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January 18, 2018
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
There
are several ways for a state legislator to help constituents when questions or
concerns arise. My office and I can accomplish a lot simply through phone
calls, e-mails and letters, while other matters are better suited to personal
meetings. Sometimes a piece of legislation becomes necessary – an example being
Senate Bill 6055, which received a public
hearing during the first week of the 2018 session.
Leavenworth
was the first stop on my 12th District “listening tour” in early October, and
my first appointment was with officials from the city. One of the things they
brought to my attention was a problem with disposing of brush and yard waste,
due to recent adjustments made to the state’s apple maggot quarantine-area boundary.
The line now intersects the city and prohibits Leavenworth from transporting
its brush and yard waste towards Wenatchee.
 Leavenworth officials who met with me at their City Hall in October (top photo) were
in the group that joined me recently at the Capitol (lower photo) to
speak in favor of the resulting legislation.
Could
the city burn the brush and yard waste instead of paying to haul it 102 miles west
for disposal? I took the question to the state Department of Ecology, because
outdoor burning involves air-quality regulations. I also prepared a bill that
would allow Leavenworth (and the other three municipalities that also are
partially inside the quarantine area) to burn the brush and yard waste in a
highly-coordinated fashion twice a year – as a pilot project to help determine
whether it’s a possible solution to the city’s challenges. I also connected the
city officials with high-level representatives from the appropriate state
agencies: Ecology and Agriculture.
State
Senator Reuven Carlyle, who represents part of Seattle, is the chair of the
Senate Energy, Environment and Technology Committee. After much discussion
prior to the session, he agreed to co-sponsor SB 6055 with me and granted my
request to have a public hearing on Jan. 11.
 Testifying in support of my Senate Bill 6055 were (top, from left) Leavenworth councilmember Sharon Waters, city administrator Joel Walinski, and councilmember Margaret Neighbors, plus councilmember Elmer Larsen and Brenda Blanchfield, solid waste coordinator with
Chelan County Public Works (below). I also testified and submitted additional written
testimony from Chelan County to be entered into the committee record. The state's apple maggot quarantine map is visible in the photo below; click here for a searchable version.
It was clear from the discussion following the hearing that
the committee members understood and were sympathetic to Leavenworth’s situation
(“between a rock and a hard place,” as one put it). Chair Carlyle even pointed
out that any concerns about air quality from burning the debris had to be
weighed against the air pollution caused by trucking the debris across the
Cascades (which also is extremely expensive for the city). He expressed hope
that an answer can be found soon, and I share that optimism. The encouraging
reception my bill received can only help to keep the conversation moving and
focused.
For me, introducing legislation is sometimes a last resort,
but it can certainly be effective at generating conversation and raising
awareness. My hope is that the pilot-project bill will pass, in its current
form or with improvements, or for the regulatory agencies to dedicate resources
towards helping Leavenworth find a reasonable solution to this challenge.
Click here for my
latest interview with KPQ radio,
which includes more about the Leavenworth bill. Click
here for the Wenatchee World article describing the bill. Click here to view TVW's coverage of the committee hearing.
Thank you again for the opportunity to serve as your 12th
District state senator.
Brad Hawkins
State Senator
Brad Hawkins
12th Legislative District
E-mail:
brad.hawkins@leg.wa.gov
Website: senatorbradhawkins.org
107 Newhouse Building
- P.O. Box 40412 | Olympia, WA 98504-0412
(360) 786-7622 or Toll-free: (800) 562-6000
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