depending on the type of project. Under the Transportation Efficiency Program, entities will be able to submit proposals through two projects – the Traffic Signal Project and the Alternative Fuels Project. Eligible entities are governmental entities and may include units of state and local government, public schools, public colleges and universities, public hospitals and government-owned utilities. Thus, these entities could replace lighting sources for traffic signals to save energy or upgrade their fleets to run on alternative fuels. The Distributed Renewable Technology Program will provide grants to public entities to install photovoltaic solar panels and other energy systems to help save and produce energy, again for public entities. The entity must provide at least a 20 percent match, and the cost may not exceed $2 million for the project. Under the Energy Sector Training Centers, $6 million in funding will specifically be used to purchase equipment needed to train workers in the fields of energy efficiency, transportation efficiency, and renewable energy technologies. SECO will work wit the Texas Workforce Commission and other entities currently involved in such trainings. Finally, the State Comptroller’s Office/SECO will run and contract a $5 million outreach and education campaign to encourage renewable energy use and support energy efficiency efforts for all Texans. Going Forward SECO will be developing the RFPs (requests for proposal) and rules for all five programs in the coming weeks and months. For more information and to keep updated as these programs are implemented, go to the SECO website at http://www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us/. _______________________________________________________ (3) Schedule of Remaining Public Meetings on the Revision of the Land & Water Plan – Texas Parks and Wildlife Department All meetings are scheduled from 6:30 to 8 PM. Mission — Monday, July 27 Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park — Conference Room 2800 S. Bentsen Palm Drive (FM 2062) Mission, TX 78572 Houston — Monday, August 3 Houston Garden Center Hermann Park 1500 Hermann Drive Houston, Tx 77004 San Antonio — Monday, August 10 *Please bring your parking ticket to the meeting for parking validation. Central Library Auditorium 600 Soledad San Antonio, TX 78205 Arlington — Monday, August 17 Arlington Convention Center 1200 Ballpark Way Arlington, Tx 76011 Midland/Odessa — Monday, August 31 Sibley Nature Center 1307 E. Wadley Midland, Tx 79705 Amarillo - Tuesday, Sept. 8 Amarillo City Commission Chamber 509 S.E 7th Ave. Amarillo, Texas 79105 El Paso — Monday, Sept. 14 TEA, Region 19 Education Service Center 6611 Boeing Drive El Paso, Texas 79925 FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/nonpwdpubs/land_and_water_plan/ _______________________________________________________ (4) TxDOT Asks for Public Input Here’s Your Chance to Tell Them What You Think On July 10 the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) posted a Notice of Opportunity to Comment seeking input from the public and “transportation partners” across the state on the restructuring of the department’s system of transportation project planning, funding and programming. The deadline for comments is 5 PM on August 10. Full information about the opportunity to comment may be found in the July 10th issue of the Texas Register or online at http://www.txdot.gov/news/028-2009.htm. Background During the spring state legislative session the legislation to TxDOT – legislation which would have made numerous changes in the agency’s structure and functions – got bogged down in haggling between the House and Senate over several contentious issues. The result was that the legislation continuing the agency did not pass, which in part prompted the very short special session earlier this month that continued and/or moved the “sunset” date for several agencies. None of the proposed changes in TxDOT were included in the legislation covering those agencies in the special session. The legislators simply moved the TxDOT sunset date from 2009 to 2011 so that the agency continues in existence and the Sunset Advisory Commission gets to do another, probably very limited review of TxDOT in this agency review cycle just as it did in the 2007-2009 cycle. Dissatisfaction with TxDOT It became clear during the recent sunset review of the agency and the legislative deliberations over its continuation legislation, however, that there is widespread dissatisfaction with TxDOT and its practices. TxDOT officials said as much in their recent public notice: “…it became apparent in discussions with the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission that legislators wanted the department to develop a transparent, well-defined, and understandable program for transportation planning and project development [emphasis added].” What TxDOT is Seeking As a result of the awareness about the dissatisfaction of legislators and others, TxDOT is seeking what the agency notice terms “general ideas and specific suggestions” for the agency’s transportation planning. In its notice TxDOT says that “…information gathered from the comments will be used to assist the department in developing proposed rules to establish a comprehensive transportation planning and project development program that includes the following:” • a long range transportation plan for the state • a mid-range transportation planning program for the next 10 years • a short-range work plan for the next four years • planning and programming requirements for metropolitan [transportation] planning organizations • criteria for selection of transportation projects • an extended cash-flow forecast • funding formulas for transportation projects • formulas for the allocation of funds to metropolitan planning organizations • a procedure for changing the scheduling of transportation projects, and • regular reporting requirements. The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club is currently preparing comments to submit to TxDOT in response to the agency’s request. These comments will be posted to the Chapter website by August 3 for members of the public who might want ideas about important issues to highlight or recommendations to make in their own comments. Transportation projects have an enormous impact on the environment – for good or ill – and it is important to have a strong environmental perspective included in the public input that TxDOT receives on transportation project planning. Submitting Comments TxDOT is accepting only written comments in response to its recent notice. The comments should be addressed to Bob Jackson, General Counsel, 125 East 11th Street, Austin, Texas 78701, or via email to rcarter@dot.state.tx.us. Again, the deadline for receipt of comments is 5:00 p.m. August 10. The department will not respond individually to comments received pursuant to this notice. When proposed rules have been drafted and prior to any formal action by the commission, TxDOT will publish another notice containing a copy of the draft rules and a request for public comments on those draft rules. For more information contact the TxDOT office of Government & Public Affairs media relations at 512 463-8588. _______________________________________________________ (5) Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission Meets in Fort Worth August 26-27 The Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission will hold its August meeting and the Parks & Wildlife Department’s annual public hearing on August 26-27 in Fort Worth. The meeting will take place at the Amon G. Carter, Jr. Exhibit Hall in the Will Rogers Memorial Center, 3401 West Lancaster in central Fort Worth in the city’s cultural district. Starting at 9 AM Wednesday, august 26, the regulations, conservation, and finance committees of the Commission will meet, followed at noon by lunch and executive session business. Then at 2 PM the Commission will commence the annual public hearing. The full Commission meeting will begin at 9 AM on Thursday, August 27. The public is invited to attend the committee meetings, annual public hearing, and the full Commission meeting. _______________________________________________________ UPCOMING EVENTS Ocotober 31, 2009-- "Roll Beyond Coal" Bicycle Rides in Alpine, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and a city near you! Contact: lonestar.chapter@sierraclub.org _______________________________________________________ SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS To subscribe or unsubscribe from this list, email: lonestar.chapter@sierraclub.org You receive this e-mail message as a designated representative of your organization, a reporter, as a public official, as a Sierra Club leader or donor to the Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club, (a 501(c)(4) organization serving 24,000 Sierra Club supporters in Texas, 13 Regional Sierra Club Groups in pursuit of our chapter conservation goals). View our goals on line at If you are not the appropriate representative for your organization to receive this email, please forward the correct contact information to: lonestar.chapter@sierraclub.org ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION This State Capitol Report is a publication of The Sierra Club, Lone Star Chapter founded in Texas in 1965. Ken W. Kramer, Director and Editor, Cyrus Reed, Conservation Director and Hal Suter, Chair of the Chapter Executive Committee. Call us at (512) 4774-1729. The Sierra Club is a 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to improving the quality of life and health in Texas through education, dialogue, and collaboration regarding environmental issues. Visit us on line at The Lone Star Chapter and other leading environmental organizations participate in payroll contribution plans at many Texas workplaces through Earth Share of Texas. Find out how you can support the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club at 800-GREENTX or Contribute: http://action.sierraclub.org/lonestar_scr This material is not under copyright. Please distribute this information widely, citing as the source: Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter P.O. Box 1931 Austin, Texas 78767-1931 (512) 477-1729 fax (512) 477-8526 http://texas.sierraclub.org lonestar.chapter@sierraclub.org