FW: Wildlines, Vol III No 12, Plain Text

Quite a lot of ominous stuff in this.  A few good things happening too.
 
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From: wildlines [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: March 22, 2004 1:27 PM
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Subject: Wildlines, Vol III No 12, Plain Text


SERC www.serconline.org
State Environmental Resource Center
"Defending the Environment State-By-State"
 
WILDLINES, Vol. III, No. 12
March 22, 2004
 
IN THIS EDITION:
ISSUE SPOTLIGHT: SERC Report: ALEC's Attack on Civil Liberties
HEADLINER: North Carolina Asks EPA to Force Other States to Clean Air
WATCHDOG: GA Senator Wants to Make It Harder for Citizens to Block
Damaging Permits
 
NEWS FROM THE STATES:
  * Mississippi: Drilling Bills Sail Through Legislature
  * Florida Legislators Look to Weaken Manatee Protections
  * Minnesota Bill Would Dedicate Funding to Clean Water
  * Colorado May Implement Fees for Wildlife Watching
  * Florida to Face Lawsuits over Polluted Waterways
  * SD Gov. Wants River Management Plan Reconsidered
  * Nebraska: Senators to Debate Livestock Waste Bill
  * NJ Legislators Fast-Track North Highlands Watershed Preservation
  * Connecticut Gov. Approves Proposals to Combat Climate Change
  * Maine Plans to Green State Vehicle Fleet
  * New Jersey Assembly Passes Smart Growth Measure
 
ISSUE SPOTLIGHT: SERC Report: ALEC's Attack on Civil Liberties
 
Today, lawmakers and citizens alike place national security among the
foremost of their concerns. In a post-911 world in which America is
waging a "war against terrorism," one of the most critical issues facing
our nation is how to ensure national security while safeguarding the
civil liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Against the
backdrop of this political climate, the American Legislative Exchange
Council (ALEC), a right-wing organization primarily comprised of
business interests and state legislators, has drafted and is promoting
three related bills. The first, ALEC's "Animal and Ecological Terrorism
Act," was released as part of ALEC's alarmist report, "Animal &
Ecological Terrorism in America," and has been introduced in six states
(WA, AZ, HI, TX, SC, NY). The other bills, "Environmental Corrupt
Organizations - Preventative Legislation and Neutralization Act"
(ECO-PLAN) and the "ECO-PLAN Forfeiture Act" emulate RICO statutes but
target environmental groups. ALEC claims that these bills will help
safeguard the nation against acts of domestic ecoterrorism. However, the
bills plainly violate civil rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
To read the full report, visit:
http://www.serconline.org/pdf/civilLiberties.pdf.
 
HEADLINER: North Carolina Asks EPA to Force Other States to Clean Air
(News-Observer 3/19)
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/3432510p-3050926c.html
 
North Carolina can't clean up its dirty air by itself, so the federal
government should make 13 upwind states reduce pollution at their
coal-burning power plants, state leaders said. With the support of Gov.
Easley, Attorney General Cooper sent a letter to Michael Leavitt,
administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), asking
his agency to agree that the 13 states are illegally fouling North
Carolina's air. The letter asks the EPA to order those states to emit
far less of the soot and airborne chemical compounds that poison
people's lungs and spoil scenic views. "We've taken steps to cut down on
the pollution we produce here in North Carolina, but dirty air doesn't
respect state borders," Cooper said Thursday in announcing the petition.
"Since we can't stop air pollution at the state line, we want to cut it
at the source." North Carolina is the first southern state to petition
the EPA under Section 126 of the federal Clean Air Act to force nearby
states to be healthier neighbors, as several northeast states did
successfully in the late 1990s. Cooper said that despite slashing
pollution from its own power plants, North Carolina can't meet federal
air-quality standards. Smog and ground-level ozone have broken federal
limits in the Triangle, Charlotte, and other places. That not only makes
the air unhealthy, it jeopardizes federal highway funding. And, air
pollution elsewhere hurts farming and tourism. If the petition succeeds,
states as far away as Michigan would have to cut power plant pollution
by more than 50 percent, while states nearer North Carolina would face
reductions of 70 percent to 80 percent. In addition to Michigan, the
states named in the petition are Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana,
Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee,
Virginia, and West Virginia. The EPA estimates that more than half the
nation's population will be living in areas that are in violation of the
Clean Air Act after April 15th. For more on how your state can clean up
its air, visit: http://www.serconline.org/clean/pkg_frameset.html.
 
WATCHDOG: GA Senator Wants to Make It Harder for Citizens to Block
Damaging Permits
 
In Jan. 2004, Georgia Sen. Eric Johnson introduced SB 524, which sought
to restrict the ability of concerned parties to appeal pollution
permits. The bill, as introduced, would have required the appealing
party to post a bond as a prerequisite for an appeal. That bond would
have to cover "all loss, damages, interest, attorney fees, and costs and
expenses of litigation" that could be incurred by the business or
government entity that received the permit, and would be unduly
prohibitive to all but the very wealthy who try to oppose such permits.
The bill as proposed may have violated the Equal Protection Clause of
the U.S. Constitution by offering financial protection only to the
permittee and not to the appellant or agency. The bill was supported by
industry groups that complained of having to jump through hoops to
obtain a permit, only to have their development halted when an appeal
was issued -- usually by "environmental groups." However, citizen groups
say those complaints lack merit and insist that the majority of past
appeals were ruled valid and resulted in permit modifications or other
changes. In other words, in most cases where an appeal was issued, the
permittee or the permit issued was found to be in violation of the law
and detrimental to the environment and human health. Reactions to the
bill from citizen groups and others in Georgia resulted in the Senate
committee introducing a substitute for SB 524, which removes the bond
requirement but retains the intent of the original bill. The new
substitute removes the so-called "stay rule," which halts the
development during the appeals process to allow the state to consider
and rule on the appeal. This version passed the Senate, and is under
consideration in the House. If SB 524 were passed today, it would allow
developments to proceed immediately during an appeals process; if a
judge later finds that the action was illegal, they may be unable to
undo or hold parties liable for any harm that might have occurred. SB
524 makes it more difficult for citizens to hold corporations liable for
environmental damage, and may prevent the state from correcting the harm
done even if an appeal is found to be valid. This is a dangerous bill,
and should not pass.
 
NEWS FROM THE STATES:
 
Mississippi: Drilling Bills Sail Through Legislature (Sun Herald 3/19)
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/8223111.htm
 
The Senate and House voted overwhelmingly in favor of bills aimed at
opening state waters to oil and gas drilling, but only after restricting
nearshore drilling for most areas of the coast. The two versions include
provisions, which would move oil and gas lease authority from the
Department of Environmental Quality to the Mississippi Development
Authority, with an oversight board comprised of the governor, secretary
of state, attorney general, and state treasurer, and restrict drilling
near some barrier islands and oyster reefs. Proponents said the
legislation would allow the state to tap its natural resources to help
fund public education, without spoiling the environment or beach views.
But some environmentalists, local governments, and tourism and casino
industry representatives have lobbied against the legislation. They
worry offshore drilling would harm the environment or tourism industries
and views from the sand beach or islands.
 
Florida Legislators Look to Weaken Manatee Protections (South Florida
Sun-Sentinel 3/19)
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-fmanatees19mar19,0,59
67595.story?coll=sfla-news-florida
 
A bill moving through the Florida legislature calls for the state to
shift manatee protection money into research on whether the huge marine
mammals are eating so much sea grass that they're harming fish that
depend on it for food and shelter. Inspired by anger over restrictions
on boating and dock-building, the bill is one of several introduced this
session to head off additional manatee protection regulations. One bill
would exempt certain proposals for new marinas from the full approval
process for large regional developments. Another would require the state
to set measurable biological goals for manatees and prohibit additional
protection measures where those goals were being met. A third bill would
shift $3 million in manatee protection funds from the Florida Fish &
Wildlife Conservation Commission to Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota
for conducting manatee research, including an inquiry into their effect
on sea grass. The shift in funding would devastate the state's manatee
protection work, according to an analysis by the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission. It would cause the agency to reduce or
eliminate vital functions such as rescuing injured manatees, posting and
enforcing slow speed zones, recovering manatee carcasses, determining
the cause of death, and reviewing coastal construction permits. For more
on how your state can protect endangered species, visit:
http://www.serconline.org/esa/index.html. 
 
Minnesota Bill Would Dedicate Funding to Clean Water (Grand Forks Herald
3/15)
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/8188701.htm
 
A bill, which would give voters a chance to create an annual pool of
money to clean up Minnesota's lakes and rivers, is working its way
through the legislature with a strong ally -- the governor. The
legislation would set a referendum on whether the state constitution
should be amended so that one-quarter of 1 percent of the state sales
tax is set aside each year for 20 years for environmental programs,
including water restoration. Similar attempts to get money for outdoors
programs have failed in the past, and this year's version again faces
opposition. But Gov. Tim Pawlenty has said that cleaning up one of the
state's natural treasures -- its lakes and streams -- is a cornerstone
of his administration. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA),
whose report on the status of lakes is the basis for the funding
request, lists cleaning up lakes and rivers as its top priority. The
agency lists 1,916 lakes and streams as "impaired," meaning they contain
harmful levels of pollutants like mercury or excess nutrients like
nitrogen. The list, first released in 1998 as part of the federal Clean
Water Act, has grown in recent years as the agency collects more data on
water quality. It is estimated that 10,000 lakes and streams could be on
it by 2014. The pollutants causing most of the trouble in Minnesota's
water come from routine activities such as driving cars, fertilizing
lawns, and agricultural and stormwater runoff, the MPCA said. For more
on your state can protect its water, visit:
http://www.serconline.org/safeair
<http://www.serconline.org/safeair&water.html> &water.html. 
 
Colorado May Implement Fees for Wildlife Watching (The Daily Camera
3/18)
http://www1.dailycamera.com/bdc/state_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2419_27386
94,00.html
 
Colorado lawmakers may consider a bill next year that would require
wildlife watchers to pay a fee to access state wildlife areas. Wildlife
advocates are encouraging the use of such fees because hunters and
fishermen currently bear the majority of the cost of wildlife
management. "It is past time that individuals, other than fishermen and
hunters, begin to contribute on a mandatory basis for wildlife
management," Eddie Kochman, former state fisheries manager, told a state
committee. Besides the burden placed on hunters and fishermen, the
numbers of those groups are declining, causing a decrease in state money
available for wildlife management. Kochman estimates that about 2
million people use the state's wildlife areas annually, while only a
small fraction actually pay for it. To implement such a program,
wildlife watchers and other users would pay an annual fee for a wildlife
habitat or conservation stamp. State lawmakers have considered similar
proposals in the past, but potential payers wanted to ensure that the
money would go specifically to wildlife preservation, while the state
Division of Wildlife doesn't want the money collected to benefit
specific programs. Similar pay schemes have been implemented in
neighboring Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and New Mexico. For more
information on conservation funding mechanisms, visit:
http://www.serconline.org/conservationfunding/index.html.
 
Florida to Face Lawsuits over Polluted Waterways (Miami Herald 3/19)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8224306.htm
 
Accusing the state of shirking its responsibility to keep Florida
waterways clean, two environmental groups announced last week they will
sue the federal government to take over the job. The Sierra Club, along
with the Natural Resources Defense Council and Linda Young of the Clean
Water Network, said they had filed a 60-day notice that they intended to
sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a step required
before filing a lawsuit. The aim is to force the EPA to once again
enforce the federal Clean Water Act in Florida. The agency gave up that
authority in 1995, delegating responsibilities to the state, an
arrangement the agency has with most other states. The groups said
Florida, in its last report to the EPA, identified 6,391 miles of rivers
and streams, 635,008 acres of lakes, and 1,150 square miles of estuaries
not meeting federal water quality standards. They also said the state
has failed to issue permits to limit dioxins from paper mills and sewage
from dairies, is pursuing potentially dangerous underground injection of
waste, and had altered laws that would delay cleanup of phosphorus
pollution in the Everglades, among other things.
 
SD Gov. Wants River Management Plan Reconsidered (Rapid City Journal
3/19)
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2004/03/18/news/state/top/state
01.txt
 
South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds wants more emphasis placed on sufficient
water to support spawning fish in upstream reservoirs of the Missouri
River. Rounds has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to modify their
submitted Missouri River management proposal to ensure protection for
the hatching of fish important to the viability of the fishing industry.
The changes will be made to the new master manual, used to guide river
management and develop annual operating plans based on the amount of
water available each year. Rounds noted South Dakota officials' concerns
over basing the existing plan on the normal amount of runoff from melted
snow and rain, since runoff this year is likely to be below normal. If
the plan were based on averages, it could pose a threat to fish eggs
laid in shallow water this spring. Droughts in the area in recent years
could aggravate those threats. Upstream states want more water held in
upstream reservoirs to support the fishing industry, and downstream
states want more water at certain times of the year to support barge
traffic, city water supplies, and power plant cooling systems. Even
after the final master manual is completed, the Corps expects numerous
legal challenges. In response to concerns from environmentalists, the
Corps has submitted a new plan that would create about 1,200 acres of
slow-moving, shallow water channels for the endangered pallid sturgeon,
and intends to establish ways to provide nesting places for terns and
plovers. At the federal level, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle has
reintroduced a bill that would reform the Corps and revise its methods
of designing and building projects. Dashle's bill would also create a
new, independent review process for such proposed projects. For more
information on how your state can work to encourage water conservation,
visit: http://www.serconline.org/waterconservation/pkg_frameset.html. 
 
Nebraska: Senators to Debate Livestock Waste Bill (Lincoln Journal Star
3/16)
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/03/16/nebraska/10046805.txt
 
Nebraska LB 916, if approved, would force permit holders to pay a fee
for each cow, pig, horse, sheep, lamb, turkey, or chicken housed in a
facility each year. The fee would vary depending on the animal. Sen. Ed
Schrock of Elm Creek, who introduced the bill, said the measure is
designed to bring the state's permitting process into compliance with
federal regulations that take full effect in 2007. The goal is for the
fees to cover about 20 percent of the state's $1 million annual cost of
conducting inspections and issuing permits. Permit holders would have to
pay a fee of 10 cents per head of beef cattle, 15 cents for each dairy
cow, and $4 per 100 pigs greater than 55 pounds or $1 per 100 pigs less
than 55 pounds. The state's Livestock Waste Management Act, passed in
1998, directs the Department of Environmental Quality to oversee a
system of permits and inspections designed to keep livestock waste from
polluting Nebraska's waterways. The Nebraska Farm Bureau, the Nebraska
Cattlemen, and the Nebraska Pork Producers all spoke in support of the
bill, despite the new fees. Environmental groups question why the bill
doesn't include a requirement for livestock operators to contribute
money to a fund in case a confined animal site is abandoned and needs to
be cleaned up.
 
NJ Legislators Fast-Track North Highlands Watershed Preservation (New
Jersey Star-Ledger 3/16)
http://www.nj.com/statehouse/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1079421415175
220.xml
 
The New Jersey Senate and Assembly environment committees said this week
that they will fast- track the North Highlands area of the state for
preservation because the watershed is an invaluable asset to the state.
Gov. McGreevey has called for sweeping protections in the region, which
supplies drinking water to more than half the state. The protections
include the creation of a regional council with veto power over
development on 350,000 watershed acres. The state will stress both new
regulation and land purchases at prices that reflect values prior to
regulatory changes in order to preserve the watershed's core. The area's
remaining 120,000 acres are privately-owned, undeveloped land, and could
be protected for somewhere between $200 million and $300 million.
McGreevey and others stress that the plan will be ineffectual if growth
in designated areas is not appropriately managed. For more information
on smart growth and sprawl, visit:
http://www.serconline.org/sprawl/pkg_frameset.html.
 
Connecticut Gov. Approves Proposals to Combat Climate Change (ENS 3/15)
 
Connecticut Gov. John Rowland has accepted 38 recommendations from a
climate change committee to help reduce state greenhouse gas emissions.
The Steering Committee on Climate Change made their recommendations
based on input from a diverse array of citizen stakeholders, businesses,
and government agencies that met and formulated action plans during a
series of public forums. The recommendations could result in a number of
greenhouse gas-reducing state programs, ranging from stricter auto
emissions standards to a program that would give state energy users the
option to pay for renewable energy sources like wind, solar, hydro, and
fuel cell power. If implemented, the plan is expected to encourage the
use of renewable energy, environmentally-friendly building materials,
green building, smart growth plans, alternative fuels, product
recycling, and locally produced goods. "Together [the recommendations]
are projected to account for more than half of the greenhouse gas
emission reductions we're targeting by 2010," Rowland said. "It's the
equivalent of planting nearly three million acres of trees or removing
over 750,000 cars from our highways over a year's time." For more
information on how your state can work to implement sustainable growth
policies, see SERC'S Energy Policy Report, "Crafting a Clean and
Sustainable Energy Policy," at http://www.serconline.org/cleanenergy.pdf
or SERC package materials on a variety of issues including smart growth,
electronic waste, clean power, and biodiesel. 
 
Maine Plans to Green State Vehicle Fleet (Portland Press Herald 3/18)
http://www.pressherald.com/news/state/040318emissions.shtml
 
Gov. John Baldacci issued an executive order this week that outlines a
plan to thin out, and reduce emissions from, the state's vehicle fleet.
The program envisioned by the initiative includes using more hybrid
vehicles and cutting down on unnecessary transportation by maximizing
opportunities of employees to telecommute. Maine has set a goal of
reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2010, with another
10 percent cut envisioned by 2020. Baldacci writes in the order that he
believes state government needs to assume a leadership role in curbing
climate change, and that the program will also save taxpayer dollars.
For more information on greening state vehicle fleets, visit:
http://www.serconline.org/suvFleets.html.
 
New Jersey Assembly Passes Smart Growth Measure (Philadelphia Inquirer
3/16)
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/8196464.htm
 
The New Jersey Assembly passed, by a 65-10 vote, a bill that would allow
local governments to channel growth by transferring development rights
away from undeveloped property and into designated growth areas. The
building industry has lobbied against most of Gov. McGreevey's smart
growth agenda, but this initiative appears to have builders' support
because it manages instead of restricts development. The concept is
based on a decade-old Burlington County program that has preserved more
than 10,000 acres of open space and farmland in Chesterfield and
Lumberton by shifting developers' rights to build houses from one area
of town to another. Under the program, builders forfeit their rights to
build in an undeveloped area of town in return for permission to build
more densely in sections designated for growth. Under the legislation,
towns interested in establishing a transfer-of-development-rights
program would have to pass local ordinances and receive approval of
their master plans from the State Planning Commission. Similar programs
exist in 20 other states. For more information on smart growth and
sprawl, visit: http://www.serconline.org/sprawl/pkg_frameset.html.
 
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