Environmental leadership, planning, and taxpayer protection
Saturday, May 17, 2014 http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140517/GJOPINION_0102/140519473/0/SEARCHThe spring season and the celebration of Earth Day remind us of the renewal that nature promises. In the spirit of hope, I believe we must plan wisely to face the challenges confronting coastal New Hampshire, including climate change, Great Bay water quality, and sustainable fisheries. Reports from state, national, and international agencies confirm what we all know — the climate is changing. Rising sea levels, increasingly severe storms, warmer winters and hotter summers are here to stay. The economic risks are great. My major initiative to protect taxpayers and the environment has been the establishment of the Coastal Risks and Hazards Commission, composed of representatives from municipalities, insurance underwriters, businesses, area and state agencies, and the legislature. It will provide guidance on anticipated sea level rise, coastal flooding, storm water, and related hazards. It will make recommendations for legislation, regulations, and other actions to protect New Hampshire from these hazards by planning now for adaptations that will mean enormous financial savings in the future. The Commission has made great progress over the past nine months. For example, at its April meeting in Dover, the Commission discussed the Dover Risk Assessment, the draft FEMA flood maps, and presentations on how insurance underwriters and the homebuilding industry are responding to climate change. In June and July, the Commission will release its scientific panel report on projected sea level rise and establish working groups to develop municipal and state agency responses. We must take charge of our future so we can sustain our economic base and our quality of life through prudent climate adaptation. Great Bay water quality is essential to our quality of life and our economic development, so communities in District 4 are committed to wastewater treatment to reduce nitrogen loads. However, when the Department of Environmental Services and the Environmental Protection Agency used a 2009 nutrient criteria study as the basis for potential licensing that would cost Dover upward of $40 million in additional funds for an unrealistic level of treatment, I knew it was time to fight for common sense and good science. I led the effort in Concord by filing Senate Bill 110 which prompted a peer review of the report. The review released on February 13 fully vindicated the Dover position, and the Supreme Court has just ruled in the city’s favor. I have worked with DES Commissioner Burack and local officials to ensure that we can now move forward with new monitoring of water quality to develop a realistic plan that will save local taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and help preserve the Great Bay. Teamwork, good science, a commitment to the environment, and effective leadership in Concord demonstrate how environmentalism and taxpayer protection can work together. Environmental leadership in the Great Bay estuary requires expertise in many areas and a strong commitment to economic development and taxpayer protection. I have committed myself during three terms in the legislature to becoming your “saltwater” senator because future generations depend on forceful action today. Bill extension aims to help Dover's economic development
Tuesday, May 13, 2014 http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140513/GJNEWS_01/140519806 DOVER — The state legislature recently passed a bill extension that provides support for a program that since 2009 has created jobs and increased the tax base by promoting economic development in 38 New Hampshire communities, including Dover. Economic Development Director, Dan Barufaldi, said he’s pleased Watters was able to get a five-year extension. Senate Bill 327 is one of several bills Watters said he has sponsored this session to support economic development by businesses and housing developers. He also co-sponsored a bill to double the business investment tax credit. Watters bill on sex abuse prevention goes to governor: Designed to make schoolchildren statewide more aware of inappropriate touching
Saturday, May 3, 2014 DOVER — A Senate bill establishing a commission to study sexual abuse prevention education in New Hampshire schools is on its way to Gov. Maggie Hassan’s desk after it passed the House of Representatives this week. “If this kind if programming had been around when I was a kid, it could have prevented my abuse from happening for years. I would have known that this wasn’t supposed to be happening to me, and that there are adults, in school and out of school that would have helped to get me out of a scary, confusing situation,” Paradis said Friday. Paradis said SASS currently serves Rockingham and Strafford County school systems, teaching approximately 10,000 students a year about personal body safety, Internet safety and healthy relationships, but there are a total of 40,000 students in the two counties. Paradis said there are 12 other states that provide this type of education to students. She said the bill has support from police, rape crisis centers, child advocacy groups, the Department of Health and Human Services and those in education. Paradis has been told that if SB 348 passes the House of Representatives, it would have the support of Gov. Maggie Hassan. |
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