Most Recent Issue:

In this edition:
Issue Spotlight: Protecting Endangered Species at the State Level
Headliner: Power Plant Emissions Blamed for Premature Deaths
Watch Dog: Pennsylvania DNR Selling State Lands for Oil Exploration
News From the States
Protecting Wildlife
*AL: State Ranked #1 in Plant & Animal Extinctions
*WI: State Plans Massive Dear Kill to Control CWD
Protecting Wildlands
*SC: Gov Signs Conservation Funding Bill
Safe Air & Water
*VT: Gov Introduces Storm Water Cleanup Plan
*ID: Farmers Sue Dupont for Herbicide Drift
*NY: Bill Limits Sulfur in Fuel
*IA: Fecal Bacteria-Infested Beaches Won't Be Closed
Clean Energy
*NH: State Passes Nation's First 4 Pollutants Bill
*CA: New Program Has Commuters Share Electric Cars
*NY: Resolution Urges Feds to Maintain New Source Review Regs
*OR: First State to Put Solar Panels on Capitol
Land & Water Use
*PA: Critics Say Water Permit Will Promote Sprawl
Recycling & Waste Disposal
*VA: Senate Rejects Effort to Institute Garbage Fee
Equal Justice
*NY: Bill Calls for Citizen Environmental Suits

Issue Spotlight: Protecting Endangered Species at the State Level
Today, our planet is losing species faster than at any other time in all of human history - and environmentalists fear that many hard-fought protections will be washed away by the current administration.  "It's important to realize that attacks on wildlife are part of what the national environmental community has identified as a clear, massive, and - we believe - undeniable strategy on the part of the Bush Administration and its appointees from industry to use the president's executive authority to weaken, undermine and subvert the nation's environmental protection laws to benefit their big corporate supporters," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife.  State endangered species acts can help mitigate this strategy in our nation by seeking to assure the survival of the plants and animals unique to each state, from piping plovers in the East to Swainson's hawks in the West. For more information about what you can do to protect endangered species in your state, visit SERC's Protecting Endangered Species page.

Headliner: Power Plant Emissions Blamed for Premature Deaths
A new study released last week says almost 6,000 premature deaths can be blamed each year on pollution from 80 power plants in the Midwest and Southeast. The analysis also estimates that pollutants from these companies lead to 140,000 asthma attacks and 14,000 cases of acute bronchitis every year. The study was prepared by Abt Associates, one of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) primary technical consultants on clean air. The
data are broken down into state and utility company totals. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia are estimated to have the highest numbers of premature deaths - more than 200 per year for each state - due to the emissions of the eight utilities. The state with the highest estimated mortality rate - 550 deaths - is Pennsylvania. The complete Abt report, prepared for the Rockefeller Family Fund, is available at: http://www.rffund.org.  To learn about what your state can do reduce power plant emissions, visit SERC's Power Plant's Dirty Air
Loophole page.

Watch Dog: Pennsylvania DNR Selling State Lands for Oil Exploration
Last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) quietly announced that it was selling nearly 500,000 acres of state land to oil and gas companies for exploration and drilling. The land in question includes a number of State Parks, Natural Areas and Wild Areas.  The plan was announced via legal advertisements in a select number of local newspapers requesting drilling bids, and was decided upon without the
solicitation of any public comments or input. In all, it is estimated that the projects will result in the clear-cutting of as many as 4,000 acres of forests as well as the construction of hundreds of miles of roads and pipeline through undeveloped and often pristine wild areas. In addition to the immediate physical manifestations of development, these ecosystems and the wildlife that inhabit them will be subjected to substantial noise and light pollution, the
production of dangerous heavy metals and possible groundwater contamination. And these are not just concerns that affect wildlife, but human populations as well. To read more about this and other harmful policies, visit SERC's Watchdog page.

News From the States

Protecting Wildlife
Alabama: State Ranked #1 in Plant & Animal Extinctions
Today's Birmingham News reported that a new study says Alabama has more plant and animal species than any other eastern state, but it also has more at-risk species and more extinctions.  Alabama ranked No. 1 in the continental United States for extinctions that have already occurred. It is fourth in the nation for risk to its native species, with 15 percent of its species in danger of extinction. It ranked No. 5 in the nation for biological diversity, or the total number of its native species. "Long overlooked from a conservation perspective, Alabama emerges from this analysis as the leading eastern state for species diversity, levels of risk and numbers of extinct species," wrote biologists for NatureServe, who used information from the Natural Heritage programs in the 50 states. For more information about what you can do to protect endangered species in your state, visit SERC's Protecting Endangered Species page.

Wisconsin: State Plans Massive Dear Kill to Control CWD
The 4/18 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the Wisconsin DNR, frightened about the potential of the fatal Chronic Wasting Disease spreading like wildfire through the deer population, is planning to drastically reduce the herd to one-tenth its present size in the infected area and "radically" change hunting regulations in 10 counties. "We're sort of like the Alamo," said DNR spokesman Greg Matthews. "We want to make a stand here and
eradicate it and prevent it from spreading. The biggest job that we have now is to educate the public as to how serious it is. It's already jumped the Mississippi River. We didn't think that would ever happen."

Protecting Wildlands
South Carolina: Gov Signs Conservation Funding Bill
The 4/19 The State reported that Gov. Jim Hodges has signed the S.C. Conservation Bank Act (S 297), which will let the state spend millions of dollars to protect wild lands from development. The act will allow the state to regularly issue grants to buy land or purchase development rights from landowners. The bill survived a bitter struggle in the state House of Representatives, where some lawmakers said it could result in rural residents losing their land to the government. But supporters of the legislation, including GOP House Speaker David Wilkins, said the act is voluntary. A bipartisan coalition of business associations, outdoors groups and environmental organizations supported the bill.

Safe Air & Water
Vermont: Gov Introduces Storm Water Cleanup Plan
The 4/18 Rutland Herald reported that Gov. Howard Dean has unveiled a new plan for cleaning up waterways polluted by stormwater runoff.  Officials said the new regulatory rules would clean up waterways polluted by rainwater running off impervious surfaces like parking lots, roads, and buildings and carrying pollutants like phosphorous, motor oil, and silt into nearby brooks and streams. Under the new system, a blanket "watershed improvement permit" for each of the 20 polluted waterways around the state will be issued instead of
individual permits for each development as currently exists. Christopher Kilian, lead attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation, said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the new plan and didn't see the need for any further legislation.

Idaho: Farmers Sue Dupont For Herbicide Drift
AP reported last week that more than 100 Idaho farmers and ranchers have sued DuPont, claiming one of the chemical manufacturer's herbicides damaged crops. The complaints allege more than 100,000 acres in 11 counties were affected when the chemical was carried by the wind from rangeland where it was applied by the Bureau of Land Management to kill weeds. Attorney Walter Bithell, representing the landowners, said the total damage could reach hundreds of millions of dollars. He said farmers suffered significant losses on potato,
sugar beet, grain and other crops in 2000 and 2001.

New York: Bill Limits Sulfur in Fuel
Environmental Advocates is strongly supporting A 11027, a bill that would limit the content of sulfur in motor vehicle fuel and home heating fuel, and prohibit idling by certain heavy-duty vehicles for longer than three minutes except under specified circumstances. The limit for sulfur content of vehicle fuel would be thirty parts per million and for home heating fuel would be fifteen parts per million by 2005. The group says passage of this bill will bring
great benefit to New York air quality by augmenting federal rules that limit the sulfur content of gasoline and diesel fuel, reducing sulfur content in home heating fuel, and strengthening current anti-idling rules and enforceability. Low sulfur fuel is now widely available because recent federal measures require refineries to produce it  but the federal rules apply to gasoline and diesel fuel for vehicles, and not for non-road diesel engines or home heating
fuel.

Iowa: Fecal Bacteria-Infested Beaches Won't Be Closed
The 4/17 Des Moines Register reported that the DNR has announced state beaches will remain open this year, regardless of how much fecal bacteria is in the water. "These are great recreation places, and we don't have data that they are a risk to public health," DNR Director Jeff Vonk said. Richard Kelley, a longtime water quality scientist at the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory, said the state should be more aggressive about closing beaches, not less. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines the state has followed in the past
are based on studies showing that when fecal bacteria rise to certain levels, disease-causing organisms probably are present.  Many of Iowa's beaches are contaminated by bacteria because the large number of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in the state.  To read about what other states are doing to deal with CAFOs, visits SERC's CAFO State Info page.

Clean Energy
New Hampshire: State Passes Nation's First Four Pollutants Bill
The 4/19 Concord Monitor reported that the Senate passed a precedent-setting bill to curb power plant emissions from three older power plants. HB 284 is also the first time that elected officials have voted to require carbon dioxide reductions from grandfathered power plants.  The measure, which was approved 21-2 by the state Senate, was supported by a broad bipartisan coalition, the state's largest environmental groups, and its largest utility, Public Service Company of New Hampshire.  It would require the Public Service Company to
reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels (about a 3 percent reduction) by 2007, as well as cut sulfur dioxide emissions by 75 percent and nitrogen oxide emissions by 70 percent.  If the utility failed to meet those targets, it could buy credits from out-of-state utilities that had cleaned up their acts.  The company estimates that compliance would cost about $5 million per year and add only  40 cents per month to customers' electric bills.  Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D) promised to sign the bill and urged other states -- especially those upwind of New Hampshire -- to pass similar measures. To learn about what your state can do reduce power plant emissions, visit SERC's Power Plant's Dirty Air Loophole page.

California: New Program Has Commuters Share Electric Cars
The 4/19 LA Times reported that a new program initiated by U.C. Irvine allows employees of participating corporations to share 50 low-emission vehicles for trips to and from the Irvine Transportation Center and for errands during the workday.  Under the shared-use concept, a commuter from Riverside who works for a company in Irvine can arrive at the transportation center in the morning, pick out a car and drive to work. While the worker is on the job, the vehicle can be used to run errands. At the end of the day, the employee drives back to the train station, leaving the car for other participants--perhaps later-arriving commuters returning from Los Angeles who will use the vehicle to get home. In the morning, those commuters will return the car to the transportation center to keep the cycle going. 

New York: Resolution Urges Feds to Maintain New Source Review Regs
NCEL reported last week that the New York Assembly has passed Resolution 2151, which urges the state Congressional delegation to take appropriate action against any decision made by the US Environmental Protection Agency to modify the regulations implementing New Source Review (NSR) provisions in the Federal Clean Air Act if the result would jeopardize New York's ability to safeguard public health and protect environmental quality. NSR is a provision of the Clean Air Act that requires power plants and other factories to upgrade their pollution controls when they modernize. The EPA is reportedly considering plans to reform
the NSR program sometime this year.

Oregon: First State to Put Solar Panels on Capitol
High Country News reported last week that Oregon is the first state to install solar energy panels on its capitol in Salem.  The three sets of photovoltaic panels will be enough generate floodlights trained on the Golden Pioneer statue on top of the building.  Supporters hope the solar panels will be symbolic of the state's commitment to tapping into renewable energies.For more information about how to increase renewable energy use in your state, visit SERC's Renewable Portfolio Standards page.

Land & Water Use
Pennsylvania: Critics Say Massive Water Permit Will Promote Sprawl
The 4/19 Philadelphia Inquirer reported that DEP officials have granted permission to Philadelphia Suburban Water Co. to take up to four million gallons of water a day from a stretch of Brandywine Creek in central Chester County.  Residents, politicians, and conservationists have denounced the project, contending the new water lines will torpedo local and county efforts to manage growth. Like many other areas of the country, the lack of
water resources has been an inhibitor of sprawling development in Philadelphia suburbs. If you would like to read related smart growth information, visit SERC's Traffic Congestion Releif page.

Recycling & Waste Disposal
Senators Reject Effort to Institute Garbage Fee
The 4/18 Virginia Pilot reported that the state Senate rejected Gov. Mark R. Warner's proposal for a new state garbage fee, handing a victory to the deep-pocketed trash-hauling industry, which unleashed a last-minute ad campaign dismissing the measure as a tax increase.  Supporters of the $5-a-ton fee warned that the setback will encourage other states to step up shipments of garbage to Virginia landfills. Only Pennsylvania imports more trash
than Virginia.

Equal Justice
New York:  Bill Calls For Citizen Environmental Suits
Rep. Brodsky has introduced A 455, which provides citizens a role in the enforcement of certain provisions of New York's environmental laws. Under this measure citizens would be granted authority to bring an action for injunctive and declaratory relief against a person who is violating one of the specified provisions of state environmental laws.