Missouri Legislative Update

A service of the Missouri Audubon Council

Missouri Legislative Update - 1997 Session

Missouri Audubon Council's Priority Bills

Note: This page includes only bills from the 1997 session. of the General Assembly. For future years go to http://www.audubon.org/chapter/mo/mo/legis.htm

This session of the Missouri General Assembly is finally finished. The 1997 Legislative Session ended amidst much controversy on May 16, after legislators struggled with several major issues and failed to pass much of the Governor's priority legislation, including Challenge Scholarships and the Healthy Missouri Children's Corporation. Environmental legislation received little attention overall, and fewer potentially harmful bills were filed this session, than in recent years. The following highlights the major environmental issues of the session and the final outcome of Audubon priority legislation.

Remove "No-Stricter-Than-Federal-Requirements" Provision HB 350 (Rep. Joan Bray--St. Louis) MAC supports: Missouri law currently says the state can have no laws or regulations to control air pollution that are more stringent than federal law. This sometimes ties the hands of the Department of Natural Resources and prevents the agency from taking action needed to clean up some air pollution problems. Rep. Joan Bray has introduced a bill that would remove this onerous restriction in Missouri law. The bill was heard before a House committee on March 3.

Final Status: FAILED
Representative Joan Bray (D- St. Louis) sponsored HB 350, that would have repealed restrictions disallowing the Missouri Air Conservation Commission rules which are stricter or enforced sooner than those regulations required by the Federal Clean Air Act. Representative Mark Richardson (R- Poplar Bluff) countered HB 350 with HB 688 preventing certain DNR rules from being stricter than federal law. Neither bill was released from committee. The General Assembly is clearly divided over the "no stricter than federal" language.

For more details go to: HB350 status.
Regulate Billboards HB 349 (Rep. Nancy Farmer--St. Louis) MAC supports SB 139 (Sen. Betty Sims--St. Louis) MAC supports: Both of these bills would allow cities to prohibit or regulate billboards more strictly than state law. Missouri's billboard laws rank among the most lenient in the nation. The Missouri Audubon Council supported these bills. Both were heard in their respective committees.

Final Status: PASSED
One of the quietest victories of the session came in the passage of HB 831, which was amended by Senator Franc Flotron (R- Chesterfield), to allow some cities local control over outdoor advertising. HB 831, sponsored by Representative John Greisheimer (R- Washington), was amended with language that allows any city that maintains a city engineer on their planning commission the ability to place restrictions upon the height, spacing, and lighting of outdoor advertising structures within the view of any highway in the city. The amendment also capped the fee that could be imposed on initial inspections at $500 and business taxes on the structure at no more than $100.

Although this is a minor victory for advocates of local control, the requirement of a city engineer on the planning commission significantly limits which cities can take advantage of the local control option.
For more details on these bills go to: HB349 status or SB139 status.
Environmental Audit Exemptions SB 48 (Sen. Peter Kinder--Cape Girardeau) MAC opposes SB 125 (Sen. Wayne Goode--St. Louis) MAC neutral: The environmental audit bills are back again this year. Senator Kinder's bill would allow companies that voluntarily audit their environmental performance to keep the information secret from the public. The bill also gives businesses that perform these voluntary audits immunity from prosecution for pollution. This bill potentially gives polluters a shield to hide behind. The Audubon Council strongly opposed this bill.; Senator Goode's bill is much less onerous. Goode's bill does not allow a business to withhold records of environmental compliance indefinitely, and it requires businesses that have environmental violations to develop a time-limited plan to correct them. While the Council does not support any of the environmental audit bills, Council members officially are neutral on this bill.

Final Status: FAILED
Neither bill was voted on in Committee. Despite the attention the issue received last session, there was not the same push this year from the business community.
For more details on these bills go to: SB125 status or SB48 status.
Floodplain Management HB 451 (Rep. Gary Wiggins--New Cambria) MAC supports: The new chairman of the House Environment and Energy Committee, Rep. Gary Wiggins, has introduced a bill to place some controls over development in floodplains. The Council supports this bill because of Audubon's interest in wetlands preservation. If floodplains are allowed to function in a more natural state, wetlands preservation may be enhanced. Wiggins' bill stops far short of prohibiting or seriously controlling floodplain development, but it is a step in the right direction.

Final Status: FAILED

Missouri is the only Midwestern state without a floodplain management plan and remains in that status after HB 451, sponsored by Representative Gary Wiggins (D- New Cambria), did not pass. HB 451 passed the House but was not released from the Senate Corrections and General Laws Committee. This legislation would have required SEMA to implement floodplain management policies for state owned development and specified criteria for flood related assistance.
For more details go to: HB451 status.
Risk Assessment Mandate SB 47 (Sen. Peter Kinder--Cape Girardeau) MAC opposes: The bill would require the Department of Natural Resources to perform a lengthy analysis of risks and benefits for every regulation the department proposes. The department would be forced to estimate the extent of risk addressed by each new regulation in comparison to other risks and provide certification that the regulation will substantially advance the public health and environment. This would be extremely difficult for DNR to carry out. The process of putting any new regulations into effect would be time-consuming and potentially would hamper the department's ability to address environmental problems. The Audubon Council opposed this bill, which was heard in Senate committeee but advanced no further.

For more details go to: SB47 status.
Public Drinking Water Laws: A loan program for community and non-profit drinking water systems would have been established in HB 288, sponsored by Representative Sheila Lumpe (D- University City). The bill would have also allowed DNR to conduct source water assessments and a voluntary source water protection program. HB 288 was amended in the Senate to include a "no stricter than federal" clause and language that would have required DNR to perform risk-benefit analyses. Harmful amendments were removed in the Conference Committee. Although the Conference Committee report was adopted by the House, time did not permit the Senate to vote on the measure prior to the close of session. Final Status: FAILED
Environmental Equity and Justice Commission: HB 238, sponsored by Representative Joan Bray (D- St. Louis), would have established an Environmental Equity and Justice Commission. The Commission would have been charged with investigating possible disproportionate distribution of environmental hazards in minority and low income communities. This progressive legislation was released from the Committee on Environment & Energy but never placed on the Calendar for debate. Final Status: FAILED
Urban Sprawl: HB 684 sponsored by Representative Mike Schilling, and SB 462 sponsored by Senator Wayne Goode (D- Normandy), would have established commissions to study planning, land conservation and growth. Rep. Schilling's legislation specifically covered water and air pollution, land use, and quality of life. Many communities have been expanding rapidly with little planning which can lead to serious environmental problems. Neither bill was released from Committee. Final Status: FAILED

For the more details on the final status of these and other bills in Missouri's 1997 legislative process
go to: Missouri General Assembly and click on "Bill Tracking Information".

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