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| Wildlines
Archives |
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Volume
II, Number 14 |
April
7, 2003 |
A
publication of the State Environmental Resource Center (SERC)
bringing you the most important news on state environmental issues
from across the country. |
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Traffic
Congestion Relief
Nearly 4 million miles of roads and 200 million vehicles keep Americans
moving, but our mobility comes with a price. Highways are a major cause
of public health and haphazard development problems. With shrinking budgets,
massive traffic congestion, and a backlog of maintenance needs, most states
are looking for ways to control spending and achieve economic prosperity.
In 2000, New Jersey passed innovative transportation legislation with
overwhelming bi-partisan support. The "Fix it First" bill achieved
the goals of cutting traffic congestion, protecting green space, and prioritizing
repair. By increasing accountability and planning, a state can work towards
balancing the state's infrastructure needs with the public's need for
safe, efficient and ecologically sound transportation. To bring transportation
reform to your state, visit http://www.serconline.org/trafficcongestionrelief/index.html. |
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Public
Smoking Ban Slashes Heart Attacks (NewScientist.com 4/1/3)
A six-month ban on smoking in all public places slashed the number of
heart attacks in a U.S. town by almost a half, a new study has revealed.
The researchers attribute the dramatic drop to the "near elimination"
of harmful effects of "second-hand" smoke - passive smoking.
A smoke-free environment also encourages smokers to reduce smoking or
quit altogether, the team adds. Statistician Stanton Glantz, at the University
of California, San Francisco, and colleagues studied diagnoses of heart
attacks in the town of Helena, Montana, where the ban was imposed. "This
striking finding suggests that protecting people from toxins in second-hand
smoke not only makes life more pleasant, it immediately starts saving
lives," Glantz says. The researchers claim the study is the first
to show that smoke-free policies rapidly reduce heart attacks, as well
as having long-term benefits. During an average six-month period, heart
attack admissions to the hospital had averaged just under seven per month.
But this fell to less than four a month during the smoking ban. The study
suggests that although second-hand smoke delivers only a small dose of
harmful chemicals, it appears to have a very heavy impact on health. The
mechanism for this effect is likely to be that the inhaled smoke stimulates
the immediate production of macrophages - white blood cells that "clean
up the system." But these break down and lead to the production of
blood clotting agents. "So if someone is teetering on the brink of
a heart attack, this clotting is likely to tip them over," says Robert
West of St George's Medical School, London. |
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Manufacturers
Attempt Efficiency Standard Preemption (Appliance
Standards Awareness Project)
The major manufacturers' trade association is pushing federal legislation
to preempt state efficiency standards. This action would void state authority
to establish efficiency standards for key products. The immediate effect
of the proposal would be to void nearly all of the new standards established
by California last fall, to eliminate existing electric distribution transformer
standards in Minnesota, New York and Massachusetts and to render moot
state standards legislation pending in several states such as Maryland.
Energy efficiency supporters and manufacturers worked out a consensus
package of efficiency standards and timetables for effective dates and
preemption over two years of negotiations. Those standards were included
in the Conference Committee energy bill last year and in bill approved
this year by the House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee. The manufacturer
proposal shatters this consensus by moving up preemption to the date a
federal standard is enacted rather than the date it becomes effective,
by giving DOE unilateral authority to preempt certain state standards
and by legislating weak, non-consensus standards for several additional
products. In the four prior laws establishing federal efficiency standards,
Congress has never preempted already existing state energy efficiency
standards. For more information, contact the Appliance Standards Awareness
Project at 617-363-9470, or visit SERC's efficiency standards website
at http://www.serconline.org/efficiencystandards/index.html. |
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Communications
and Outreach Director
The communications/outreach director has responsibility for maintaining
and developing contacts with environmental groups, media, policy-makers,
and concerned citizens, as well as tracking and distributing environmental
policy news from the states. Applicants should have at least two years
of state legislative experience, and a thorough knowledge of state legislative
policy procedures and environmental priorities. For a complete job description
and application instructions, go to http://www.serconline.org/jobs.html. |
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Wisconsin
Pollution Enforcement Actions Hard to Find
(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 4/3/3)
The Environmental Integrity Project released a study saying the
WI DNR needs to improve public access to environmental enforcement
data. The study found that information on polluters was often difficult
to find, and notes the agency does not have the records available
online, unlike other state agencies. An independent audit of the
DNR's enforcement programs was last performed in 1997. DNR staff
members acknowledge that the information is not online, but cite
cost and potentially misleading information as deterrents. A staff
member also noted that caution needed to be exercised with the documents
that could go online. For more information on environmental enforcement
policy, visit: http://www.serconline.org/enforce/pkg_frameset.html. |
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Pollution
Fees Might Raise $5 Million for Georgia
(Macon Telegraph 3/31/3)
A recent study concluded that Georgia could raise over $5 million
if it would charge fees to groups that dispose of pollution in public
waterways. Currently Georgia is the only southeastern state which
does not have this type of fee in place. The money raised from the
fee would go towards the state's enforcement of the Clean Water
Act, along with assisting the budget crunch. The charges assessed
would be proportional to the amount of pollution discharges and
could improve the water quality of many of the public waterways
which do not currently meet federal standards. |
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California
Holds Line on Cleaner Car Rule (San
Francisco Chronicle 3/29/3)
California air quality officials vowed to preserve the "zero-emissions
mandate" despite complaints from automakers. The 1990 rule,
developed in response to growing air pollution, required carmakers
to develop and mass market electric vehicles. Automakers won an
injunction to halt the mandate last year, stating that the state
does not have the right to mandate economically risky car models
that the state's consumers may not buy. State officials made clear
that they intend to stick to the mandate; however a new mandate
will likely encourage investment in fuel cells and hybrids. State
lawyers believe that changing the mandate's language will remove
the legal problems associated with the current version. |
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NY
Assembly Blasts US EPA for Weakening Clean Air Act
(Office of Asm. Dinapoli 3/31/3)
Last week, New York Assembly members strongly criticized the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency for proposing regulations that would
seriously weaken the Clean Air Act. In addition to presenting comments
at an EPA hearing in Albany, the Assembly members passed a resolution
introduced by Assemblymember DiNapoli et al that calls on the Bush
administration to withdraw proposed changes for the existing regulations
for New Source Review under the Clean Air Act. The Assembly Resolution
opposing the EPA's action also urges the NY State Congressional
delegation to take action to halt the adoption of the amendments
to the New Source Review. In addition to NY, several state and national
environmental organizations and state governments are on record
opposing these changes. |
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Minnesota
ATV Compromise Bill Passes Out of Committee
(Duluth News Tribune 4/1/3)
A bill that strikes a compromise between protecting public lands
from the degradation caused by all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and preserving
places in which ATV users can ride was approved by the MN Senate's
Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee last week. The
bill establishes at least 1,500 miles of trails for ATV use, gives
both local governments and the DNR authority to open or close roads
to ATV use, and establishes a vehicle surcharge, the proceeds of
which will be used to repair damage done by ATVs. While neither
environmental advocates nor riders are completely happy with the
bill, both are supporting it. For more information on how your state
can encourage responsible ATV use, see http://www.serconline.org/orv/pkg_frameset.html. |
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Delaware
Looks at Cutting Air Pollution
(The News Journal 4/2/3)
Delaware regulators are exploring ways to curb pollution at larger
power plants, including moves that could make state controls tougher
than federal standards. John A. Hughes, Secretary of Natural Resources
and Environmental Control, said the review stems partly from public
concern about excessive air pollution. A summary of options could
be completed within the month, he said. "I think the state
can do more; it's allowed to go beyond what federal laws require,"
said Lyman C. Welch, counsel for the Mid-Atlantic Environmental
Law Center at Widener University's law school, a not-for-profit
environmental law firm that provides legal services to public and
environmental groups. Citizen and environmental groups protested
emissions from power plants during public hearings last year on
pollution permits. Hughes said recently that DNREC already was concerned
about the problems created by older power plants operating under
looser standards. The same generating stations also are major sources
of "greenhouse" gases that contribute to what is believed
to be a global warming trend. |
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Georgia
Renews Date for Gas to Be Cleaner (Atlanta
Journal-Constitution 4/4/3)
Georgia's top environmental regulator announced a rule change requiring
oil companies to send the cleanest gas available to metro Atlanta
starting in September. In a memo sent to the state Board of Natural
Resources, Environmental Protection Division Director Harold Reheis
said he will ask the board to adopt a permanent rule change in May.
The move came a couple of months after the board voted to relax
the clean-fuel rules based on warnings from some oil companies and
retailers that metro Atlanta would face shortfalls, long lines at
the pumps and price spikes. At its January meeting, the board agreed
to change its clean air plans and allow companies to sell gas with
a higher sulfur content until next January. Reheis told the state
board the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which must approve
the state's clean air plan, would OK the change. It didn't work
out like that. After surveying the oil companies, the EPA concluded
there would be enough low-sulfur fuel for metro Atlanta after Sept.
15. |
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For
more information about SERC, or to use our services, contact our national
headquarters at: |
State
Environmental Resource Center
106 East Doty Street, Suite 200 § Madison, Wisconsin
53703
Phone: 608-252-9800 § Fax: 608-252-9828
Email: [email protected] |
