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Lawmakers express concern with building
code changes, ask for economic analysis
Kretz, Kristiansen say
the State Building Code Council, governor overstepped
After a controversial decision to update the state's building code
without proper economic impact statements,
Reps. Joel Kretz and
Dan Kristiansen sent a letter to the Joint
Administrative Rules and Review Committee (JARRC) asking for a thorough
look at the impacts of the Washington State Building Code Council's
proposals.
The representatives contend that the Legislature set parameters this year
when it passed
Senate Bill 5854, and the governor signed it into law.
The measure incrementally increases the energy efficiency codes for
buildings beginning in 2013, with the goal of a 70 percent reduction in
energy consumption by 2031. In direct conflict with the law, the
governor requested the building code council to move the timeline up to
require a 30 percent reduction in energy consumption for buildings by
July 2010.
"We all want structures to be as energy efficient as possible, but for
our part, the Legislature specifically outlined a start date of 2013 in
recognition of the economy and the costs of these upgrades to
employers and families," said Kretz, deputy leader of the House
Republicans. "The council and governor ignoring the law causes me great
concern, but the fact that no real economic impact statement was done to
ensure their proposal will not kill jobs and increase our already
staggering unemployment rate is unacceptable."
"I'm very concerned the unreasonable acceleration of this timeline
would be unattainable for many manufacturers and the building trades. It
could potentially eliminate jobs because they would not be able to
comply with this directive," said Kristiansen, who serves as House
Republican Caucus chairman and is a former small-business owner in the
construction industry.
"These new regulations also have the potential to pile astronomical costs onto the
overall price of homes, further damaging the slumping housing industry
and putting affordability out of the reach of many home buyers. Any
savings in energy costs would be negated by the higher costs consumers
would pay for these regulations," added Kristiansen, R-Snohomish. "It's
unacceptable that the essential economic impact statements are being
done in a mediocre fashion for political expediency. We should not ignore the effect the
governor's directive could have against jobs, especially when more than
300 thousand people in Washington are out of work."
The two legislators asked JAARC to review the council's regulations for
the following reasons:
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The small
business economic impact statement fails to meet the statutory
requirements and analyzes only five of more than 100 newly proposed changes, despite the council identifying more than 60
provisions in its plan that would have an economic impact. No
potential job losses were calculated, despite the impact on 15,280
companies that would be affected.
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The
Legislature set the guidelines and timelines in
Senate Bill 5854.
Moving the timelines up without legislative authority sets a
dangerous precedent and should be reviewed for legality.
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State statute
requires state agencies and regulators to do a cost-benefit analysis
of all proposed regulations and adopt the least burdensome.
"It's clear under the law the Legislature intended to take control of
this issue and did not allow for the
State Building Code Council to
adopt sweeping changes to the energy code," said Kretz, R-Wauconda. "New
and costly mandates heaped onto employers may well be the straw that
breaks the camel's back. The timing is terrible and I hope a review of
the regulations will encourage the council to back off such a
poorly timed regulatory burden."
The public hearings on the revisions to the building codes will be held
Tuesday, Sept. 29, and Monday, Oct. 5, 2009. The Sept. 29 hearing will
be held in Renton at 10 a.m. at the
Renton Holiday Inn Select, Evergreen Ballroom, located at 1 South
Grady Way. The Oct. 5 hearing will take place at 9 a.m. in Spokane at the
Spokane City Hall, City
Council Chambers, located at 808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard.
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For more information, contact:
Bobbi Cussins, Public Information Officer: (360) 786-7252
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