SERC Wildlines Report #30

July 29, 2002

  In this Edition:
  Issue Spotlight: Ballast Water Invasive Species
  Headliner: Nevada RPS Legislation Stimulates Green Power Development
  Watchdog: State Environmental Agencies Missing in Action
  News Important to the States:                _
Clean Energy
*New York Adopts New Energy Code with an Enhanced Focus on Conservation
Protecting Children's Health
*EPA's Review of Dangerous Pesticides Called Insufficient
Protecting Wildlife
*Utah Wildlife Grow Desperate
Land and Water Use
*State Parks Hit Hard Times
*New Mexico Should Create Water Plan

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Issue Spotlight: Ballast Water Invasive Species

The voracious snakehead fish found in Maryland weeks ago is hardly the first invasive species to appear in the U.S. In 1991 the waters of Mobile, Alabama were contaminated with deadly bacteria. In 1988, residents of Monroe, Michigan turned on their faucets to find that they had no water because mollusks had completely clogged up the water system. The cause? Invasive species that quietly sneaked into this country in a ship's ballast water. Experts believe that every minute 40,000 gallons of foreign ballast water contaminates U.S. waters-- likely the single largest source of foreign species invading America's ecosystem. While on the surface these species may seem harmless, they wreak havoc on local ecosystems. The natural balance and controls of an ecosystem are usually not equipped to deal with these invasive species. The result of a successful foreign species invasion on ecosystem can be devastating to local economies and, because large volumes of dangerous bacteria and viruses have been found in ballast water, it also can be serious threat to human health. For more on how a state can protect itself from harmful species in ballast water visit http://www.serconline.org/ballast/index.htm .

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 Headliner:

Nevada RPS Legislation Stimulates Green Power Development

The 7/25 Las Vegas Sun reports that the State of Nevada will rank third in the nation in green power production by 2012 thanks to the adoption last year of the nation's most ambitious Renewable Portfolio Standard. The legislation, SB 372 (2001), requires private utilities in the state to produce a minimum of 5% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2003, and increases those standards to 15% by 2015. The requirement has given a significant boost to green power development in the state. Analysts at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which undertook the nationwide study, estimate that by 2015 Nevada will rank first in the nation in terms of the percentage of renewable energy required and will rank third in the nation in terms of installed green power capacity, behind only California and Texas. According to the Sun, these results have exceeded even the expectations of some of the bill's supporters.  To learn more about Renewable Portfolio Standards and how to advance similar policies in your state, please visit http://www.serconline.org/RPS/index.html .

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 Watchdog: State Environmental Agencies Missing in Action

Last week, a survey by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) was released in which a majority of respondents agreed that the Ohio EPA’s environmental decisions “are overly-influenced by political considerations” and that it placed more weight on serving the regulated community [polluters] than it did on “serving the general public and the resource.” Was this a survey of environmentalists or college students? No, it was a survey of Ohio EPA’s own employees. As if that weren’t damaging enough, nearly one third of those surveyed reported instances in which an employee has "been directed to ignore an environmental law, regulation, or violation.” Some employees blamed the Ohio legislature for weakening the agency. A quarter said the agency lacks adequate resources, and 21 percent said the agency fails to effectively defend the environment in legislative battles. One employee wrote: "Staff is forced to be silent, even though they know decisions are being made that are inconsistent with the mission of the agency and the long-term integrity of the environment."  Multi-state studies by OMB Watch and the Michigan Environmental Council, as well as another report released last week by Clean Water of North Carolina criticizing the enforcement work of NC’s Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources, reveal an incredibly widespread and expanding trend. As more and more environmental regulations have been devolved from federal to state agencies in the last two decades, corporate interests and their political allies have increasingly promoted ‘compliance assistance programs,’ which include everything from voluntary guidelines to educational outreach to technical assistance . . . while at the same time trimming regulatory agency budgets and staff. These activities have gutted the enforcement of environmental regulations. For more information on what your state can do to improve environmental enforcement and accountability visit http://www.serconline.org/EnvironmentalEnforcementState.html. To learn more about other efforts to undermine our environmental laws, visit SERC’s watchdog page at http://www.serconline.org/watchdogpage.htm.

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 News Important to the States:

Clean Energy

New York Adopts New Energy Code with an Enhanced Focus on Conservation

On July 3, 2002, Governor Pataki announced that the 2002 Energy Conservation Construction Code of New York State took effect, replacing New York’s existing and out-dated Energy Code. The new Energy Code, along with revisions to the building and fire codes, were adopted in a unanimous decision by the NYS Code Council. Based upon the standards of the 2000 International Codes, published by the International Code Council, the code promotes energy efficient technologies and conservation.  According to an article in Green Building News (June 2002), New York’s new Building and Energy codes are expected to save $46 million in energy costs per year. According to Governor Pataki, the energy code is "one of the most aggressive in the nation." For more on how your state can promote energy efficiency and conservation visit http://www.serconline.org/cleanenergypage.html . 

Protecting Children’s Health

EPA's Review of Dangerous Pesticides Called Insufficient

ENN reported last week that a panel of scientific advisers issued a report that questions whether the Environmental Protection Agency's review of a group of pesticides will be adequate to protect children's health. The independent panel suggested the EPA prematurely concluded 28 pesticides were safe without an adequate review of whether they are particularly harmful when combined. Specifically, the report found that the EPA used an inadequate margin of safety for fetuses, infants and children when it reached its preliminary decision to approve the pesticides. EPA used a threefold factor rather than the tenfold default safety factor, or precautionary principle, generally required by the Food Quality Protection Act. The agency set people's maximum exposure to the chemicals at 1 percent of what is considered safe for animals, then added the additional threefold default safety factor for children. For more on how precautionary principle legislation can help protect children’s health visit http://www.serconline.org/PrecautionaryPrincipleState.html  

Protecting Wildlife

Utah Wildlife Grow Desperate

According to the 7/23 Salt Lake Tribune, Utah’s wildlife board held an emergency meeting last week to confront the devastating drought’s effects on fish and wildlife. Water levels are the worst in eighty years, and forest "fuel" is the driest ever recorded. In response to these challenges, board members adopted a drought response plan that will include increased hunts to trim deer and elk herds headed for a disastrous winter. In addition, wildlife officials are, for the first time ever, preparing to enforce "conservation pools" -- or minimum reservoir levels that prohibit irrigators from completely draining reservoirs that contain fish. Deer herds have already fallen by 10,000 this past year, and antelope numbers have crashed in the Uinta Basin from roughly 1,000 to 200. Wildlife staff are helping big horn sheep by bringing water tanks and rain collectors to dried-up springs in places such as the San Rafael. Complicating matters is a drought-driven explosion of non-native cheat grass that has muscled out sagebrush, which is critical to the winter survival of mule deer and sage grouse. "Sagebrush is down 70 percent statewide and the rest is dying," said Jim Davis, who surveys rangelands for DWR. For more on how your state can protect wildlife visit http://www.serconline.org/savingwildlife.html.

 Land and Water Use

State Parks Hit Hard Times

Stateline.org reported last week that budget cuts in several states have resulted in park closures, laid-off rangers, shorter hours, or fewer services in dozens of parks. Alaska State Parks director Jim Stratton said that park services are typically one of the first things to go when money is tight. "People don't perceive them as an essential government service. [But] those of us in the parks business think that the physical and mental well-being of citizens should be an essential function of government, and that's what parks provide." Executive director Glen Alexander of the National Association of State Park Directors said that closures, reduced hours and services, or turnovers to private companies or local authorities are taking place or planned for later this year in the Carolinas, Illinois, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah and Virginia. For more on state public lands policies see http://www.serconline.org/savingwildlands.html .

 New Mexico Water Plan Promoted

In the 7/24 Santa Fe New Mexican, it was reported that conservationists released a study that calls for the state to develop a comprehensive, statewide water management plan. Without a plan, the report argues, the state will fail to meet future demand and will risk a water shortage disaster. The report also says that the plan should integrate land-use and water planning in the state, manage groundwater and domestic wells, and promote water conservation. For more on what other states are doing to conserve water visit http://serc.com/waterconservation/stateactivity.html.

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