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Cruise
Ship Pollution
Cruise ships can carry up to 5,000 people and create tremendous
amounts of waste. During a one-week trip, a typical cruise ship
produces 50 tons of garbage, 1 million gallons of graywater (wastewater
from sinks, showers, galleys, and laundry facilities), 210,000 gallons
of sewage, and 35,000 gallons of oil-contaminated water. Between
1993 and 1998, there were 87 confirmed illegal discharges from cruise
ships in state waters (81 cases involving oil; 6 involving garbage
or plastic). The industry paid more than $30 million in fines for
violations and three cruise lines were placed on five-year felony
probations. Until recently, little state or federal action has taken
place to address the pollution associated with the cruise ship industry.
A handful of coastal states now have laws restricting cruise ship
waste dumping, and the Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2004 is gradually
making its way through Congress. For more information, see http://www.serconline.org/cruiseShipPollution.html. |
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California
to Unveil Auto Greenhouse Gas Rules (LA Times 6/10; San
Jose Mercury News 6/10)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-green10jun10,1,2723729.story?coll=la-headlines-california
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/8887336.htm
Taking a national lead in the effort to curb global warming, California
will unveil new rules to require automakers to reduce emissions
of gases that contribute to global warming by 30 percent by 2015.
The rules, which are set to be approved by the California Air Resources
Board in September, would be phased in, beginning with a 23 percent
reduction for 2009-model vehicles. Cheered by environmentalists,
the rules also are expected to bring a lawsuit from the auto industry,
which has fought them vociferously for two years. The industry argues
that the only way to reduce "greenhouse gases" from vehicles
is to increase fuel efficiency, and California is attempting a backdoor
ploy to increase gasoline mileage standards, which only Congress
is allowed to do. State air experts contend the reductions can be
achieved largely with existing technologies, such as transmissions
that continually shift to find the ideal gear, alternative refrigerants
in air-conditioning systems, and engines that shut off while cars
are standing still at red lights. Several other states, impatient
with the federal government's inaction on the heat-trapping gases
that many scientists say contribute to climate change, may copy
California's standards, which are mandated by a 2002 state law.
"Frankly, there are a lot of people, cities, and states around
the country that are tired of waiting for a federal policy"
to address climate change, said Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, author
of the global warming law. |
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ALEC's
Regulatory Flexibility Model Introduced in Several States
The corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
recently adopted and began promoting to state legislators its model
"Regulatory Flexibility Act." The act, which was drafted
by the Bush Administration's Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small
Business Administration, would require all state agencies to develop
economic impact statements and regulatory flexibility analyses for
"any proposed regulation that may have an adverse impact on
small businesses." The regulatory flexibility analyses present
alternative approaches to minimize the regulation's impact on small
businesses, including exemption from part or all of its requirements,
weaker and more simplified reporting, extended deadlines for compliance,
and standards based on performance instead of actual design or operations.
This model bill is flawed in many ways. First, its definition of
"small business" is questionable -- any "business
entity, including its affiliates, that is independently owned and
operated and employs fewer than 500 full-time employees or has gross
annual sales of less than six million dollars." This definition
is so broad that it could cover over 90 percent of U.S. businesses.
The act also places an unreasonable burden on state agencies. Opponents
are concerned that the act would institutionalize regulatory loopholes
for small businesses, significantly slow the adoption of new environmental
safeguards and weaken existing ones, and make regulation of large
businesses more difficult. Moreover, this state-by-state approach
may very well exacerbate the tendency of some businesses to play
states off against each other in a "race to the bottom"
with regard to environmental, labor, and other regulations maintaining
citizens' quality of life. This likelihood is increased by the lack
of a definition for what constitutes a significant economic impact
on small businesses. Rather than protect real small businesses,
this is an effort to undermine the rules and regulations that protect
the public and the environment. Versions of this legislation were
introduced in ten states in 2003 and at least eight states in 2004,
including CA, NE, KS, MO, TN, PA, SC, and OK. For more information,
visit: http://www.serconline.org/alec/alec20.html. |
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SC:
Environmental Agency Vows Action on Coastal Report (Post
and Courier 6/11)
http://www.charleston.net/stories/061104/sta_11coastal.shtml
Over the last year and a half, the Council on Coastal Futures
has been reviewing South Carolina coastal management regulations
from the last three decades. The council reported that growth
is booming along the coast. In 1973, there were about 70 square
miles of urban land in the Charleston area; by 2030, the figure
is expected to jump to 868 square miles. In all, they presented
18 recommendations to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental
Control (DHEC) board, including improving local and state
storm water management, dedicating money for beach re-nourishment
and public beach access, and streamlining the DHEC permit
process. The permit process garnered the most attention as
developers seek clear sets of rules and regulation to follow
and environmentalists search for a more transparent way to
monitor development. At the end of the presentation, the agency's
board agreed to set priorities from the council's report,
gather information on how much the recommendations might cost,
and develop an oversight group to chart progress on implementing
the recommendations. For more information on ways that your
state can control growth and urban sprawl, visit: http://www.serconline.org/sprawl/pkg_frameset.html. |
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IA:
Error Wipes Out Energy Tax Credits (Sioux City Journal
6/11) http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2004/06/11/news/regional/fa895d32317e5dd086256eb000147da0.txt
The Iowa legislature passed a last-minute bill that contained
a mathematical error that erased tax incentives intended for
wind energy producers. The proposed tax credits would have
amounted to one-cent for each kilowatt/hour of wind energy
a company produced and sold to consumers, up to a specified
limit. One thousand kilowatt and 1,500 kilowatt wind turbines
would have potentially yielded capped tax credits of $28,000
and $42,000, respectively. Instead, the hastily-passed bill
failed to multiply the tax credit by number of hours in a
year, capping the tax credit at $3.20 per megawatt capacity
and putting on hold several projects, including a $200 million
wind farm proposed in Iowa Falls. Although the error is a
setback, wind power advocates point out that state tax breaks
merely complement federal tax breaks that are expected to
be extended. For more information on ways your state can adopt
renewable energy tax incentives, visit: http://www.serconline.org/RenewableEnergyIncentives/index.html. |
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Air
Pollution from Ships Will Lessen Next Year (ENS 6/9)
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2004/2004-06-09-09.asp#anchor1
New international air pollution rules for large ocean-going
vessels, which take effect in late May 2005, will affect ships
in U.S. waters. Although the United States has signed the
formal treaty, known as Annex VI to the International Convention
on the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), neither
the Clinton nor the Bush administrations have asked the Senate
to ratify it. Annex VI, known as the Regulations for the Prevention
of Air Pollution from Ships, sets the first global limits
on ship exhaust emissions, bunker fuel content, on-board incineration,
and release of ozone-depleting substances by ships. The new
air rules apply to cargo, container, cruise, and other sea-going
ships built since January 2000 and flagged by nations, including
the United States, that are party to the MARPOL treaty on
shipping pollution. The new rules include a global cap on
the sulfur content of fuel oil and authorize the International
Maritime Organization to monitor the worldwide average sulfur
content of fuel once the treaty comes into force. San Francisco's
Bluewater Network, a national advocacy organization, says
the new standards will reduce smog-forming emissions from
ships in U.S. waters by only 12 percent by 2030, but will
open the door to setting more stringent environmental standards
for ship engines and bunker fuels. For more information on
how your state can reduce diesel pollution in ports, visit:
http://www.serconline.org/dieselPortPollution.html. |
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Louisiana
Coastal Cleanup Plans Nixed by Feds (LA Times 6/8)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-coastal8jun08,1,1793973.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Bush administration officials dealt a blow to Louisiana's
plans for a $14-billion program to rehabilitate the state's
badly-polluted and -eroded coast and marshlands, when it decided
to postpone the state's request for a 30-year coastal project.
Instead, the administration has said that it will possibly
move forward with a smaller, shorter project that would cost
less than $1 billion over 10 years. Administration officials
are also delaying the release of the Louisiana Coastal Area
study, a report that would provide highly-anticipated data
and strategies for saving the coast. The state initially proposed
a comprehensive plan that would have included filling in dozens
of canals, tearing down levees that block the natural flow
of water, and constructing new water storage areas on land
currently set aside for agriculture or development. State
officials also want to redirect the power of the Mississippi
River to ensure that its precious silt, which shores up marshland,
remains in southern Louisiana instead of being washed into
the Gulf of Mexico. The equivalent of a football field's worth
of land, mostly sensitive interior marshes near the coast,
is converted into open water every 38 minutes. Without action,
state officials say that 500 square miles of marshland will
be lost in the next 50 years. Such erosion also threatens
the fishing, oil, and gas industries. Louisiana officials,
on both sides of the political isle, have expressed frustration
with the administration for serious delays and cutbacks in
a program they see as crucial to the long-term viability of
the state and its environment and economy. |
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California
MTBE Ban Faces NAFTA Challenge (US Newswire 6/4)
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=142-06042004
A North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) investment dispute
hearing by a three-member tribunal began June 7 and is expected
to take at least a week. The hearing was convened because
of a challenge by Methanex Corporation to California's ban
on MTBE. In 1999, California decided to phase out MTBE, a
gasoline additive suspected by the World Health Organization
of being carcinogenic. MTBE had made its way into the groundwater
supplies of hundreds of communities across the state, making
the water undrinkable. The MTBE ban went into effect January
1, 2004. Methanex Corporation, the Canadian parent company
of a U.S. manufacturer of methanol (one component of MTBE)
has brought a $970 million suit under NAFTA against the United
States, demanding compensation for profits and business opportunities
it claims to have lost because of California's phase-out.
This hearing is notable because of the issues raised that
will have far-ranging implications for government's ability
to enact environmental and public health regulations in the
public interest. Additionally, this is the first NAFTA investment
tribunal which has allowed arguments to be presented by non-disputants. |
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NY
Acid Rain Regulations Tossed Out on a Technicality (New
York Times 6/5)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/05/nyregion/05pollute.html
Last week, a New York judge struck down the state's new tough
acid rain regulations due to a missed filing deadline. The
rules, which would have required power plants to reduce smokestack
emissions of nitrogen by 75 percent and sulfur by 50 percent,
would have given the state the nation's toughest acid rain
regulations. Instead, by tossing out the new regulations,
the judge granted a reprieve to owners of 10 very old coal-fired
power plants who decided to challenge the new rules, arguing
that the changes would increase electricity rates for consumers
without reducing pollution. The judge didn't buy the industry's
argument, but decided to dismiss the case because the state
allegedly missed a deadline for publication of a notice to
inform the public of proposed changes in the rules. The state
has not said if it will challenge the decision, but says it
is still committed to passing newer, stricter rules for pollutants
that contribute to acid rain. Coal-burning power plants release
carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, and mercury, which contribute to
acid rain and pollution and damage New York lakes and forests.
For more information on the negative health and environmental
effects of coal-burning power plants, and to explore alternatives,
visit: http://www.serconline.org/clean/index.html. |
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New
Hampshire Enacts MTBE Ban (Nashua Telegraph 6/6)
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040606/NEWS02/206060424/-1/news02
New Hampshire has become the fifth state in the nation to
ban the gasoline additive MTBE, which is meant to help reduce
air pollution but has been found to poison aquifers and has
been labeled a possible carcinogen. The chemical is blamed
for polluting 15 percent of the state's public water supplies
and thousands of private wells. The new state law will ban
the sale and use of all methyl tertiary-butyl ether by 2007.
In order to gain final approval of the ban by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the state had to submit alternative plans
to reduce air pollution. Under the law, the state would adopt
new rules that reduce ozone by requiring clean industrial
and architectural coatings, solvents, and portable fuel containers.
At least 17 states currently have MTBE bans or are considering
them. |
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AZ:
New Concerns over Session to Free Up State Lands (Arizona
Daily Star 6/11)
http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/news/25675.php
A deal to revamp Arizona's laws on trust lands may be unraveling.
The plan, pulled together over three years by developers,
ranchers, educators, conservation groups, and the State Land
Department, would set aside up to 675,000 acres of state lands,
which are held in trust to raise maximum money for public
schools. Representatives of the Sierra Club and the Arizona
Wildlife Federation told legislators the package is flawed.
They urged lawmakers to scrap the idea of adopting the plan
by the end of the month in a special legislative session.
Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club, was critical of provisions
to guarantee that ranchers can keep grazing their cattle on
8 million acres of rural trust lands. Albert Elias, planning
director for the city of Tucson, said Tucson and some other
cities are dependent on state trust lands becoming available
to ensure continued growth. But Elias said there are provisions
that make the plan unacceptable as presented, because they
would interfere with the right of elected city council members
to make final decisions on how land should be developed. The
comments are getting the attention of state lawmakers, who
are being asked by the coalition that drafted the package
to accept it as presented, or with minor revisions. "It
has a lot of unanswered questions," said Senate Majority
Leader Tim Bee. "This is far from being ready to come
to a special session." Even Sen. Carolyn Allen, who supports
the package as presented, now is giving it a 50-50 chance
of being adopted by the legislature. Lawmakers need to adopt
the plan by July 1, in order to put the constitutional changes
it includes on the November ballot for voters. |
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New
Jersey Highlands Bill Passes (New York Times 6/11)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/11/nyregion/11highlands.html
Legislators in the Garden State approved a bill that will
severely restrict development in nearly half of an 800,000-acre
region of the Highlands, which provides drinking water for
over half the state. Development threatens much of the unspoiled
land that now surrounds the rivers and reservoirs in the Highlands,
which sprawls across seven counties in the northwest end of
the New Jersey. Some builders and legislators fought tooth-and-nail
against the proposal, arguing that the state would be overstepping
its authority over local governments and, in turn, unfairly
affect smaller farms and landowners. During negotiations on
the Highlands bill, the McGreevey administration agreed to
push for another bill that will streamline the environmental
approval process for some construction projects. That measure
is scheduled to be unveiled this week. For further information
on conservation funding, visit: http://www.serconline.org/conservationfunding/index.html. |
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Seven
States Ask Bush to Clean Up TVA Power Plants (USA
Today 6/4; ENS 6/7)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-06-04-clean-air_x.htm
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2004/2004-06-07-10.asp
The attorneys general of New York, Connecticut, Illinois,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont complained
in a letter to President Bush that pollution from 11 coal-fired
power plants, run by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
in the Southeast, is drifting into their states. The attorneys
general assert in the letter that pollution from those plants
is degrading air quality and public health in their jurisdictions.
A Bush administration official responded by stating the President
is on track bringing the TVA into compliance. The TVA was
created by Franklin D. Roosevelt and provides electricity
to over 8 million consumers in the Southeast. For information
on clean power, visit: http://www.serconline.org/cleanenergy.html. |
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