7 States
to Sue EPA, 3rd Such Suit Over Air Pollution Standards (NY Times
2/21/3)
Seven state attorneys general announced last week that they would file
a lawsuit accusing the U.S. EPA of failing to enforce the Clean Air Act
by neglecting to update air pollution standards. The lawsuit, which would
be the third brought by states against the Bush administration over the
Clean Air Act in the last seven weeks, shows the increasingly antagonistic
relationship between the states and the federal government over clean
air. Across the country, states are becoming increasingly active on environmental
matters, with many officials criticizing the Bush administration as eager
to roll back regulations and Congress as unable to demonstrate effective
oversight. The other states in the lawsuit are Connecticut, Rhode Island,
New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maine and Washington. One lawsuit, filed on
Dec. 31, which now has 10 state plaintiffs, tries to stall an effort by
the EPA to weaken regulations governing coal-burning power plants. Another
lawsuit, announced on Feb. 12 by three states, seeks to have carbon dioxide
characterized as a pollutant. The lawsuit announced today contends that
a section of the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to review and revise its
regulation over pollutants every eight years, something the plaintiffs
say the agency has not done in 20 years. The states argue that for 20
years the agency has failed to do a review of power plants, which are
responsible for some 40 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions in the
United States. The agency says it updated its standards in 1998, when
it tightened standards for nitrogen oxides. The states argue that carbon
dioxide emissions from power plants clearly fit within the act's definition
of an air pollutant, a position the administration disputes. |
W.
Virginia Senate May Look at Water (Charleston
Daily Mail 2/20/3)
Plans are in the works for the West Virginia Senate Natural Resources
Committee to take up and expand a resolution to study how to protect
the state's water supply. Although plenty of state and federal legislation
over the years has addressed the quality of WV's water, little attention
has been paid to the quantity of it until recently. The recent sale
of West Virginia-American Water Company to a subsidiary of the German
firm RWE has helped draw attention to the issue. A 1995 study prepared
for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources showed that WV
and Rhode Island were the only eastern states that did not have
laws dealing with water quantity. Rick Eades, a hydrologist and
a lobbyist for the West Virginia Environmental Council, said water
worth potentially $9 billion a year at today's market rate is available
in the state's eastern counties, not too far from the Eastern Seaboard.
Eades called the resolution sponsored by 22 senators "super
appropriate," but he doesn't think it's enough. He's concerned
that President Bush is due to make a decision by March 31 on a European
Union request to redefine water as a service rather than a product
under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Services. If that happens
before West Virginia puts controls on its water supply, the state
might be unable under international law to pass a new law to establish
such controls, Eades said. So what he wants is what he calls a "vanilla"
law to establish the state's control over its water, which would
allow lawmakers to revise it further in the future. |
| back
to top |
| |
Colorado
Survey Shows Support for Renewable Energy
(Denver Post 2/18/3)
Coloradoans prefer conservation and renewable energy over fossil-fuel
generation by a wide margin, a new survey shows. By a 3-to-1 ratio,
respondents said CO should meet its growing demand for electricity
through energy efficiency measures rather than generation of more
power. The survey, by the Wells Fargo Public Opinion Research Program
at the University of Colorado at Denver, showed that residents would
prefer new electrical generation from renewable sources such as
wind, solar and hydropower instead of coal and natural gas. "These
are striking results," said Peggy Cuciti, director of the polling
program, noting that 82 percent of respondents said utilities should
focus on renewables. "We don't usually see 82 percent (responses)."
Cuciti said the survey used scientific sampling to interview 602
registered voters in Colorado. The poll has a margin of error of
4.1 percentage points. A bill in the Colorado legislature would
require investor-owned utilities such as Xcel Energy to produce
a portion of their electricity from renewable sources. For more
on renewable energy policies, visit http://www.serconline.org/RPS/pkg_frameset.html. |
| back
to top |
| |
Montana
Considers Roll Backs of Voter Initiatives
(Great Falls Tribune 2/18/3)
Just as it's dangerous for any of us to fool with Mother Nature,
it's got to be dangerous for legislators to fool with the will of
the voters. Yet Montana legislators are on the verge of doing just
that with a couple of efforts. One would all but dump Initiative
143, passed 51-49 percent by voters in 2000, to severely restrict
game farms, known euphemistically as "alternative livestock"
operations. The other will seek, by legislative action, a new public
vote on Initiative 137, the ban on cyanide heap-leach mine operations
that voters approved 52-48 percent in 1998. The legislative response
to I-143, the game farm initiative, is the more dangerous of the
two for legislators. That's because it would flatly exempt operations
from most of the restrictions imposed by the initiative. |
| back
to top |
| |
NY
Unprepared for Fuel Additive Ban
(Newsday 2/19/3)
Three years after the New York State Legislature overwhelmingly
approved a ban on the gasoline additive MTBE that is set to take
effect in January 2004, virtually nothing has been done to retool
the gasoline industry's refinery and delivery systems to replace
the chemical that is a major ingredient of local gasoline. Because
of the lack of action, many experts say, the region is facing the
prospect of dirtier tailpipe emissions, scattered gasoline shortages
and price increases of at least 10 cents per gallon and possibly
as high as 80 cents during the spring and summer of 2004. Critics
charge that oil companies are deliberately moving slowly to build
tanks, upgrade their terminals and otherwise prepare for the ban
because they want to increase the pressure on state and federal
lawmakers to make legislative changes that would let the industry
keep using MTBE beyond Jan. 1 or at least avoid switching to the
principal alternative: corn-based ethanol. The situation in New
York is in sharp contrast to California, where a similar MTBE ban
also will take effect Jan. 1 and where in recent months oil companies
have announced major multimillion-dollar investments to prepare
for the transition. |
| back
to top |
| |
N.
Carolina Gov. Wants to Shift Money to Existing Roads, Transit
(Greensboro News & Record 2/20/3)
North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley wants to shift $700 million in road
construction money to improve existing roads in the state. Easley
urged legislators Wednesday to support a plan that would use previously
approved road bonds, approved by voters in 1996, which were never
sold. The proposal would shift money from NC's Highway Trust Fund,
which was set up in 1989 to build urban loops, widen two-lane highways
and pave rural dirt roads, to road improvements. Those improvements
would include resurfacing, adding turn lanes on rural road intersections,
widening paved shoulders, and replacing bridges. The money would
also be used for public transportation, including regional rail
and urban transit systems. Easley said the plan, which he calls
"N.C. Moving Ahead," is needed so that highway tax revenues
can be used where they are needed most, to upgrade long neglected
two-lane roads that need repair. Already, bills have been filed
in the state House and Senate that would allow the bond money to
be shifted from the Highway Trust Fund to the road improvement projects.
The governor said the state needs flexibility to respond to pressing
needs. For more on "fix-it-first" policies, visit http://www.serconline.org/trafficcongestionrelief/index.html. |
| back
to top |
| |
Efforts
to Ban Snaring in Maine (Maine
Wolf Coalition)
Wildlife advocates in Maine are pushing two pieces of legislation
dealing with a coyote snaring program. LD 237 would prohibit coyote
snaring and eliminate the coyote snaring program. LD 455 would end
the coyote snaring program by banning the use of snares altogether.
Proponents of the program believe it benefits the deer population
by removing predators. Opponents of the program believe it is a
wasteful use of scarce public monies because of a lack of evidence
that it increases deer numbers or decreases coyote numbers. Furthermore,
they believe that snaring poses a threat to nontarget animals such
as Maine's federally threatened lynx population and federally endangered
gray wolves that have been killed in the state in recent years and
appear to be attempting to recolonize New York and New England from
neighboring Quebec. |
| back
to top |
| |
Kentucky
Bill Undermines County Protections
(Kentucky Resources Council)
HB 458, drafted by the oil and gas industry, seeks to sweep away
the ability of Kentucky counties to adopt any ordinance controlling
any aspect of the oil and gas industry. Current law grants counties
broad powers to protect public health, safety and the environment,
subject to a requirement that the county not conflict where the
state has acted by adopting a law. The industry admits there is
no current local ordinance that regulates the oil or gas industry.
The root of the problem is that the state Department of Mines and
Minerals has never implemented a comprehensive program to make the
industry accountable to surface landowners for the damage caused
when gathering lines are located. Industry wants to sweep aside
the ability of local governments to regulate, while not addressing
the problem of overreaching by certain segments of the industry. |
| back
to top |
| |
Idaho
Proposes Further Damage Reductions Without Cause
(Idaho Falls Post Register 2/17/3)
The Idaho State House passed HB 92, a tort provision to limit punitive
damages that a jury may award for cases involving hazardous or toxic
waste or solid waste disposal sites. The current cap was established
for pain and suffering cases back in 1997, but now business lobbyists
are seeking to have caps lowered to $250,000. Additionally, the
proposal includes provisions seeking to protect individuals who
knowingly mishandle hazardous materials and toxic waste. This proposal
comes without evidence of juries handing out extraordinarily large
punitive damage awards and little proof from the insurance industry
suggesting the changes are needed. |
| back
to top |
| |
States
Face Up to $1 Billion Shortfall to Protect Water Quality
(NAPA 2/13/3))
State water quality programs nationwide face an annual shortfall
of $700 million to $1 billion, a National Academy of Public Administration
Panel reports in "Understanding What States Need to Protect
Water Quality." A joint state-EPA effort developed this estimate
by collecting information on how much states currently spend and
what resources they need to manage water quality programs according
to federal standards. "State environmental agencies, EPA, Congress,
and state legislatures can use these estimates of the national shortfall
without hesitation. However, two key data elements – the costs
of state employees and costs of new or expanding water quality programs,
such as controls on non-point sources – may be underestimated,"
said Dr. John Kirlin, Chair of the Academy Panel that issued the
report. States may be able to use the model as a tool for identifying
and sharing effective, cost-efficient practices for protecting water
quality. The Panel's report is available on the Academy's web site
at http://www.napawash.org. |
| back
to top |
| |
Oregon
Legislators Try to Limit Protection for Wolves
(The Oregonian, 02/19/03)
Oregon wildlife officials and lawmakers are working on dual fronts
to reduce state protections for gray wolves, trying to ease what
have proved to be unexpectedly strict rules against killing the
animals likely to take up residence in the state. State lawmakers
have already introduced bills to repeal state protections for wolves.
Some would keep the state from protecting species already covered
by the federal Endangered Species Act or drop state protection of
species taken off the federal endangered list. One measure, Senate
Bill 97, would remove the wolf from the state endangered list and
reclassify wolves as predators so they could be shot freely, as
coyotes are now. Oregon's endangered act could allow the Fish and
Wildlife Commission to issue permits for killing or capturing wolves
for research purposes or if they prey on livestock. Commissioners
instructed state biologists and attorneys to advise them at the
board's next meeting in March on how the state Endangered Species
Act could be revised so it offers the same flexibility as the federal
act. They plan to take the advice to the Legislature, which could
revise the law. |
| back
to top |
| |
Arizona
House Bills May Limit Local Land Use Regulation
(Arizona Daily Star 2/21/3)
In Arizona, a House panel approved two bills designed to limit the
ability of cities and counties to regulate land use. HB 2411 would
allow for landowners to seek compensation when any government action
is estimated to reduce the value of their property by at least 25
percent. However, this legislation has been criticized by Civil
Deputy Attorney, Katharina Richter, who says that the legislation
is unworkable as land values are constantly changing due to market
fluctuations. The second measure, HB 2308, would prohibit communities
from using the power of eminent domain to take property to sell
to someone else in redevelopment projects. This measure would effectively
repeal all rights of cities and counties to take land for redevelopment. |
| back
to top |
| |
Bush
Admin. Forest Plan Puts Logging Companies in Charge
(Idaho Falls Post Register 2/21/3)
Public resources are generally managed by public lands agencies
but for the first time, as part of the Bush administration's forest
health initiative, tucked inside an appropriation bill last week,
private companies will direct logging on the nation's forests. Opponents
of this major policy reversal, rejected by Congress last year, are
concerned that this rider will vastly expand the prerogatives of
logging companies engaged in pilot stewardship projects during the
next 10 years and that by attaching a rider to a major bill, no
hearings and no public testimony will be possible. Technically,
local governments and nonprofit organizations could participate
in these projects, but critics argue few nonprofit organizations
have the experience or the inclination to do the logging, and counties,
under economic pressure, will log as aggressively as they can. |
| back
to top |
|
