On Friday, March 4, at an unknown time, the full Idaho House of Representatives will hold the final vote on Senate Bill 1339 (S1339) [1, 2]. The Senate Resources and Environment Committee passed S1339 to the Senate floor on Friday, February 19, after an Alta Mesa oil and gas company attorney pushed for bill hearing closure, before all of the subsequently angry citizens present could testify.  Only Democrat committee member Michelle Stennett voted against this bill that, if passed by the Idaho Legislature and codified as an emergency law by Governor Otter’s signature, would expedite Idaho oil and gas development permitting procedures and further severely limit due process, associated public input and appeals, and information available to citizens, some forced to develop their mineral interests and most concerned about fossil fuel project impacts to private and public lands, water, air, and property rights [3-5].

According to Betsy Russell’s Eye on Boise, “after a two-hour debate, the Idaho Senate voted 31-4 in favor of SB 1339, a controversial proposal to streamline the process for issuing permits for oil and gas wells. The bill drew close to 100 people to an earlier hearing, most of them opposed…The bill now moves to the House side.  The Senate vote came just after 6:30 p.m. Boise time, half an hour after the Senate had been scheduled to conclude its late-afternoon session, which started at 4:30.  It was the only bill taken up.” [6]  On Tuesday, March 1, the Idaho House Resources and Conservation Committee held a hearing on this industry-promoted bill and passed S1339 on a two-to-one ratio [7].  Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) emailed letters of opposition to both Senate and House committees.

Meanwhile, on Monday, February 22, over 150 citizens participated in a rally on the Capitol steps in Boise, protesting the bill and oil and gas industry and infrastructure abuses of Idaho citizen health, private property rights, and essential air, water, and soil quality, at the Don’t Frack Idaho Statehouse Rally, hosted by Citizens Allied for Integrity and Accountability [8-12]. Organizing protests and rallies against oil and gas development around the state since 2012, WIRT activists are grateful that more than a few dozen Idahoans are finally displaying widespread resistance.

If the Idaho legislature could possibly defend your interests, please contact all of the state representatives, to oppose full Idaho House floor passage of S1339. See the comprehensive list of representative email addresses at citation 7 and talking point suggestions at the following links [13, 14].  NOW is your last chance to write to or call them on this issue, urging them to vote against this legislation that forces oil and gas development on unwilling land and mineral rights owners and that dismisses the public’s best interests and participation in permitting decisions.  Thank you! Continue reading →

Please take urgent action on these two significant Idaho oil and gas resistance events.  Thanks to Citizens Allied for Integrity and Accountability (CAIA) of Fruitland, Idaho, for organizing and sharing news about them!  Contact CAIA with your questions and suggestions at info@integrityandaccountability.org, IntegrityAndAccountability.org, or 208-963-5707.

Friday: Oppose Idaho Senate Bill 1339

The first oil and gas bill of the 2016 session is printed and scheduled to be heard on Friday, February 19, at 1:30 pm MST, first on the day’s agenda of the Idaho Senate Resources and Environment Committee [1, 2].  Attorney Kate Haas of the law firm Kestrel West, representing the primary Idaho oil and gas development company, Alta Mesa, will present Senate Bill 1339 (S1339) in Room WW55 of the Idaho Capitol in Boise [3].  Please participate in this hearing by attending in support of bill opponents, submitting your written comments in advance or in person, and/or speaking against S1339 for up to three minutes.  Contact Committee members by phone or email before the hearing.

Call 208-332-1323 and/or email sres@senate.idaho.gov, to extend your comments to all of the committee members together, or write to each and all of them at their individual addresses: Steve Bair <sbair@senate.idaho.gov>, Clifford Bayer <cbayer@senate.idaho.gov>, Marv Hagedorn <mhagedorn@senate.idaho.gov>, Lee Heider <lheider@senate.idaho.gov>, Roy Lacey <rlacey@senate.idaho.gov>, Sherry Nuxoll <snuxoll@senate.idaho.gov>, Jeff Siddoway <jsiddoway@senate.idaho.gov>, Michelle Stennett <mstennett@senate.idaho.gov>, Steve Vick <sjvick@senate.idaho.gov>.

S1339 would expedite all Idaho oil and gas development applications and further exclude Idahoans from crucial public input, as described in the following and attached, useful, talking points.  As an emergency bill, effective with Governor Otter’s signature, S1339 would essentially and immediately strip all due public process from oil and gas permitting in Idaho, risking the integrity of Idaho law and private and public property rights.  Compounding ongoing oil and gas industry degradation of the health and safety of Idahoans and their environment, this legislation, if passed over strong citizen objections, would: Continue reading →