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SERC Wildlines Report #39
September 30, 2002
A publication of the State Environmental
Resource Center (SERC) bringing you the most important
news on state environmental policy from across the
country.
In
this Edition:
Issue
Spotlight:
Crafting the Future of State Clean Energy Policies
Headliner: Holes in U.S. Environmental Data Hurt
Policymaking, Says Study
Watchdog: Oil and Gas Companies Adopt Shortage
Strategy in Georgia
News From the States:
*California Extends Net Metering
*Washington Activists Promote Alternatives
*Minnesota Farm Web Site Finalized
*Permit Fees Possible for Mississippi DEQ
*Kentucky DEP Responses to the Toxic Threat of Coal
Ash
*Colorado Landowners to get Funds to Help Habitats
*Western States Could Generate 6 Times Energy Needs
from Renewables, Study Finds
*CA Security Perimeter, Model for Farm Protection,
Growth Man
*High Impact ORVs in Florida
Issue
Spotlight: Crafting the Future of State Clean Energy
Policies
From
the California energy "crisis" to the turmoil
in the Middle East, recent events have thrust energy
issues to the front and center of states’ policy agendas.
The issues themselves are often complex and difficult
to understand, and attempting to formulate sound and
viable solutions compounds the difficulties. In order
to simplify your task the State Environmental Resource
Center has put together a report entitled Planning
an Energy Future: Crafting a Clean and Sustainable
Energy Policy for Your State. This report
outlines the fundamental principles necessary to guide
your state towards a forward-looking energy policy
for this century. In addition, it offers useful policy
solutions for many of the issues states have grappled
with recently. This report is a quick blueprint, to
help your state’s efforts to design a sustainable
energy policy. By considering these proposals, your
state can claim a pioneering role in transforming
both state and national energy policy by emphasizing
more sensible and sustainable practices that create
a better balance between the needs of consumers and
industry and the realities of our natural environment.
The report can be downloaded at:
http://www.serconline.org/cleanenergy.pdf.
More information on any of the topics discussed in
the report is available by browsing our website or
by contacting our staff.
Headliner:
Holes in U.S. Environmental Data Hurt Policymaking,
Says Study (ENN 9/26)
Lawmakers
lack critical data about land, water, and air pollution
to draw up effective environmental policies, according
to a landmark study released by the Heinz Center for
Science, Economics, and Environment. The think-tank,
unaffiliated with industry or green groups, was asked
in 1995 by the Clinton administration to gather existing
data on the nation's environment to assess its health.
The 270-page report found that nearly 50 percent of
data needed to address environmental policy were inadequate
or not available. The Heinz Center's study collected
input from nearly 150 businesses, green groups, universities,
and the federal government. Policy making about the
environment will always be contentious in a democracy,"
said Thomas Lovejoy, president of the Heinz Center.
"Debates as to how best to manage our nation's
natural resources should not be sidetracked through
needless debates about the facts." For more on
tracking legislation, visit http://www.serconline.org/TrackingEnvironmentalProblemsState.html.
Watchdog:
Oil and Gas Companies Adopt Shortage Strategy in Georgia
Metro Atlanta faces long lines and high
prices at fuel pumps next year, according to Georgia
oil and gas companies. According to the 9/25 Journal-Constitution,
the companies complain they will not be able to meet
the region's demand for gas when low-sulfur requirements
kick in next April. Without the cleaner-burning gas,
metro Atlanta risks further violations of the Clean
Air Act. Industry representatives want the state Department
of Natural Resources board to delay enforcement of
the rules. They predict as much as a 40 percent shortfall
-- about 100,000 barrels a day -- if the requirements
are upheld. This is the same strategy that oil and
gas interests used in North Carolina earlier this
year to gut that state’s low-sulfur standards. As
the 7/21 Ashville Citizen-Times reported: "North
Carolina petroleum carriers and marketers have told
senators they won't be able to supply the low-sulfur
gasoline the General Assembly ordered three years
ago to be pumped into cars starting in 2004. They
want the state to loosen its standards . . . ."
GA Oil companies have known about the 2003 requirements
since 1998, when the GA DNR board adopted them. Amidst
reports last week detailing how petroleum suppliers
manipulated CA markets and duped regulators, it isn’t
surprising to hear oil companies claim they cannot
meet GA’s needs despite years to prepare.
News
From the States
California Extends Net Metering
(Mercury News 9/24)
California
Gov. Davis signed a bill this week that will indefinitely
extend net metering program for small generators of
solar and wind power. The bill also increased the
generation limit from 10 kilowatts to 1 megawatt.
The program allows homeowners and businesses to run
their electric meters backwards and accumulate credit
with their utility company. Under the new law, utilities
will pay these small generators the retail rate for
the power they produce, providing an incentive for
these small clean power systems. For more on clean
energy, see
http://www.serconline.org/cleanenergypage.html
Washington
Activists Promote Alternatives (Seattle Post-Intelligencer
9/25)
A coalition
of environmental groups hopes to defeat a proposed
9 cent per gallon gas tax increase that would be used
primarily to build new roads. The activists argue
against "trying to build our way out of congestion"
and offer an alternative plan that concentrates spending
on maintaining existing roads and expanding public
transportation. For more, visit http://www.serconline.org/trafficcongestionrelief/index.html.
Minnesota
Farm Web Site Finalized (Star Tribune 9/26)
In
1998, the Minnesota Legislature mandated the study
of the long-term effects of the livestock industry
on the economy, environment, and way of life for Minnesotans,
appropriating $2.97 million. The Minnesota Environmental
Quality Board finalized the Animal Agriculture Generic
Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) this month—18
volumes of facts, analysis and policy recommendations
(at
www.mnplan.state.mn.us/eqb/geis/).
Numerous concerned citizens have already cited the
study at hearings held for a proposed 3,000-head dairy
farm, resulting in "a compromise based on science
rather than emotion." And the GEIS has more potential;
for example, with further development a database of
feedlots, including the number and type of animals,
could be compiled and used to trace disease outbreaks
and locate farms for quarantine. Officials hope to
further develop the GEIS program in the next year.
Permit
Fees Possible for Mississippi DEQ (Clarion Ledger
9/26)
Mississippi lawmakers are attempting
to pass a bill requiring the state to charge companies
fees for environmental permits. MS is the only state
that does not charge companies for environmental permits.
Permit fees would generate an estimated $10 million
for the agency, money that is badly needed to reduce
the backlog in reissuing permits, write cleanup plans
for the state’s polluted rivers, and meet federal
environmental requirements. Opponents to the bill
want to save money by letting the federal EPA take
over federally mandated programs such as air pollution
and asbestos removal. This bill comes in the face
of a state budget shortfall of $400 million for the
next fiscal year.
Kentucky
DEP Responses to the Toxic Threat of Coal Ash
(Courier-Journal 9/26)
Kentucky environmental officials are
responding to the threat to water supplies from coal
ash by proposing statewide groundwater standards,
monitoring of ash ponds, and greater scrutiny of ash
when used as construction fill. This proposal faces
tough opposition from members in the General Assembly
who say that the new coal plant siting law adequately
addresses these concerns. The action follows the lead
of Indiana's Natural Resources Commission who preliminarily
approved state groundwater protection standards and
announced it will seek a per-ton charge for ash dumped
in old strip mines to fund clean-up programs. Although
the US EPA has found that 86 percent of groundwater
samples taken near ash landfills contained arsenic
levels more than 10 times the EPA’s health standard,
the EPA has avoided declaring coal ash a hazardous
substance, leaving regulatory authority with individual
states. Nationally, coal mines produce more than 100
million tons annually, with more than 70 percent of
coal ash, a byproduct of burned coal, ending up in
landfills, settling ponds, and old strip mines.
Colorado
Landowners to get Funds to Help Habitats (Rocky
Mountain News 9/25)
Last week, the Colorado Division of
Wildlife announced creation of the Colorado Species
Conservation Partnership, which would make funding
available to pay landowners to protect certain species
on their land. Wildlife, landowners and conservationists
all stand to benefit from the voluntary, incentive-based
program. He said 30 landowners have already applied
for the program and a habitat specialist will go to
their properties, determine if they qualify, and work
out a management agreement, third-party contract,
or perpetual easement. Officials said it is especially
important to work with farmers on the eastern plains
to save species as the burrowing owl, ferruginous
hawk and piping plover from the endangered species
list.
Western
States Could Generate 6 Times Energy Needs from Renewables,
Study Finds (Land and Water Fund of the Rockies,
9/26)
Last
week, the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, in cooperation
with Northwest Sustainable Energy for Economic Development
(NW SEED), announced the release of the "Renewable
Energy Atlas of the West." The Renewable Energy
Atlas uses state-of-the-art GIS technology to inventory
the renewable resources in 11 Western states, mapping
the high-potential areas in full-color. An interactive,
online version of the Atlas, available at
www.EnergyAtlas.org,
allows users to research renewable resources by ZIP
code. The Atlas shows transmission barriers, anticipated
regional load growths, and lists state-specific policies
that encourage renewable energy development. The Atlas’
graphics will also provide good visuals for members
of the press looking to illustrate stories on Western
energy issues. The Land and Water Fund is using information
contained in the Atlas in a related effort to develop
a comprehensive clean energy plan for the Interior
West. The plan, scheduled for release at the end of
the year, will analyze the costs, benefits, and environmental
implications of increased reliance on clean energy
technologies, including renewables and energy efficiency.
CA Security Perimeter, Model for
Farm Protection, Growth Management (Sprawlwatch
9/26)
Eight
landowners have banded together to create a "farmland
security perimeter" just outside of the City
of Madera, which will permanently protect 440 acres
of Central Valley farmland and greatly reduce development
pressure on thousands more. The protected vineyards
and field crops form an urban growth boundary that
will prevent the westward growth of Madera toward
40,000 acres of productive farmland. The landowners
partnered with American Farmland Trust, who then worked
with local, state and federal agencies, acquiring
grants from the California Department of Conservation’s
California Farmland Conservancy Program (CFCP) and
the USDA National Resources Conservation Service’s
Farmland Protection Program (FPP) to purchase agricultural
conservation easements on the farms. Through easement
transactions, farmers relinquish the non-agricultural
development potential of their land while retaining
control of their operations. "Placing an easement
on the farm was not only an alternative to selling
for development, it has also helped my bottom line,"
said farmer Dennis Prosperi. "By allowing a farmer
to cash in on the equity of the farm, easements can
be a sound business decision. For more information,
visit www.farmland.org.
High
Impact ORVs in Florida
Last
week Defenders of Wildlife released a report, on the
damage resulting from irresponsible off-road vehicle
(ORV) use on public lands. "Out of Control: The
Impacts of Off-Road Vehicles and Roads on Wildlife
and Habitat in Florida's National Forests," describes
how scientists reviewing the damage found that motorized
recreation, by destroying native vegetation, fragmenting
wild areas, damaging watersheds and harassing wildlife,
is having a surprisingly widespread impact on Florida's
forests. The Florida legislature passed a law in 2002
that requires titling of ORVs and establishes a managed
trail system that provides ORV use areas while avoiding
damage to the state's natural resources and sensitive
habitat. The report is available at http://www.defenders.org/florvs/,
and you can read about responsible ORV legislation
at http://www.serconline.org/orv/pkg_frameset.html.
Do you have news about environmental
legislation or regulations in your state? Please submit
items to [email protected].
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