Bill threatening TRPA withdrawal passes legislature

The bill that would pull Nevada out of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency compact was approved Tuesday morning just minutes before adjournment of the Assembly.

The vote was 28-14 to give final legislative approval to Senate Bill 271.

The measure by Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, threatens withdrawal from the Tahoe Regional Compact by 2015 unless California and the U.S. Congress agree to changes including ending the requirement that projects and other major decisions be approved by a majority of members from both states.

The bill also would require the governing board of the agency to consider economic conditions in the Tahoe Basin when amending the regional plan.

Lee told the Senate he agrees with residents and merchants at the Lake that the agency has gone far beyond its original purpose, interfering with even the smallest decisions such as paint colors and whether to rake up pine needles around a home.

Assemblyman Kelly Kite, R-Minden, said his district includes the south end of the Lake and that constituents there strongly support the legislation.

"This is not a casino bill, not a rich bill, not a poor person's bill," he said. "It's about taking care of a true treasure of our country."

Kite said the bill doesn't take away environmental protections, that it just designed to give Nevada a fair say in decisions made at the Lake.

Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Minden, said during the Senate testimony on the bill that California members of the board block everything they can at the Lake.

Assemblyman David Bobzien, D-Reno, opposed the bill saying the compact and regional plan need updates but that SB271, "is fraught with dire consequences."

"I agree with this bill's proponents who say we need an updated regional plan for the lake," he said.

He said amendments have occurred before and that "It's amazing what we can do as legislators, working across the Lake."

Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce, D-Las Vegas, also urged opposition to the measure saying the Lake isn't just for Nevadans.

"I would say that, a long time ago, the American people speaking through Congress decided that Lake Tahoe was an American treasure," she said.

She said an enormous amount of environmental work has been done by TRPA in the basin and is helping to save its clarity.

"I think this bill has enormous, long-reaching consequences that the people who proposed this bill do not begin to understand," she said.

The measure next goes to Gov. Brian Sandoval for his signature.