Environment Committee

The Greater Kansas City Chamber's Environment committee will meet next Tuesday, February 22nd, at 8:00 a.m. here in the Chamber's board room. The Air Quality working group has now merged with the Environment Committee so in addition to regular Environment Committee issues, we will address air quality agenda items as well.

Agenda items: (Explanations below)

• Clean Air Action Plan - draft language for endorsement
• Ethanol Mandate update
• SB 225

The Clean Air Action Plan will be presented and discussed. (Please review the details of this plan before the meeting by clicking on the link.) www.marc.org/airq/caap.htm

We will also have an update on the statewide Ethanol Mandate pledged by Governor Blunt. He was hoping for reformulated gasoline, however due to the EPA's pending decision to classify KC as attainment, the Governor's plan will change. He will now focus on a statewide ethanol blend mandate. (The blend is also called E-10; 10% ethanol blend in KC, which will likely happen at the pump; or at the terminal.)

Currently, Missouri does not have the ethanol supply or the distribution infrastructure to implement a statewide mandate of E-10. Also, we need to be cognizant that an E-10 fuel could mess up our KC air quality situation, IF we do not handle implementation appropriately. House Agriculture Chair Peter Myers hopes to be able to influence the Governor to disband the "mandate" effort, and let the free market system work. He believes that mandates are a poor precedent to set on business. (Iowa did the same thing: it backed off a mandate and provided incentives to gas stations to use ethanol blends.) Rep. Myers is wanting very much to work out a "win-win" situation for the Governor and the industry (refiners, gas stations, ethanol, etc.) and hopes the Chamber can assist in this effort.

Also of importance, hazardous waste bill SB 225 was voted out of the house committee on Wednesday, February 9th. An update will be given at the meeting on Tuesday. (A short summary of the bill is at the end of this item for your review.)**

Thank you for your concern with these issues and your continuing support of the Chamber. I look forward to seeing you all at the meeting!

**HAZARDOUS WASTE BILL VOTED OUT OF HOUSE COMMITTEE:
On Wednesday, February 9th the House Committee on Ways and Means held an executive session and voted out SCS/SB 225, sponsored by Sen. John Cauthorn (R-Mexico). This bill makes many changes to the laws on hazardous waste. The Senate committee substitute does the following:

• Directs a fee of fifty cents to be collected for each lead-acid battery sold.
  
• Directs Missouri treatment, storage and disposal facilities to pay an annual fee equal to two dollars per ton or portion thereof for all hazardous waste received from outside the state.
  
• All references to the hazardous waste remedial fund have been removed, along with the deposit breakdown between said fund and the hazardous waste fund - the act forwards all monies to be deposited in the hazardous waste fund. The fee authorized in this section shall expire December 2011.
  
• Adds circumstances to the list by which the hazardous waste fund receives funds new language includes taxes, penalties or interest assessed on those fees or taxes. New language also adds to the list of circumstances to which the hazardous waste fund is responsible - including, prevention of leaks from underground storage tanks and response to petroleum releases from both underground and above ground tanks, and for any other expenditures that are not covered under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980.

The Senate committee substitute was adopted and the committee voted the bill "do pass" by a vote of 8-1.

If you would like to attend or want to be added to the committee, please contact Anne Cull at cull@kcchamber.com or call (816) 374-5490.

The Greater Kansas City Chamber's Environment Committee meets the last Tuesday of each month at 8:00 am in the Chamber Board Room, 2600 Commerce Tower, 911 Main St., Kansas City, MO.

The dates for 2005 Environment Committee meetings are as follows:
March 29
April 26
May 31
June 28
July 26
August 30
September 27
October 25
November 29
December 27

The Chamber validates parking for the 811 Main Garage, Commerce Garage located on 10th Street between Main and Walnut streets, or the new Tower Garage located between 9th and 10th on Walnut.