Congressional politics, legislative power plays, threatened lawsuits, even unfounded rumors of unethical conduct.
The battle over Utah's hazardous-waste fees - and just how far to raise them - turned into a full-fledged war Tuesday as the issue moved to the House floor."Utah has lost the battle and has lost the war on hazardous-waste disposal," said Rep. Norm Nielsen, R-Orem. "The only question left is if we can reach an equitable armistice."
Speaker of the House H. Craig Moody, R-Sandy, has sponsored a bill raising the fees to $50 a ton for those who dispose of 100 to 299 tons per year and $80 a ton for those who dispose of 300 tons or more per year. The bill passed the House 57-13 Tuesday morning, meaning legislators must now work out a compromise with the Senate.
Moody's bill would "protect" the small businesses and Utah producers of hazardous wastes but sends the message "Utah will not be the dumping ground of this nation," he said.
Tempers ran high Monday as Moody prepared to fight for his hazardous-waste bill Tuesday. "This is the Moody-for-Congress bill," House Minority Leader Frank Pignanelli, D-Salt Lake, told his caucus.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders were saying behind the scenes that Pignanelli and the Democrats were out to get Moody only because he will likely enter the 2nd Congressional District race after the Legislature adjourns next week.
Accusations of "deals" being made in closed rooms were rampant, especially after former Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis, now president of Union Pacific - owner of USPCI, one of Utah's largest hazardous-waste companies - arrived on Capitol Hill last week to give the state $5 million for a local community college.
Lewis and Gov. Norm Bangerter, who accepted the $5 million gift, both support Sen. Steve Rees' hazardous-waste bill - a bill that sets new waste fees at a significantly lower level than Moody's bill. Bangerter says no "deals" were made, just that the Rees bill is more responsible.
The Senate has already passed Rees' bill, which raises fees $5 a ton for each of the next three years.
Moody said he's heard the rumor that he met with Lewis and agreed to lower the rates on his bill in return for support for his congressional campaign.
"Outrageous. Absolutely false," said Moody. He and other GOP legislative leaders did meet with Lewis. "I refused to meet with Mr. Lewis alone for the very fear of such lies. He told us what he said in public - that if the rates go too high, USPCI will leave. One of our group said, `so what."'
On the other side, Moody questioned what Pignanelli and the Democrats were doing. "Who is doing their legal work for them?"
Pignanelli, an attorney, admits that because he is so busy with his legislative work, he did take legal arguments supplied by USPCI and reviewed them over the weekend.
"We (Democratic leaders) have two concerns," he said. "First, we don't want the rates so high that these (hazardous-waste) fees drive private disposal companies out of business. We have waste, too. We already see people putting these wastes in rental storage units."
But he also says politics come into play. "Is the speaker politicizing this issue? Using it to ride into the 2nd District by making them so high that it really harms Utahns?"
Meanwhile, Utah's current two-tier system - charging a lower rate for disposal of in-state wastes and a higher rate for out-of-state wastes, is unconstitutional because of the prohibition against interfering with interstate commerce. Rees' bill also has a two-tier rate system.
USPCI says it won't sue if Rees' rates are adopted. But what if Rees' bill is adopted and some other company sues, Pignanelli says.
"This bill (Moody's bill) will not put hazardous-waste companies out of business," promised Nielsen. "The facilities are already built, and (Utah) has the technological edge over other states."
Said Moody, "What will our children ask? Did we do what is right for them, or listen to big business and lobbyists."