Most Recent Issue:

April 8, 2002

Issue Spotlight: Energy Efficiency Tax Incentives
According to a new report released last week by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), several states have made major advancements in promoting the purchase of energy efficient equipment through policies that include sales tax waivers and income tax credits. “States play a fundamental role in addressing energy use and the deployment of energy efficiency measures at the regional and local level, and are well suited to provide tax incentives that foster technology options matched to the needs of their residents," said Elizabeth Brown, the lead author of the report. To read a short synopsis of some of the innovative state energy efficiency programs covered in the report, please visit SERC’s state info page.

Headliner: America's Largest River Tops Most Endangered List
The Missouri River tops this year’s “America's Most Endangered Rivers” list issued last week by the conservation group American Rivers. The designation follows the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences declaration in January that the Missouri River ecosystem is in "a serious state of decline," and the ecosystem faces the prospect of "irreversible extinction of species." The six dams built in Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota have transformed one-third of the Missouri River ecosystem into lake environments. In the upper Missouri River, a new ecosystem has been created by the dams with the deep water reservoirs replacing the free flowing river. In the lower river, channelization has eliminated sandbars, depth diversity, and river connections with off-channel side channels and backwaters. To read the entire report, please visit American Rivers website. 

Watch Dog: ALEC’s TMDL Bill Makes Drought Situation Worse 
As America is in the midst of the most severe drought in recent memory, the corporation-controlled American Legislative Exchange Council is pushing the TMDL Implementation Act in state legislatures throughout the country. The TMDL Implementation Act makes a bad drought situation even worse.  This legislation clings to phrases like “resource constraints” and “sound scientific data” to treat water use “in the most cost-effective” fashion possible.  The ALEC TMDL Act focuses on business costs – not costs to our health – and waits for water to be contaminated before we clean it up.  By requiring overly-demanding scientific proof of poisoning, the bill does little to protect our drinking water until after the problem has already occurred.  ALEC sets up several hurdles to using science in a precautionary way, making it difficult to pro-actively take steps to address water problems before they occur.  By requiring such a high burden of scientific proof, ALEC encourages states to avoid regulatory compliance or enforcement until it’s too late. When dealing with our drinking water during a drought, it is better to be safe than sorry.  For more information about this and other harmful legislation please visit our watch dog page.

News From the States:

Protecting Wildlife
Washington: Gov Signs Bill Establishing Biodiversity Conservation Program
Last week the governor signed into law SB 6400, which establishes a special state program aimed at preserving the state’s rich plant and animal biodiversity. The legislation includes guidelines for defining the state’s ecoregions and development of a statewide landscape management program to replace existing regulatory programs. In addition, the legislation calls for the biodiversity program to include stakeholder involvement, public education, and technical assistance to state and local governments.

North Dakota: Bait Restrictions Hope to Keep Invasive Species Out 
AP reported last week that North Dakota is restricting fishing bait from other states for fear of non-native species like the zebra mussel. Under the rule taking effect today, anglers must get a $200 license to bring live bait such as minnows, leeches, worms and night crawlers across state lines. Officials want anglers to buy all their bait in the state in order to prevent the spread of nonnative fish and pests such as the zebra mussel, which has been found in more than two dozen states and has caused extensive damage in the Great Lakes region. 

Safe Air & Water
Maine: Senate Votes to Eliminate Mercury From Retired Vehicles
Last week the Maine Senate sided with environmentalists in voting for a LD 1921, a bill creating a system to collect mercury switches from cars when they are junked. Such a program, which removes the toxic chemical from retiring vehicles to prevent environmental contamination, would be funded by auto manufacturers.

Vermont: Mercury Bill Getting Tripped-Up in House
After a tumultuous journey through the Senate, S 91 is getting bogged down in the House by a series of parliamentary maneuvers likely to kill it. House leaders decided to send a bill off to the Natural Resources Committee (and its unsympathetic chair) rather than appoint a three-member team charged with working out differences between House and Senate versions.  If passed, the bill would eventually ban the sale of many products containing mercury. However, since its introduction, the bill has been the victim of an intense lobbying effort by Energizer— who has a battery plant in Vermont. 

New York: Bill Establish Environmental Health Tracking System
Environmental Advocates of New York are strongly supporting Representatives Koon and DiNapoli’s A 10243, which provides for the development of an environmental health tracking system within the Department of Health. The group says that New York, like most states, needs more information about the relationship between numerous environmental hazards and public health. Public health officials, scientists and environmentalists agree that hazards such as air and water pollution can cause, trigger or exacerbate chronic diseases, including cancer, respiratory ailments like asthma and birth defects. Without critical information obtained through the tracking and monitoring of chronic diseases and their potential link to environmental exposure, the state will continue to fight chronic diseases with costly treatment rather than cost-effective prevention. 

Minnesota: Law Encouraging Citizen Water Quality Monitoring Enacted
NCEL reported last week that SF 2932, a bill introduced by Senator Jane Krentz, has been enacted into law. The legislation requires the state's Pollution Control Agency to encourage citizen water quality monitoring by providing technical assistance, integrating the citizens monitoring data into water quality assessments and agency programs, and by seeking private and public funds to promote citizen monitoring. 

Energy
California: State Still Seeking "Year Round" Daylight Savings Time
With daylight savings time enacted over the weekend, California legislative leaders say they are still pushing for Federal permission to allow states to modify the daylight savings time system. Last year the California state legislature passed a joint resolution and sent it to the White House and Congress. The legislation calls for Congress to allow states to adopt year round daylight saving time or double daylight saving time during summer months.

Vermont: Leaking Nuclear Power Plant Costing Millions
The 4/5 Rutland Herald reported that Vermont Yankee, a nuclear power company, told the state’s Public Service Board last week that the plant’s leaking nuclear fuel is becoming a multi-million dollar problem. Vermont Yankee said they will need a two-week unanticipated shutdown in May to repair the leaking fuel at a cost of at least $2 million in additional power costs, plus $2 to $3 million for replacement fuel. Yankee has had problems with leaky radioactive fuel in the past, and the plant claims it is normal to have faulty fuel every third set of fuel bundles that is installed.

Protecting Wildlands
Illinois: Isolated Wetlands Bill Dies in House 
Last week the House rejected HB 6013, a bill that would have placed safeguards on the state’s wetlands by placing regulatory responsibility with the state DNR. The bill would have allowed some DNR-approved exemptions, if a $1000 per acre permit fee was paid, and exempted all agricultural activity. Illinois is the latest state to consider isolated wetlands restrictions following the Supreme Court’s SWANCC decision last year that lifted Federal restrictions.

New Hampshire: Compromise Reached on Streamflow Plan
The 4/5 Concord Moniter reported that after reaching one of the more uncanny bipartisan compromises of the political season, lobbyists for environmental groups and business interests stood side by side outside the House chambers and passed out leaflets urging lawmakers to adopt a new rivers management blueprint. Twelve years in the arguing, a compromised version of HB 1449 passed the House last week that will set ground rules for how the state crafts new regulations for one of its most precious commodities - water flowing in 12 major rivers. With record drought conditions persisting, river levels dropping and water use rising, the issue was one of the more hotly debated, and lobbied, of the session.

Land & Water Use
Minnesota: Bill Curbing Phosphorus Lawn Fertilizers Passes House
The 4/10 Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported last week that the House overwhelmingly passed a bill (HF 1524) that will restrict sales of phosphorous lawn fertilizers, which supporters hope will reduce the amount of phosphorus that ends up in surface water statewide. The Senate passed a similar measure 64 to 1 last month. Supporters say one pound in surface water can cause 300 to 500 pounds of algae growth. This costs about $200 a pound to remove, which is quite expensive in the land of 10,000 lakes.

New York:  New York City in Drought Emergency 
Environmental News Service reported last week that New York City is facing a drought emergency, with mandatory restrictions on water use affecting more than eight million city residents as well as residents of four upstate counties. Citing the critical lack of rainfall over the city's three reservoir systems, Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared a State 1 Drought Emergency last week for the city and about one million city water users in Westchester, Putnam, Ulster and Orange counties. A Stage 1 Drought Emergency restricts several water uses, including washing vehicles and watering lawns. 

Recycling & Waste Disposal
Arkansas: Slashing Fine Called a Boost in Litter Battle
AP reported last week that state officials kicked off Keep Arkansas Beautiful Month by praising law changes last year that slashed the fine for littering from $1,000 to $100. Robert Phelps, director of Keep Arkansas Beautiful, said the change has made law officers more likely to enforce litter laws because the fines aren't so steep. 

Colorado: Governor Signs Bill Regulating Radioactive Waste
The Rocky Mountain News reported that governor Bill Owens signed HB 1408 last week giving the public more warning and the state a stronger voice in determining when low-level radioactive wastes can be shipped into the state. The bill stemmed from a public outcry in Canon City after residents there learned that the Cotter Corp. planned to dispose of 470,000 tons of radioactive tailings from a Superfund site in Maywood, N.J. The bill  requires published notification before such wastes can be brought into an area, at least two public hearings with local citizens, an environmental impact study and formal approval from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Other News

Report Gives Guidelines for Smart Growth Planning
Sprawl Watch releases a new report last week called "Green Infrastructure: Smart Conservation for the 21st Century." The report calls for states and communities to make green infrastructure an integral part of local, regional and state plans and policies. In addition, the report introduces "green infrastructure" as a strategic approach to land conservation that is critical to the success of smart growth initiatives.  The report can be read at http://www.sprawlwatch.org/greeninfrastructure.pdf

Sierra Club: Many Species Lewis & Clark Saw are Now Extinct or Endangered
On the 200 anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition last week, the Sierra Club released a report that finds that at least four species of the122 animals described in journals are extinct and 40 percent of the others are threatened or endangered.  The four species that have gone extinct are the passenger pigeon, Audubon's bighorn sheep, the plains Gray wolf and the Carolina parakeet. The report, which recommends a number of measures to save the remaining species is at www.sierraclub.org/lewisandclark/species/index.asp

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