Center For Justice: “Paging Lisa Brown”
Making the move from the Community Building to Senate Majority Leader, we thought Lisa Brown would be an influential, pro-environment voice in Olympia. So it was shocking that she allegedly was the facilitator of SB 6036, a bill that would double the length of cleanup timelines of polluted state waterways, and supersede rules and procedures where the federal Environmental Protection Agency have traditionally had the final say. 
This includes the Spokane River, a resource that will always be a catalyst for controversy.
According to the Spokesman-Review, the bill was originally driven by Inland Empire Paper, and supported by the Department Of Ecology because IEP officials said it was impossible to meet the Clean Water Act’s phosphorous standard of 8 parts per billion and needed more time than the allotted ten years. They needed up to twenty.
Kevin Taylor, from the Inlander: Environmental groups are puzzled about how an Inland Empire “conversation” about doubling compliance schedules became a bill just before committee cutoff in the Legislature, then shot out of Sen. Lisa Brown’s office even though she is not a sponsor (and despite opposition from Spokane County Democrats) and passed 48-0 last week (admin: March 4th, 2009) with Brown absent.
On the bill's passing, Center For Justice attorney Rich Eichstaedt, who testified against it, commented, “part of the problem with this is that there has been no dialogue between state decision-makers and the environmental community state-wide about this measure. And this affects every water body in the state that is covered with a TMDL (a clean up plan required by the federal Clean Water Act). They are using a battle ax when they should be using a scalpel.”
The Center For Justice had a few questions for Brown, and we did too. You can view Tim Connor’s post and email to Lisa Brown HERE, and his questions after the jump. But our biggest concern was this: Why exactly was this rushed? Also, shouldn't the EPA intervene because it is inconsistent with the Federal Clean Water Act? Furthermore, is the state ready to face lawsuits from environmental groups because dischargers are setting the rules?
Obviously, a lot of us are perplexed about your purported role in this and I would like to at least give you an opportunity to respond to the following questions.
1) Is the Inlander account accurate in terms of what it reports about your support for and facilitation of SB 6036?
2) Did you or your office write the bill? If not, can you tell me who did?
3) Did Inland Empire Paper or other Spokane River dischargers approach you to support the bill?
4) Did you consult with Sierra Club about the bill?
5) You were counted “absent” on the bill, so can you clarify whether you would have supported, or opposed the bill if you’d been present?
6) Finally, if you did support the bill, can you explain why you thought it was necessary?
Thanks for your attention to this.
Regards, Tim Connor, Communications Director, Center for Justice
We’ll keep you posted if there’s a response.
