Resources

National Academy of Pediatrics Study on the Effects of Vehicle Emissions on Children, February, 2008

Arden Pope Lecture: What Are We Breathing and Should We Inhale?: BYU Forum, February, 2007

State of the Air: Particle Pollution: American Lung Association, 2007

State of the Air: Ozone Pollution: American Lung Association, 2007

Air Pollution and Health: A Critical Issue for Utah Physicians: Michelle Hoffman MD and Charles Langelier MD, 2007

Proposal for More Stringent Emissions Standards for Locomotives and Marine-Compression Ignition Engines: EPA, 2007

Clean Air Standards: American Lung Association, 2007

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Energy/Air Quality Legislative Action 2008

An Exclusive Special Report for UCAA and the people of Utah on Significant Progress in the Fight for Clean Air

by Kathy Van Dame

Editor's Note: The Utah Clean Air Alliance wishes to thank Kathy Van Dame, a member and outstanding contributor to UCAA, for not only preparing this report but for fighting for cleaner air throughout this and past sessions of the legislature, and dedicating her life to making Utah a better and healthier place to live. Congratulations to Kathy and all the hard-working, dedicated advocates who made 2008 the most progressive year for air quality in Utah history!

Division of Air Quality
Funding received: PM 2.5 Funding $2.21 million
Mercury Dry Deposition Monitoring $100,000

"Nearly all DEQ's funding request was approved, with the exception of $62,000 in ongoing General Fund money to help the Division of Water Quality conduct more fish sampling and analysis to help identify the
mercury "hot spots." Water Quality plans to continue testing but may have to re-prioritize its budget to do so."[DEQ newsletter http://www.deq.utah.gov/Newsletter/]

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PASSED
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HB 146
Rep. Christine Johnson (D), Salt Lake
SCHOOL BUS AMENDMENTS provides $100,000 from the Uniform School Fund to the State Board of Education to retrofit diesel-powered school buses. Original fiscal note was $817,600, which would have been enough to retrofit the entire school bus fleet along the Wasatch Front and in Cache Co. [our PM2.5 non-attainment areas]. Each retrofit costs $2,100 and includes positive crankcase ventilation (to keep emissions out of interior of the bus) and diesel particulate filer (to prevent highly toxic diesel PM tailpipe emissions). Funds are nonlapsing, to provide matching funds for grants awarded by the federal government or private sources to local school districts for the purchase or retrofit of clean school buses. This bill also requires the State Board of Education, in consultation with local school districts and the Air Quality Board, to adopt idling reduction standards and implement an idling reduction program.

HB 106
Rep. Roz McGee (D), Salt Lake
CLEAN AIR AND EFFICIENT VEHICLE TAX INCENTIVES provides a $750 tax incentive on vehicles meeting the SmartWay Elite standards (an EPA standard for cars similar to their EnergyStar program to rate energy efficiency for appliances), up to $2,500 or 35 percent of the purchase price, whichever is less, for vehicles retrofitted with conversion equipment to allow them to use cleaner-burning fuels, $2500 for all OEM
CNG* (new and used) up to a maximum of 35% of purchase price *Original Equipment Manufacture Compressed Natural Gas." It also replaces the unenforceable clean special fuel tax certificate with an 8.5 cent/gallon equivalent alternative fuel tax, which will be collected at the pump, as federal taxes are currently. This alternative fuel tax would go to UDOT for road and highway maintenance.

H.B. 198
Representative Fred Hunsaker (R), Cache and Rich Counties
STATE AGENCY ENERGY EFFICIENCY a revolving loan fund to lend monies to state agencies to finance energy efficiency measures. This is funded with $3.6 million from the Petroleum Violation Escrow Fund. This is an excellent bill, but the Legislature removed funding from a fund that the Governor was using for Dianne Nielson's office, and made the Governor's Energy Advisor subject to annual appropriations. Some advocates see this as a warning to the Governor, and a leash that the Legislature intends to keep in its hand.

H.B. 201
Representative Brad Last (R), Eastern Wasatch County
TAX CREDIT FOR SOLAR PROJECTS provides a tax credit for individuals who invest in utility-scale solar projects that are developed and owned by political subdivisions (i.e. municipal entities) such as city, town or
other eligible political subdivisions. The non-refundable income tax credit would be equal to 25% of the cost of the investment in a solar system, up to $2,000. St. George Municipal Power spearheaded this legislation, which will provide their citizens the opportunity to invest in a large scale solar project to be located on land adjacent to their water treatment plant. Other municipal power companies will be able to develop similar projects. This is a thinking-out-of-the-box, uniquely Utah solution to promoting solar energy in Utah.

S.B. 84
Senator Kevin VanTassell (R), Daggett, Duchesne, Summit, Uintah, Wasatch Counties
NET METERING PROGRAMS makes changes to Utah's current net metering policy to help to remove barriers to distributed renewable energy and cogeneration, facilitate commercial-scale renewable energy projects, and encourage more residential customers to install renewable energy systems. This bill defers a number of key decisions to the appropriate governing authority (defined as the Public Service Commission for investor-owned
utilities, and the Board of Directors for rural electric co-operatives), which allows for further determination of issues to take place in the rule-making process and the regulatory arena, providing opportunities for public input on key decisions. Increases the system cap for non-residential systems to 2 Megawatts (MW), from the current cap of 25 kilowatts (kW), and allows the governing authority to exceed the 2 MW limit through rules. The residential system cap remains at the current 25 kW limit. Expands the types of renewable energy systems available for net metering.

Changes the calendar year (Jan.-Dec.) to an annualized billing period (Apr.-Mar.), allowing customers to roll-over excess credits month-to-month during the annualized billing period, benefiting from seasonal variations of certain renewable energy systems. Authorizes the governing authority to: approve a higher total system
capacity for net metered electricity (i.e. total number of net metered kWs allowed on the overall system) above the current cap of 0.1% of 2007 system peak; Allow the governing authority to approve a value other than avoided cost for excess kilowatt-hour credits generated by the customer; any excess kilowatt hours will roll over month-to-month during the annualized billing period. Any unused excess credits are set to expire at the end of
the annualized billing period.

SB 202
Senate Majority Leader Curtis Bramble (R), Provo
ENERGY RESOURCE AND CARBON EMISSION REDUCTION INITIATIVE targets 20 percent of Utah's power to come from renewable energy sources by 2025. Early in the Session, Sen Scott McCoy (D-SL) brought SB 173 Renewable Energy Provisions, which was patterned on Oregon's Renewable Portfolio Standard legislation, 'the real McCoy'. Public interest in Sen McCoy's bill provided leverage for advocates working with Sen Bramble, which was described during Senate floor debate by Sen McCoy as 'half a loaf' when he voted for it.

Several important things are accomplished in this bill, not least, Utah's Senate Majority Leader sponsored a bill that names CARBON as an issue. A watershed event. This bill also streamlines the bidding process for
renewable energy developers. Although Rocky Mt Power is only required to do cost-effective renewables, they must study renewables as part of the Integrated Resource Plan, a process that allows public input. The bill
also contains the phrase 'other factors determined by the commission to be relevant', which means that the Public Service Commission can respond to public pressure when we bring issues we persuade the commission are relevant.

FAILED

H.B. 199
Representative Fred Hunsaker (R), Cache and Rich Counties
TAX CREDITS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENT RESIDENCES was designed to encourage high efficiency residential new construction and retrofits through State incentives. The incentives are modeled to compliment Federal incentives and local utility energy efficiency incentive programs in the two areas described below: New construction of high efficiency homes - This policy would create a tiered incentive for new homes that are built to 30%, 40% or 50% above the current Utah Energy Code (IECC 2006). In addition to exceeding the current Utah IECC code, homes would be eligible for the incentive only after meeting/surpassing advanced energy efficiency building requirements. Energy efficient retrofits of existing homes - This policy would provide an incentive for retrofitting existing homes for improved energy efficiency. Eligible retrofit measures may include advanced evaporative cooling systems, high efficiency furnaces and boilers, insulation, windows, as well as duct and air sealing.

The failure of this bill is a great disappointment. Sarah Wright of Utah Clean Energy felt this one had the greatest potential for improving our energy profile along the Wasatch Front. As you may know, buildings
consume a large amount of the energy we use. One half of the buildings we will be using in 2030 have not been built yet. New energy efficient homes save energy over their entire life. For existing homes, this bill would have provided tax credits for energy efficiency retrofits which will save energy & pollution starting now. Now that housing starts are reduced in Utah, our building industry can be employed in retrofitting our existing housing stock. For reasons that were never articulated publicly, Utah Home Builders Association did not support this legislation.

S.B. 169
Sen. Dennis E. Stowell (R), Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Washington Counties
RENEWABLE ENERGY ZONE TASK FORCE which would identify potential renewable energy generation development areas and provide supporting analysis and recommend policy options to facilitate renewable energy development. Identify and map location specific renewable resource generation (wind, solar, geothermal, biomass) development areas within Utah that have the potential for economic power generation. Identify existing electric transmission within Utah and the location of potential new transmission which would be equired to develop the renewable resource potential in the identified renewable energy development zones.
Consider and make recommendations regarding the use of the possible policy options to facilitate renewable energy development. The bill also appropriates funds to study the establishment of a training center for alternative energy technologies. Renewable Energy Zone policy was a high priority policy of the Governor's
Blue Ribbon Advisory Committee, but this legislation was loaded with irrelevant tasks, including a requirement to study cost to consumers of coal and nuclear energy. It is disappointing not to have useful RE Zone

legislation, but the Task Force this legislation provided could not have created a useful product.

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