Senate Judiciary Committee passes bill to restore public’s access to permit hearings

CARSON CITY -- A Nevada Senate panel voted Thursday for a bill that repeals a little-noticed 2005 law that limited public involvement in many state licensing hearings.

Assembly Bill 94 moved on a unanimous Judiciary Committee vote to the full Senate for final legislative action after proponents said it corrects an oversight which, if left in place, could cause major problems for the state.

"Join us in repealing the mistake I think we made last session," said Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, the bill's chief sponsor.

Besides taking away the right of people to participate in various hearings, the 2005 law put the state at odds with the federal Environmental Protection Agency's standards for public access to government hearings, Leslie said.

Without the law change that AB94 would produce, Leslie said, the EPA could move to take back the authority to control air and water pollution that it has delegated to the state.

Leo Drozdoff, administrator of the state Division of Environmental Protection, said he supported the bill and also was concerned about possible federal EPA action if the 2005 law wasn't repealed. He added that Gov. Jim Gibbons supports AB94.

The 2005 law had been pitched to lawmakers as a plan dealing with licensing hearings of insurance agents. The law prohibits participation in a licensing hearing for anyone who lacks a direct financial interest in the matter.

An environmental group found out last year that the law restricted its participation in a permit hearing conducted by the environmental division. Great Basin Mine Watch wound up with limited involvement in a hearing on a permit for a closed mine in Elko County. The group is concerned about pollutants from the old mine filtering into a stream that feeds the north fork of the Humboldt River.

Lobbyist Jim Wadhams, who pushed for the 2005 law, has mines among his clients but has denied that the mining industry was involved in efforts to pass that measure. In a letter to legislators, Wadhams said he supports Leslie's AB94.