MONTANA

Energy restrictions proposed to help bird

BILLINGS — President Joe Biden’s administration on Nov. 8 proposed tighter restrictions on oil, solar and wind energy development across more than 6,500 square miles of federal land in the U.S. West to protect a declining bird species.

However, it is doubtful the changes would survive under President-elect Donald Trump.

Greater sage grouse — chicken-sized birds known for an elaborate mating ritual— were once found across much of the U.S. West. Their numbers plummeted in recent decades because of energy exploration, wildfires, disease and other pressures.

A 2015 agreement shepherded by the Obama administration kept the birds off the endangered species list, by imposing limits on where and when development could occur across 226,000 square miles of remaining grouse habitat spanning 11 states.

Now, in the closing weeks of the Biden administration, officials with the Interior Department want to make the protections even stronger. Their plan would eliminate loopholes that allowed development in areas considered crucial to the bird’s long-term survival. New solar and wind projects would be excluded, and oil and gas exploration could only occur from drilling sites located outside the protected areas.

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Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the new, science-based proposal would boost sage grouse while allowing development on government lands to continue.

Yet the agency’s attempt to find a middle ground fell flat with the oil and renewable energy industries, Republicans and even some environmentalists.

A spokesperson for American Clean Power, a renewables industry lobbying group companies, said it had supported an earlier version of the proposal but not the final details released on Nov. 8. Spokesperson Phil Sgro said the proposal “unnecessarily restricts the development of wind, solar, battery storage and transmission, undermining the ability to deploy much needed clean energy infrastructure.”

Most of the land at issue is in Nevada and California, according to government documents. Affected parcels also are in Wyoming, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Montana and the Dakotas.

WYOMING

Lawmakers want to boost K-12 funding

CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Legislature could be back on track to fully funding its K-12 public schools after a committee of state lawmakers voted on Nov. 1 to adopt a $66.3 million cost adjustment.

The state funds its public schools through the K-12 education resource block grant. Every year, the legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee must make an external cost adjustment recommendation from this block grant to the governor and legislative body by Nov. 1.

There are two different funding models that calculate the cost of education funding — the evidence- or cost-based model, which is recommended by state consultants, and the statutory model, which is used by the legislature.

Since 2020, the legislature has funded below the cost-based model by at least $20 million or more each school year. A Legislative Service Office memo shows it would cost the state $66.4 million to catch up for the 2025-26 school year.

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The Legislature’s Joint Education Committee voted in September to recommend an increase in state funding by $66.3 million. This amount includes an 8.5% increase in state funding for both professional and non-professional staff, as well as a 1.068% increase for educational material costs, in the 2025-26 school year.

Wyoming School Boards Association Executive Director Brian Farmer told lawmakers on the JAC that the evidence-based model used to be called the “constitutional floor” when the statutory model exceeded it. From 2006 to 2018, the Legislature continued to fund above what was recommended by state consultants.

A pending lawsuit filed by the Wyoming Education Association in 2022 against the state claims that the Wyoming Legislature has underfunded its public K-12 schools by failing to fully adopt recommended adjustments for inflation in salaries for professional and non-professional staff.

ARIZONA

Regulators fine natural gas utility $2 million

PHOENIX — A natural gas utility with more than 2 million customers in Arizona, Nevada and parts of California is being fined $2 million by regulators in Arizona over concerns about piping that is known to degrade in the heat.

The Arizona Corporation Commission announced on Nov. 8 that it reached a consent agreement with Southwest Gas that includes the civil penalty and requires more inspections.

At issue is piping that can degrade in locations with hot ambient temperatures. Federal regulators issued an advisory in 2012 alerting operators that the piping could be susceptible to degradation.

It was reported that degradation and resulting leaks involved piping installed in the Southwest, particularly in the Mohave Desert region in Arizona, California and Nevada.

In Arizona, state investigators concluded that Southwest Gas failed to properly map where this type of piping had been installed.

Southwest Gas estimates there are more than 10,000 miles of the piping throughout Arizona.

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The agreement between state regulators and Southwest Gas stems from two separate incidents in 2021, including one in Chandler in which an explosion injured four people.

In addition to replacing or abandoning all newly discovered and previously unmapped spots that contain the defective piping, Southwest Gas must also notify regulators of any leaks.

An amendment to the agreement made clear that the company would have to propose new rates — and win regulatory approval through an administrative process — if it wants to recoup from customers any of the costs associated with fulfilling the agreement.

Southwest Gas also agreed to increase leak patrols throughout the year.

UTAH

Escaped llamas found on train tracks

PROVO — A small herd of domestic llamas was spotted taking an evening stroll on the train tracks in Provo, Utah, on Nov. 7 after the woolen creatures escaped from their owner, according to the Utah Transit Authority.

Several emergency responders were dispatched to round up the five llamas after transit officials received reports of the animals wandering the Union Pacific line. The llama search did not delay train service, transit authority spokesperson Gavin Gustafson said.

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Whether the llamas had been caught was unknown as of 10 p.m. local time, about three and a half hours after crews were called to the area 43 miles south of Salt Lake City, Gustafson said.

Details about how the llamas escaped and where they came from were not immediately available.

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