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Environmental
Justice
Communities with a large population of low-income and/or people
of color are more likely to be subjected to environmental hazards.
These communities are often excluded from decision-making processes
by those in power and/or by deficiencies in policy, making it difficult
for them to dialogue with companies, regulatory agencies, and municipalities;
address double standards held by zoning codes or real estate agencies;
access legal, scientific, and other technical support; or, gain
full consideration of their input. Superfund sites near these communities
are a low priority for cleanup, and socio-economic biases contribute
to the lack of media. The environmental justice movement is growing
and gaining national attention through the relentless efforts of
religious and other community organizations, individuals, and families
who are demanding recognition and justice for their communities.
Many people across the nation have worked persistently and strategically
to bring attention to the oversights of government and the environmental
targeting of these communities. State legislation focusing on environmental
justice gives further recognition and legal protection to communities
faced with these issues, expedites action, and channels money to
people and communities who have been ignored for so long. For more
information on environmental justice, visit: http://www.serconline.org/ej/index.html. |
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Last
Issues of Wildlines
As of October 1, 2004, the State Environmental Resource Center (SERC)
will cease operations and the SERC office will become the Wisconsin
office of Defenders of Wildlife. Our focus in the future will be
directed primarily to state conservation issues rather than broad
environmental issues. Due to this change, we will not continue to
publish Wildlines. We hope that SERC has been useful to you in the
past, and that you will continue to make use of the resources posted
on the SERC web site, which will remain online. We encourage you
to sign up for the Defenders Environmental Network (http://www.defenders.org/den/denform.html)
to continue to receive email updates on conservation issues. For
further information on progressive environmental state policy, please
contact the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (http://ncel.net/index.cgim)
and the Center for Policy Alternatives (http://cfpa.org/index.cfm). |
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ALEC's
Economic Impact Statement Shows Up in MA
The American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC) Economic Impact
Statement Act is a telling example of its approach to environment-related
legislation. Little wonder that most of the big corporations behind
ALEC approve of this bill: it would require state agencies to
produce detailed "economic impact statements" for all
existing and proposed environmental regulations. ALEC says the
draft bill has been designed "to provide environmental protection
while permitting the creation of wealth through requiring an economic
analysis of new environmental regulations." In truth, the
proposed legislation seems little more than a perversion of the
1969 National Environmental Policy Act, which mandates environmental
impact statements for significant federal government actions.
Environmental activists have long used the landmark federal law
to promote the public interest by halting or delaying potentially
destructive projects; now, through ALEC's "model" legislation,
corporate special interests aim to turn the tables at the state
level. Although ALEC's self-described mission is to limit government,
here's a case where government's bureaucracy would be significantly
expanded. Agencies or other arms of state governments, after all,
would have to generate all those economic impact statements required
under its "model" legislation. The New Mexico Fish and
Game Department has estimated, for example, that it would need
twenty additional employees, at a cost of $1.5 million a year,
to get the job done. Sections 14-17 and 67 of MA HB 4328, the
"Economic Stimulus Bill," reflect ALEC's model legislation,
but were fortunately vetoed by Governor Romney who recognized
the dangerous and needless language. The language is particularly
striking since adverse economic impacts would solely be determined
by the Secretary of Economic Development. The Senate is currently
taking up vetoes and these sections could be overridden at any
point. It is important that the decisions regarding environmental
legislation remain in the proper hands and not those of the business
lobby. |
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New
Jersey Officials Seek Sourland Protection (Trenton
Times 9/10)
http://www.nj.com/statehouse/times/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1094803731170723.xml
Local officials are looking for Governor McGreevey's support
to protect the narrow 17-mile forested ridge along the Delaware
River known as the Sourlands. They are requesting that the
governor pass sweeping land use regulations to restrict development
in this area, home to a number of the state's endangered and
threatened species. A state-level restriction would protect
municipalities pursuing aggressive zoning laws from the threat
of costly legal action from developers, according to local
officials. While the state's endangered species laws protect
the cited species, there are few safeguards for their habitat
when faced with development pressure. It is still uncertain
whether the Governor will take action before he leaves office
in November. It is more likely that he will to continue to
focus his attention on implementation of the Highlands protection
act which would curb development in another of the state's
environmentally sensitive areas. |
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Arizona:
Trust Land Session is Off until Next Year (Arizona
Capitol Times 9/10)
http://www.azcapitoltimes.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=1263
The continued impasse over reforming the management of Arizona's
9.2 million acres of trust land has prompted legislative leaders
to abandon plans for a special session. Reforms regarding
the exchange of the trust lands, the sale of which generates
revenue for the public school system, would require a statewide
vote to change the state constitution. Arizona's constitution
requires an open bidding process for the exchange of trust
land, which has been upheld by voters and the state Supreme
Court, but state legislators would like to allow non-auction
exchanges. In lieu of making a change to the constitution,
Senate leaders intend to pursue reforms through law and minimize
the need for voter approval. The unresolved issues include:
grazing rights, funding for the Arizona State Land Department,
equity for owners of land designated for conservation, and
the total number of acres to be preserved. The intent of the
reforms is to increase revenue from the sale of trust lands,
potentially $300 million through 2015, which will be funneled
into the public school system. It would also reserve 300,000
acres as open space and improve management of land used for
grazing. Many argue that rushing through these important issues
in a short special session would not allow for full participation
or full consideration of the complexities involved in land
trust reform and are pleased that the issue will be brought
up in the next full session. Others suspect that even next
session it will be difficult to agree to reforms given the
lack of unity within the conservation movement. |
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Maryland,
Virginia, Pennsylvania: Report on Bay Targets Farms (Baltimore
Sun 9/10)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.bay10sep10,1,1080706.story?coll=bal-local-headlines
Modifying agricultural practices of farmers surrounding
the Chesapeake Bay is the most cost-effective strategy to
restore the health of the bay, according to a new report
presented by the staff of the Chesapeake Bay Commission
to a panel, made up of legislators from Maryland, Virginia,
and Pennsylvania. Based on a review of 34 "best management
practices" to curb the nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment,
the commission staff identified seven practices as the most
cost-effective. Changes to agriculture practices were the
focus of six of the recommendations and the seventh was
to curb nitrogen pollution from sewage treatment plants.
Planting cover crops, minimal tilling, modifying livestock
diets, and transitioning from row crops to grass crops were
among the recommendations to reduce nutrient and soil runoff
into the bay. There has been some surprise over the agricultural
slant of the recommendations and commissioners are taking
caution with endorsing the recommendations recognizing a
departure from the commission's historic tendency to address
sources of contamination from multiple sectors simultaneously.
During the presentation, the commission staff noted that,
while urban tools like curbing new development runoff are
crucial to the bay's health, focusing on reforming agricultural
practices is less expensive to implement and more cost-effective.
The report does not discuss the actual cost of implementing
these measures, or who would pay for it, but made it clear
that farmers will not have to bear the cost. |
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Oregon
Plan Would Return Wolves to State (Oregonian 9/9;
KGW.com 9/9)
http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/front_page/1094730981115711.xml?oregonian?fpfp
http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D84VQN001.html
Oregon could become the first western state to independently
accept wolves under a new plan that carves a place for eight
or more packs of the predators across the state. The plan
was drafted for the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission by
a panel of Oregon ranchers, hunters, wildlife activists, and
others. Under the plan, a limited number of breeding pairs
of wolves would be allowed to spread into Oregon. Wolves,
protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, were reintroduced
into Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming nearly ten years ago, and
packs now reside near the northeastern border of Oregon. The
Oregon Fish and Game Commission will decide whether to accept
the proposal in October. If accepted, the proposal will move
into a public hearing phase. The proposed plan would allow
ranchers to shoot wolves caught attacking livestock, allow
the killing of wolves known to kill livestock, and set up
a state compensation fund to reimburse ranchers for livestock
losses from wolves. The state would be divided into management
zones, and protections for wolves would loosen if population
numbers climbed above four breeding pairs. Hunting could be
used to control wolf numbers if seven or more breeding pairs
populate either zone. These elements of the plan would require
revisions to Oregon's Endangered Species Act, which currently
requires the state to restore the species across much of its
original range. Not everyone is happy about seeing the wolves
return, but for Oregon, where authorities paid a bounty for
killing one of the last remaining wild wolves in the state
as recently as 1946, it is an important first step. For more
information about wolf preservation, visit: http://www.serconline.org/wolfpreservation/index.html. |
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Montana
Revisits Ban on Cyanide Gold Mining (Washington Post
9/4)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62434-2004Sep4.html
Six years ago, Montana voters approved an initiative to protect
the Blackfoot river from a proposed cyanide open-pit gold
mine near the river's headwaters. A Colorado mining company
is backing a new initiative that would remove those protections.
Initiative 147 would reverse the ban on cyanide heap-leach
mining, a process which has left the state laden with pollution
problems that will continue in perpetuity. The upcoming vote
is shaping up as a rhetorical debate between the old and new
west. Canyon Resource Corporation, the mining company that
wants to build a gold mine on the Blackfoot, is framing the
debate by promoting resource extraction as a tradition-rich
way of reducing unemployment and increasing state tax revenue.
The company is taking its message on the road to Kiwanis Club
meetings and county fairs where children are invited into
fair booths to try their hand at panning for gold. The company
narrative conjures up nostalgic images from Montana's past
when fulfilling manifest destiny and finding a good job depended
on resource extraction -- particularly the mining of gold,
silver, and copper. However, mining opponents say the initiative
is not reflective of modern Montana's economic realities.
According to economists who study the Rocky Mountain West,
mining is all but insignificant in Montana's economy, far
from the driving force it once was. Retiree income amounts
triple the combined personal income from mining, logging,
ranching, farming, and oil and gas extraction, according to
federal figures. In the New West there is nothing more important
to Montana's economy than protecting natural amenities, such
as the Blackfoot, that lure wealthy newcomers to the state.
For more information about cyanide mining, visit: http://www.serconline.org/mining/index.html. |
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Utah
Program to Reward Environmentally-Friendly Firms (Salt
Lake Tribune 9/8)
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2410227
Utah businesses that excel at operating in environmentally-friendly
ways stand to reap rewards from the new "Clean Utah!"
program. "Clean Utah!" will work in partnership
with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Performance
Track, a federal-level, voluntary incentive program that started
in 2000. Only companies that are doing more than the environmental
minimums will qualify for the program. Qualifying applicants
can take advantage of the incentives offered by the program
including less paperwork, fewer spot inspections, and potentially
fast-track permitting for new projects. Applicants must fulfill
basic criteria including past compliance with environmental
laws and an approved Environmental Management Systems, among
others. Any environmental violation could be grounds for dismissal
from the program. |
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Maryland's
Governor Ehrlich Approves Bear Hunt (Baltimore Sun
9/8)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.bear08sep08,1,544967.story?coll=bal-local-headlines
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., gave his approval last week to
a plan to allow hunters to kill as many as 30 black bears
in Western Maryland. A General Assembly committee that reviews
regulations proposed by state agencies voted 12-7 last month
to ask Ehrlich to stop the hunt, which natural resources officials
say is needed to help control a growing population of black
bears. But the governor rejected the request and authorized
the Department of Natural Resources to proceed with plans
for a hunt to be held October 25th – 30th in Garrett
County and a section of Allegany County west of Cumberland.
An additional six-day hunting season will be held December
6th – 11th, if the allotment of 30 bears has not been
reached. Wildlife officials say they will monitor the number
of bears shot and will end the season if the number reaches
30. State officials say Maryland now has about 500 black bears,
including about 400 in the area west of Cumberland where the
hunting will be allowed, although some wildlife groups contend
the numbers are inflated. |
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Colorado:
Water Watchdogs Running Low on Staff (Rocky Mountain
News 9/6)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_3163753,00.html
Colorado's water pollution watchdogs are staffed 40 percent
below the national average, a state report says, and funding
cuts have left the personnel-starved agency at risk of being
taken over by the federal government. The state's 115-person
Water Quality Control Division, charged with keeping streams
clean and drinking water safe, falls 80 staffers short from
what a program of its size and responsibilities typically
employs, according to the report written by division officials.
Compounding the problem, there's no clear source of money
that the water quality division can use to make up for even
some of the staffing shortfall. In 2003, the cash-strapped
General Assembly pulled more than $2 million in general funds
from the water quality division -- its entire allocation of
state money. In return, lawmakers said the division could
create new fees for drinking water utilities and raise fees
on industries that discharge pollutants into streams to make
up for the loss. But permission for the fee increases, some
of which boosted fees by more than $10,000 for dischargers
and added new fees of tens of thousands of dollars on large
utilities, expires at the end of the year. Failure to find
a solution, the report says, could lead the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to take control of the division, a
federal intervention that everyone, from lawmakers to industry
to the EPA itself, wants to avoid. |
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Kentucky
Seeking to Ban California Plants (Courier-Journal
9/7)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KY_TREE_BAN_KYOL-?SITE=KYLOU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Fearing an outbreak of sudden oak death among trees, Kentucky
officials are preparing to seek federal permission to ban
all plants from California, where the plague has killed tens
of thousands of trees. Sudden oak death, which, despite its
name, has taken years to kill California oaks, has been found
in 157 cases in 21 states, according to the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA). The disease is caused by a fungus-like
pathogen spread by wind and rain and through soil. A USDA
report says eight oak species indigenous to the eastern United
States are vulnerable to the disease -- six of those grow
in Kentucky. No cases of sudden oak death have been confirmed
in either greenhouses or the wild in Kentucky, but it has
been found in Tennessee and Virginia. Kentucky agriculture
officials view that as a potential threat to Kentucky's oaks,
which are the most prevalent trees throughout the state's
12 million forest acres and the bulk of the state's estimated
$2 billion timber industry. Kentucky officials want the USDA's
approval to reinstate a ban that the state briefly had in
place earlier this year, before a California nursery group
challenged it in court. California growers, who supply the
largest amount of nursery plants in the country, argue they
are following USDA guidelines for inspecting and testing plants
for sudden oak death before shipping them out of state. State
Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer and state entomologist
John Obrycki say the federal rules aren't strict enough because
they don't require California to test all plants. The pair
wants Kentucky to join eight other states that have imposed
tougher standards in an effort to stave off the disease. |
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