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Ballast
Water Management
In 1991, the waters of Mobile, Alabama, were contaminated with a
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 was 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 contaminate 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 in an 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 a serious threat to human health. For more information
on ballast water management, visit: http://www.serconline.org/ballast/index.html. |
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New
Great Lakes Rules Announced (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
7/19)
http://www.jsonline.com/news/gen/jul04/244920.asp
Governors of the eight Great Lakes states unveiled a proposal last
week intended to keep the world's largest freshwater system from
flowing to arid regions of the country. The governors intend to
help thirsty regions inside their own states by cracking open the
door to Great Lakes water for cities just outside the watershed
known as the Great Lakes basin. As the law currently works, any
governor from any of the eight states bordering the Great Lakes
can deny a request to divert water outside the Great Lakes basin,
and the governors have a history of being stingy. By setting limits
on water use, and requiring that water be returned to the lake,
thirsty communities just outside the basin could tap the lakes under
the new proposal. But others miles away would have trouble meeting
the requirement to return the water. The proposal comes three years
after Great Lakes governors and premiers of Ontario and Quebec pledged
to find new ways to protect the lakes. There is concern that growing
demand for water in Sun Belt states could make the Great Lakes a
target. The proposal also would, for the first time, require conservation
for those who now use Great Lakes water. One example: The conservation
provision would require any entity using more than 250,000 gallons
a day to show it is taking steps to reduce demand for water. The
proposal by a working group of the Council of Great Lakes Governors
could take years to become a reality. The public has 90 days to
make comments before it goes back to the governors of Wisconsin,
Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and
New York, as well as the premiers of Ontario and Quebec. Any governor
or any legislature, or Congress, can stall a process that many believe
will take at least two to three years to accomplish. |
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Montana:
Right to Hunt and Fish on Ballot (Billings Gazette 7/23)
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/07/23/build/state/55-hunting-ammend.inc
A constitutional amendment in Montana that would protect the rights
of citizens to hunt and fish goes to the voters on the state ballot
this November. CA-41 would add this sentence to the Montana Constitution:
"The opportunity to harvest wild fish and wild game animals
is a heritage that shall forever be preserved to the individual
citizens of the state and does not create a right to trespass
on private property or diminution of other private rights."
The proponents say that hunting and fishing opportunities in other
states are being eroded by efforts of "anti-hunting, anti-fishing
animal rights extremists" and those challenges eventually
will reach Montana. Opponents of the action argue that creating
such an amendment is reactionary and unnecessary, since there
is no threat to the ability of people to hunt and fish in Montana.
Over the past six or so years, a wave of so-called "right
to hunt" legislative and constitutional provisions has been
sweeping through state legislatures. The movement is sponsored
by the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, formerly known as the Wildlife
Legislative Fund of America, the same group which co-authored
the Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act with the American Legislative
Exchange Council (ALEC). At least 21 states have considered these
provisions, and they have passed in at least six states. The provisions
are a radical response of some members of the hunting community
to new initiatives regulating certain types of hunting and trapping,
and other perceived "threats" to the sport. For more
information on this topic, visit: http://www.serconline.org/huntandfish.html. |
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Wolf
Protection Status Being Debated (ENS 7/19)
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2004/2004-07-19-10.asp
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/07/23/build/wyoming/20-wolfplan.inc
Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced last week that gray
wolves no longer need federal protection in the eastern half
of the United States. Conservationists called the proposal
illogical because wolves have only recovered in three of the
21 states where the administration plans to remove the species
from the endangered species list. Gray wolves are back in
the Great Lakes states but, while they were once common in
the Northeast, few wolves live in the region today. Three
Great Lakes states -- Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin --
combined have approximately 3,200 gray wolves, and populations
in each state exceed recovery goals set when the species was
listed as endangered in 1972. If finalized, the federal proposal
would turn management of existing wolf populations -- and
recovery efforts -- over to states and tribes from the Dakotas,
Nebraska, and Kansas to the East Coast, and from Missouri
to New Jersey. States outside of Michigan, Minnesota, and
Wisconsin currently have no protection or recovery plans in
place. The two other populations of gray wolves in the lower
48 states -- the western population located in the Rocky Mountain
states of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana and the southwestern
population of Mexican gray wolves -- will continue to be listed
under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The announcement was
closely followed by a court filing by the U.S. Department
of the Interior stating that Wyoming cannot sue the federal
government over the denial of its wolf management plan. The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requires Montana, Idaho, and
Wyoming to submit plans it deems acceptable before removing
wolves from Endangered Species Act protection. For more information
on wolf management plans, visit: http://www.serconline.org/wolfpreservation/index.html. |
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California
Governor Signs Smart Growth Zoning Bill (San Diego
Union-Tribune 7/22)
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20040722-1510-ca-smartzoning.html
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed one of his
first pieces of growth management legislation. He approved
less restrictive zoning for cities trying to build neighborhoods
that mix businesses and residences. AB 1268 will place alternative
"form-based zoning" into state statutes that regulate
how California develops. Advocates say the zoning approach
provided by the bill is more flexible for mixing stores, offices,
and housing into neighborhood patterns that were prevalent
before World War II. Most current zoning in California requires
strict separation of different types of buildings, making
popular, older neighborhood styles difficult to re-create
in new ones. Last year, Petaluma, California, became the nation's
first city to use form-based codes. The city is using them
to guide redevelopment of 400 acres near its downtown. Assemblywoman
Pat Wiggins, who chairs the legislature's Smart Growth Caucus,
introduced the bill. For more information on ways to curb
sprawl, visit: http://www.serconline.org/sprawl/pkg_frameset.html. |
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Wisconsin
Panel Urges More Energy from Renewables (Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel 7/20)
http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/jul04/245049.asp
A Wisconsin government task force, comprised of lawmakers,
environmentalists, and utility officials, has proposed that
the state's utilities be required to generate 10% of their
electricity from renewable sources by 2015, collectively.
Each individual utility would need to generate 6% of their
electricity from such sources by that time, but the proposal
would allow a utility to be exempted from that law if they
can show that the changes would hurt their customers -- a
provision added after much debate. State law currently requires
that 2.2% of a utility's energy be supplied by environmentally-friendly
sources by 2011, and the state currently derives 4% of its
electricity from renewable sources. The panel also recommended
increasing energy efficiency by revising the state building
code, increasing the state's purchase of renewable electricity
and its use of such energy in state-owned buildings, and the
creation of rural energy initiatives to promote renewable
energy. The panel's proposal will be included in a package
of recommendations to the state legislature when it convenes
next year. For more information on renewable energy and ways
to increase energy efficiency, visit: http://www.serconline.org/cleanenergy.html. |
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South
Dakota Pushes Ahead with Plans to Poison Prairie Dogs (Rapid
City Journal 7/22)
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2004/07/22/front/top/news01.txt
After the U.S. Forest Service decided to delay action on federal
prairie dog management for at least another year, South Dakota
officials are taking action themselves. Federal authorities
will wait to take action while an environmental impact statement
is prepared. South Dakota's game and agriculture officials,
in making changes to the prairie dog management plan with
input from ranchers and wildlife representatives, will be
asking the state legislature for more money to poison prairie
dogs on private land. National Wildlife Federation officials
are concerned about state and federal actions regarding prairie
dogs on or near federal land. They say that any use of poison
on buffer zones on federal land could hinder black-footed
ferret recovery efforts. They also point out that the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service declared in 2000 that the prairie
dog warranted federal listing as a threatened species. The
state's revised plan will likely include a half-mile buffer
zone on federal land, but that won't be effective until the
Forest Service takes action itself. Ranchers have been complaining
that prairie dogs from federal grasslands cause damage to
their land and property, and that the holes they dig can injure
their cattle. Some have threatened to sue the state, saying
it is required by law to control prairie dogs coming from
public land. For more information on endangered species and
ecosystem health, visit: http://www.serconline.org/esa/index.html. |
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Montana
to Seek Water Rights Tax (Billings Gazette 7/21)
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/07/21/build/state/25-water-rights.inc
The Montana Environmental Quality Council has endorsed a proposal
to require state water rights' holders to pay a special tax
to help speed up the processing of water rights claims in
the state. Farmers and ranchers, who tend to have less than
20 water rights, account for 95 percent of the state's water
rights' holders. Cities, which also hold water rights, will
pass the costs onto their water system customers. State officials
believe the majority of the citizens will support the tax,
considering the current backlog in processing water rights
claims. Such backlogs make land development more difficult
and may cause disputes when property is sold. The council's
plan would impose an annual tax on each water right, a flat
rate for those using the smallest amounts of water and variable
rates for larger amounts. Most of the money would go to the
department to hire about 20 claims examiners, but the water
courts would get some additional staff as well. The plan will
be brought to the state legislature when it convenes next
year. Bob Lane, chief attorney for the state Department of
Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, endorsed the proposal as a "fair
funding system" that would cost his agency about $100,000
a year. The department has water rights to maintain streamflows
for fish. |
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Maryland
to Consider New MTBE Regulations (Baltimore Sun 7/21)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/harford/bal-md.mtbe21jul21,0,1267227.story?coll=bal-local-headlines
Maryland state environmental officials are considering new
regulations aiming to prevent previously undetected vapor
leaks of methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, from underground
fuel tanks. Since the 1970s, when it was first used as an
additive to help gas burn more cleanly, MTBE has largely been
credited with helping to reduce air pollution, but the chemical
dissolves easily in water and has tainted wells throughout
Maryland. The controversy arose as state officials discovered
contamination in 127 local area wells in Fallston, Maryland.
The contamination has been linked to possible vapor leaks
in one local-area Exxon station's four underground fuel storage
tanks. Current Maryland state regulations require intervention
and public notification when levels exceed 20 parts per billion,
the lower limit at which MTBE can be smelled or tasted, rendering
water undesirable to drink. Ten of the 127 wells were found
to exceed this level. Local citizens are outraged that state
and federal officials have failed to notify them of contaminated
drinking water, which has shown up off and on since 1991,
because state regulations require notifying only those directly
affected by contamination. With roughly 13,000 underground
fuel storage tanks in the state, 400 MTBE-contaminated private
wells, and 100 contaminated public water systems, state legislators
are proposing bills to ban MTBE in Maryland, and local officials
are eyeing a temporary ban on new gas stations. |
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New
York City, Eight States Plan to Sue Power Plants (New
York Times 7/21)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/21/national/21pollute.html
Eight states and the city of New York have joined together
in filing a lawsuit to force the country's five largest utilities
to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The Attorneys General
of California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Rhode
Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin aim to have the utilities reduce
emissions by three percent annually for ten years. The companies
named in the suit were American Electric Power, Cinergy, the
Southern Company, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Xcel
Energy. They currently operate 174 power plants that burn
fossil fuels and account for 10 percent of the national total,
emitting 646 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. The suit
argues that, by using available technology like renewable
energy sources, cleaner fuels, and efficiency efforts, the
reductions can occur with little or no impacts on consumers'
electricity rates. The foundation of the plaintiffs' claims
are based on a common law public nuisance claim, arguing that
climate change poses a major threat to natural resources,
public health, agriculture, and other sectors, and that the
companies are partially responsible for the threat. Many states
have used similar arguments in suits to pressure utilities
to curtail nitrogen and sulfur emissions. However, this suit
is the first direct state legal action taken against carbon
dioxide. For more information how your state can promote clean
energy, visit: http://www.serconline.org/clean/index.html.
For information on ways in which your state can reduce greenhouse
gases, visit: http://www.serconline.org/ghg/index.html. |
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School
Districts Adding Buses with Cleaner Burning Engines (Greenwire
7/20)
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/Backissues/072004/072004gw.htm#9
More than 1,000 school districts nationwide will install diesel
oxidation catalysts and other pollution controls over the
next few years to cut emissions from diesel-burning school
buses. Some of the school districts are located in metropolitan
areas with major air quality problems. The school districts
will participate in the Clean School Bus USA Program, which
calls on the nation's 444,000 school buses to reduce their
emissions voluntarily by 2010. The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) cost-share grant program began last year to
help subsidize the costs of replacing old school buses, installing
pollution control devices, and eliminating unnecessary idling.
The EPA awarded $5 million in grants last month that will
apply to about 1,230 school districts, or about 5,000 new
buses or pollution control upgrades. The agency awarded $5
million last year for about 4,000 new buses or upgrades in
about 70 districts. Officials said cleaner-burning school
buses will help improve overall regional air quality. Many
of the school districts are in nonattainment areas, including
southern California and the Atlanta and Denver metropolitan
areas. The emissions reduction also will cut children's exposure
to toxic diesel exhaust that can damage genes and produce
allergy symptoms, officials said. About a dozen school districts
or state agencies participating in the EPA program since last
year have completed installing diesel pollution controls on
school buses, said Janet Cohen, director of Clean School Bus
USA Program. For more information on how your state can reduce
diesel emissions from school buses, visit: http://www.serconline.org/schoolbus/index.html. |
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Land
Use Planning Role Handed to States, Counties, and Tribes (ENS
7/20)
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2004/2004-07-20-09.asp#anchor1
Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has proposed a change
to the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) land use planning
rule to give states, counties, and tribal governments a stronger
role in developing land use plans. The proposed change will
formally recognize and define the cooperating agency status
that may be granted to local, state, tribal, and other federal
agencies during the land use planning process. Cooperating
agency status permits entities to collaborate with lead land
management agencies, such as the BLM, in the environmental
analyses required by the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA). In the past, the BLM has worked with governmental
partners in planning and NEPA activities, but the practice
has never formally been recognized in BLM regulations. The
proposed Land Use Planning Rule was published in the Federal
Register last week, and may be read on the BLM web site at
http://www.blm.gov. |
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Air
Quality Rules Approved for Iowa Farms (Des Moines
Register 7/20)
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040720/NEWS10/407200367/1011/NEWS10
The Iowa Environmental Protection Commission recently voted
5-3 to adopt new anti-pollution rules aimed at applying air
quality rules to hog farmers. The commission voted after hearing
views voiced by many farmers and other rural Iowans regarding
proposed hydrogen sulfide standards. According to health officials,
low levels can cause eye irritation, sore throat, cough, shortness
of breath, and fluid in the lungs, but long-term, low-level
exposure can result in fatigue, loss of appetite, and headaches.
The newly adopted rules propose restricting hydrogen sulfide
emissions to thirty parts per billion. Previously, the commission
had adopted rules restricting animal confinements to a fifteen
parts per billion standard, but it was resisted by state legislators.
Earlier this year, Iowa lawmakers passed legislation that
established a 70 parts per billion standard. The measure was
vetoed by Governor Vilsack for offering little protection
to residents. The new lower standard will be in limbo until
a House-Senate joint committee that reviews state agency rules
discusses the air quality limits at its meeting in September.
For more information on how your state can regulate air emissions
from CAFOs, visit: http://www.serconline.org/cafoAirEmissions.html. |
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