(The following story by Daniel Scarpinato appeared on the Arizona Daily Star website on February 27.)
TUCSON, Ariz. — A House panel gave the go-ahead Tuesday on a compromise bill aimed at raising concerns over a rail yard proposed near Picacho Peak. But the legislation is expected to continue to face changes.
The House Committee on Counties, Municipalities and Military Affairs voted unanimously to advance the bill, which supporters say would bring public scrutiny to rail projects.
The bill was introduced last year after Union Pacific sought to buy 1,500 acres of state trust land near the peak to build the sixth-largest rail yard in the country.
The effort had bipartisan support from environmentalists and private-properly advocates, and it flew through the Legislature only to face a veto from Gov. Janet Napolitano on the grounds that it conflicted with federal oversight of railroads.
This year its sponsors brought it back. But in January, state Rep. John Nelson, R-Litchfield Park, chairman of the committee, asked both sides to sit down and negotiate a deal.
A revised bill brought forth Tuesday still would not give the state any power to stop a railroad project from being built. But it would allow for at least one public hearing and give the state the ability to conduct studies and look at alternate sites if the railroad wanted to use eminent domain or obtain state land at auction.
The change that opened the way for the two sides to negotiate a deal is that the Arizona Department of Transportation — rather than the Corporation Commission — will be charged with conducting the studies.
State Rep. Tom Prezelski, D-Tucson, an opponent of the bill last year, said the new bill might continue to go through changes, but said he sees progress.
“We are trying to create a planning process and allow the public to have some input through the state into the federal process,” Prezelski said.