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May 6, 2002

Headliner: Fears of Chronic Wasting Disease Mount
The 5/6 USA Today reported that as Wisconsin plans a massive 15,000 deer kill this week, there are mounting fears that Chronic Wasting Disease could soon be a national epidemic among the deer population – similar to Britain's mad cow disease. Scientists don't know exactly how it passes from animal to animal but believe it involves direct contact with an infected animal or contaminated environment. Animal ecologist Charles Southwick, a professor emeritus of environmental biology at the University of Colorado, says the disease may have been around for generations, killing only those animals living in captivity or other stressful conditions, such as drought or overcrowding. The disease has been detected in isolated wild deer populations in Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Eastern states with plentiful herds of white- tailed deer, including Maryland and Tennessee, are "very concerned," says Lynn Creekmore, a veterinarian with the U.S. Agriculture Department. "Until this time, a lot of eastern states viewed this as a western problem." AP reported last week that Missouri officials have placed a moratorium on importing elk and two types of deer into Missouri to protect against the disease.

Issue Spotlight: Renewable Portfolio Standards
A Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) ensures that a minimum amount of renewable energy is included in the portfolio of the electricity resources serving a state. Recently the U.S. Senate passed an RPS that would mandate that 10% of the electricity produced in the US come from renewable sources by 2020, however, all public utilities were exmpted from this requirement, and the penalties associated with non-compliance were lowered to a point where the incentives for a utility to diversify its energy portfolio are greatly reduced. Many states already have better RPS standards in place. For more information about implementing a good RPS standard in your state, visit our RPS page by clicking here.

Watchdog: ALEC’s “Right to Farm Act”
The American Legislative Exchange Council’s “Right to Farm Act” would make harmful CAFO factory farming operations immune from attempts by neighbors to protect themselves from sickening fumes and other environmental damage. The legislation uses such language as “generally accepted agriculture management practices” to describe these harmful operations. The “model bill” claims a farm cannot be found a nuisance as a result of a change in size (factorization) or use of new technology (genetic modification, excessive use of hormones for livestock, manure disposal). This legislation ties the hands of state agricultural agencies when they try to protect neighboring homes, towns, and farms. The most insidious aspect of the bill is that any person who loses a nuisance complaint (which they would as a result of this legislation) must pay for court costs and lawyer fees. If a person complains unsuccessfully more than three times in three years, he must also pay the state for the costs of any new investigations. This bill gives corporate farm operations a free pass to abuse and harm their neighbors, and allows them to impoverish these people when they complain. To learn more about ALEC’s “model” legislation, see SERC’s ALEC Watch page at: http://www.serconline.org/alecIndex.html; to learn more about other harmful legislation, see SERC’s State Activity Harmful Actions page at: http://www.serconline.org/stateInfo/stateinfoHarmful.html.

Protecting Wildlife
Montana: State Killing All Bison that Leave Yellowstone
Confirming earlier suspicions, state officials said last week that they are killing all bison that leave Yellowstone National Park. Previously, the Montana Department of Livestock had said they were killing only bison that tested positive for brucellosis – a disease that ranchers fear can be transferred to cattle. Many conservationists have argued, however, that the brucellosis argument has always been nothing more than a smokescreen because there has never been a documented case of a wild bison contracting brucellosis.

California: Conservation Groups Sue Over Ballast Water Dumping 
ENS reported last week on a lawsuit filed by environmental groups that seeks to stop luxury liners from violating state law when discharging untreated ballast water into California waters. The groups claim that cruise ships sailing into state waters from Mexico, Canada, and other distant ports often ignore mandatory ballast water treatment in order to cut costs. Ballast water is the single largest source of invasive species found in California ports. It carries foreign plants and animals that can invade local ecosystems and displace native species. For more related information about ballast water invasive species, click here.

Safe Air & Water
Michigan: Senate Approves Med Waste Incineration Ban
The 5/2 Detroit News reported that legislation (SB 11) designed to discourage the burning of medical waste produced by hospitals and clinics won easy approval last week in the Michigan Senate. The bill also sets new, stricter emissions limits which incinerators would have to meet. The bill provides that air pollution rules would have to limit emissions of each pollutant to the average emission levels achieved by the best-performing 12 percent of the medical waste incinerators in the country. The measure now goes to the House. For related information about what your state can do to reduce mercury emissions from medical waste incineration, click here.

Delaware: House Passes Public Places Smoking Ban
AP reported last week that the House approved H6967 by a 30-5 margin that would outlaw smoking in all public places. A similar bill cleared the Senate last year, but included exemptions for bars and slot machine parlors. The governor has said his main concern is exposure to children and would likely back the Senate version. Deborah Brown, director of programming and advocacy for the anti-smoking Impact Coalition, said the House-approved ban would put Delaware on par with California as the state with the toughest smoking restrictions in the United States. Backers hope the bill will significantly reduce secondhand exposure, which is the third-leading cause of preventable death in the country and that in children it leads to respiratory infections, ear infections and asthma. 

California: BP Advances Switch to Ethanol
AP reported last week that British Petroleum, the largest gasoline supplier in California, has announced it will switch federally mandated fuel additives in the largest U.S. gasoline market. BP said it would phase out the toxic fuel additive MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) in California gasoline by Dec. 31 and has begun to sign contracts with several suppliers of the alternative gasoline additive, ethanol. Gov. Gray Davis banned MTBE in 1999 amid mounting evidence that the chemical contaminated groundwater supplies. In March, however, Davis postponed his original deadline for MTBE's phaseout by one year to Dec. 31, 2003, citing fears of supply shortages and sharp price spikes reminiscent of last year's electricity crisis. BP's announcement comes a day after a report in the U.S. Senate cited the company as one of several oil firms under investigation for deliberately withholding supply to profit from higher retail prices, particularly in key markets such as California and Michigan. Despite MTBE's harmful health effects, current Federal clean air laws still require the use of either ethanol or MTBE as an oxygen-enhancing agent to help gasoline burn cleaner in a third of the U.S.'s gasoline supply. 

Vermont: Compromise Stormwater Bill Clears Senate
The 4/30 Rutland Herald reported that sweeping rules to regulate water pollution caused by stormwater runoff easily passed the Senate last week. Supporters hailed the bill as a reasonable compromise arrived at by a coalition of environmentalists, business interests and regulators. The new permit system features blanket “watershed improvement permits” for each polluted waterway, where new development and the largest existing polluters will be required to meet new, tougher standards for treating their runoff. 

Oregon: New Pesticide Report Shows Hundreds Poisoned
Last week, the Oregon Department of Human Services released a report on pesticide poisonings showing that a total of 282 people were sickened by pesticides in Oregon over the last two years. "These data show that pesticides are making people sick in Oregon," said Laura Weiss, Program Director at the Oregon Environmental Council. "What's even scarier is how many people may be getting sick from pesticides and don't even know it." The pesticide poisoning data were reported by a multi- agency board called the Pesticide Analytical and Response Center, or PARC. Although all Oregon physicians and other health care providers are required to report patients whose symptoms they suspect may be caused or made worse by exposure to pesticides, the PARC Board expressed concern about the level of "under- reporting" of pesticide poisoning cases in Oregon.

Equal Justice
New York: Bill Protects Nuclear Power Plant Whistleblowers 
Environmental Advocates of New York are strongly endorsing a new bill (A 528) from Rep. Brodsky, which would establish a nuclear power plant whistleblower access and assistance program. The program contains a number of provisions including: (1) a requirement calling for the evaluation of whistleblower programs proposed by nuclear power plant operators, including private companies that are purchasing reactors in New York State; (2) the establishment of a toll-free telephone line available to employees of nuclear power plants that will offer advice regarding employee rights and protections pursuant to state and federal laws and present opportunities for access to senior management for purposes of communicating safety-related concerns; and (3) a requirement that a preliminary evaluation of any safety concern identified by an employee be performed. 

Protecting Wildlands
Idaho: Judge Backs Environmentalists in State Land Leasing Dispute
The 5/5 Idaho Statesman reported that an environmental group´s challenge to the Idaho Land Board´s decision to award two grazing leases to stockmen in Clearwater and Cassia counties has been upheld by 4th District Judge Deborah Bail. The Boise judge earlier this week ruled the board violated Idaho law when it awarded two leases for more than 20,000 acres to ranchers who bid less than the Western Watersheds Project in December 2000. 

Clean Energy
New Jersey: State Facilities Soon to be #1 in Renewable Energy Use
The 5/4 Star-Ledger reported that the state will purchase 12 percent of its electricity for state buildings, public agencies and colleges from a Texas-based company that markets renewable energy. State officials announced that they have contracted with Green Mountain Energy to provide power to 85 state buildings, such as the Statehouse in Trenton, and to 111 public agencies and colleges, such as NJ Transit and Rutgers University. The new contract was touted as the largest commitment any state in the nation has made to use renewable energy for state facilities. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, only three other states have programs that purchase renewable energy for their government-run facilities: Maryland, which uses 6 percent renewable power; Pennsylvania, at 5 percent; and Tennessee, at 2 percent. 

California: Auto Industry Spending Millions to Derail Auto Emissions Bill
In April, the auto industry launched a $3 million misinformation campaign against AB 1058, statewide legislation that would create the nation's first restrictions on global warming emissions from automobiles. Meanwhile, the bill has been approved by both the state Assembly (on January 30th) and Senate (on May 2nd). Before the bill can be sent to Governor Davis for his signature, however, the Assembly must approve several amendments that were added in the Senate that would ensure that the regulations provide environmental and economic benefits without limiting consumer choice. The auto industry has been turning up the pressure on key Assembly members to change their original votes. A House vote is expected later this week.

Recycling & Waste Disposal
Hawaii: State Becomes Eleventh State to Pass a Bottle Bill
Hawaii has become the 11th U.S. state to pass beverage container deposit legislation. The five cent beverage container deposit bill will help Hawaii address its shrinking landfill space, create recycling jobs, and reduce bottle and can litter from beaches and roadways. A recent national report, co-sponsored by the beverage industry, found that states with bottle bills recover 80 percent of their beverage container waste. Studies also show that states with bottle bills witnessed a 60 to 80 percent decrease in beverage container litter after enactment of the measures. For more information about state bottle bills, click here.

New York: Electronic Recycling Bill Introduced
Rep. Colton has introduced A 10146, a bill that would create an electronic waste program within the state Department of Environmental Conservation. It would require state agencies to work with local governments in creating e-waste programs, establish public education programs about the problems associated with electronic waste and the solutions, and provide loans and grants for various e-waste recycling projects. Among the other provisions is the creation of a list of equipment containing materials that represent potential health hazards, and a dedicated start-up revenue stream to be provided by a $5.00 retail fee for electronics with cathode ray tubes (television sets and computer monitors).

Other News

150 Water Projects Halted For Army Corps Review 
The 5/1 Washington Post reported that the Army Corps of Engineers is suspending work on about 150 congressionally approved water projects to review the economics used to justify them – an unprecedented response to mounting criticism of Corps analyses inside and outside the Bush administration. "Acknowledging you have a problem is the first step toward solving it," said Rebecca R. Wodder, president of the environmental advocacy group American Rivers, whose recent list of the nation's most endangered rivers blamed the Corps for most of them. "But we remain convinced that Congress will have to intervene." Last week, Steve Ellis, director of water resources for Taxpayers for Common Sense, compared the freeze of the Delaware River project to putting sour milk back in a refrigerator. He said the same goes for most projects suspended yesterday: If the Corps doesn't throw them out, they're still going to be sour when they come out of the fridge.

GAO Report: School Food Illnesses up 10 Percent 
A 5/1 Reuters article reported that Congressional investigators are urging lawmakers to create a single agency to oversee food safety after discovering that tainted school food was sickening more United States children every year. School food illnesses rose by an average of 10 percent each year between 1990 and 1999, the last year for which data was available, sickening 16,000 children, according to a report by the General Accounting Office (GAO). Most of the cases involved food tainted with salmonella bacteria, which can cause vomiting, diarrhea and fever. The GAO said most cases of food-related outbreaks at schools were due to poor food storage, handling and serving practices.