Cover Photo: On March 4, GFA President Steve McWilliams testified in the House of Representatives State Properties Committee hearing on House Bill 255. The bill was approved by the committee and passed the House with a 120-44 vote on March 9.
THE LEGISLATIVE LANDSCAPE March 11, 2015
The 2015 legislative session is approaching the critical 30th day by which legislation must clear one chamber to have a chance of being considered in the other - Crossover Day. Here is a recap of the status of legislation of particular interest to the forestry community through the 28th legislative day:
"GREEN BUILDING" AND GEORGIA GROWN WOOD | HOUSE BILL 255
HB 255, introduced by Rep. Mike Cheokas (R-Americus), passed the House on a 120-44 vote on Monday, March 9. Representatives from the U.S. Green Building Council and advocates of its LEED building standard opposed the legislation in the House. They are expected to do the same as the bill makes its way through the Senate.
HB 255 is a GFA initiative to codify the language in Governor Deal's 2012 Executive Order requiring that green building standards used in the construction of state buildings give equal consideration to all forest certification programs. The popular LEED standard recognizes Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood in its credit system. However, LEED gives no points to wood certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the American Tree Farm System, essentially discriminating against the forest certification systems used by most certified forests in Georgia.
HB 199 would amend Georgia's timber harvest notification law to achieve greater uniformity among counties that have a timber harvest ordinance and to create operational efficiencies for Georgia loggers. HB 199:
Removes the requirement for a bond on every tract harvested in favor of a single bond per county per year
Clarifies that local governing authorities cannot charge fees for the notification of a harvest
Allows a contractor 24 hours to notify the county after moving onto a tract rather than having to notify authorities prior to moving onto a tract
Allows notification by email
Clarifies that the notification form provided by the State Forester is the only information a local governing authority can require from a contractor
The current law is administered differently in counties throughout the state and is onerous in many respects for loggers. The legislation will change several provisions of the current law to be more "logger friendly," increasing efficiencies and simplifying the compliance process.
HB 411, sponsored by Rep. Sam Watson (R-Moultrie), was approved by the House Natural Resources & Environment Committee on March 9 and currently rests in the House Rules Committee. The Rules Committee must approve sending the bill to the full House for a vote.
HB 411 would increase the allowable haul weight for unfinished forest products from 80,000 lbs. plus a five percent variance to 84,000 lbs. plus a five percent variance. The travel radius within which these weights would be allowed would increase from the current 100 miles to 150 miles.
In the past few days it has become clear that House leadership is concerned about the timing of a weight increase debate on the heels of a very difficult vote on transportation funding (House Bill 170) to pay for road and bridge improvements throughout the state. This concern leaves the fate of HB 411 unclear at this time.
GEORGIA FORESTRY COMMISSION FUNDING
On Feb. 26, the House voted to add $1.8 million to the Georgia Forestry Commission budget to address pay parity and retention issues. If maintained by the Senate and the Governor, this additional funding, along with the $1.8 million in appropriations from 2014, would bring the Commission’s funding to $3.6 million of the $4.2 million needed to increase its professionals’ salaries to 85 percent of the market average.
Last year, the Georgia Forestry Commission reported an alarming loss of trained, experienced personnel due to salary rates being significantly below the market average. By the end of 2013, turnover had doubled over the historical five year average. Across their southern districts in 2010, GFC Rangers with less than two years’ experience averaged six percent of the work force. At the end of 2013 the average increased to 30 percent, and today that average is almost 38 percent. To reverse the ongoing attrition and to attract qualified candidates for vacancies, GFC must be appropriated funding to fully address the remaining pay parity issues.
FORESTRY OUTREACH FUNDING
GFA President Steve McWilliams was invited to speak last week to the Agriculture and Forestry Subcommittee of Senate Appropriations in favor of a proposed $300,000 appropriation in the 2016 budget which would support three new outreach positions in University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources. The positions would focus on three areas critical to Georgia’s private forest landowners – Economics & Taxation, Forest Health, and Wildlife. The House included the funding in the budget that it sent to the Senate. The fate of the request will become clear in the next several days.
OTHER FORESTRY RELATED NEWS & INFORMATION
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