Voting took place in October and early November on a number of ballot questions throughout the United States. The 2003 Ballot Report is now in its final version, including updates on which ballot initiatives passed and failed. To review the results from this voting session and to preview what will be on the ballot in 2004, visit: http://www.serconline.org/stateInfo/stateinfoBallot.html.

Environmental groups cannot try to block a coal power plant from dumping waste simply because some of their members are affected, a judge ruled. The ruling could have widespread implications for environmental cases in Indiana, said Mike Mullett, an attorney representing Save the Valley, the Hoosier Environmental Council, and the Citizens Action Coalition. The dispute springs from a case involving the Clifty Creek power plant, a privately owned power utility near Madison, whose coal-ash landfill permit was renewed in December. The environmental groups appealed the company's permit and encouraged the state to review the plant's environmental impact. The company said it was in compliance with all applicable laws. In their appeal, the groups claimed that some of their members would be harmed by pollution from the plant. The plant operators and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, however, argued that the groups themselves were not affected. At stake in the issue is whether special-interest groups can represent members in appealing government decisions, a move that could threaten the effectiveness of some of the state's environmental groups. These groups say their representation is essential because individuals cannot afford to hire attorneys and experts to fight government and state-regulated private corporations. Mullett said a 1977 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows organizations to represent members in lawsuits and proceedings. But Marion Superior Court Judge Michael Keele ruled that doctrine, called "associational standing," does not exist in Indiana.

Gov. Granholm signed legislation in early June making it easier for waterfront property owners to maintain beaches that were formerly submerged. As lake levels began dropping in the late 1990s, aquatic plants, rocks, fish carcasses, and other debris were exposed. The new law lets property owners maintain their grounds by raking out waste and mowing vegetation, but the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has set numerous guidelines and restrictions on these activities. Commercial interests want the law to go further because they say that tourists will go elsewhere for more aesthetically pleasing beaches. Environmentalists argue that the restrictions are necessary to replenish fish and wildlife habitat while preventing erosion and pollution. The process is further complicated because, after shoreline activities are approved by the DEQ, they must also be reviewed by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, who have federal oversight. U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak is sponsoring a bill to make state regulations conform to the federal rules.

Petitioners are seeking 75,630 signatures for a state ballot initiative that would balance timber management with other interests such as recreation, tourism, wildlife habitat, and clean drinking water in North Coast forests. The initiative comes a few months after the Legislature considered a bill that would have allowed logging to double in the North Coast forests. Under the current state plan, about 28 percent of the Tillamook State Forest is off-limits to logging because it lies in wetlands, steep slopes, or other areas. The ballot initiative would protect 50 percent of the forest. Opponents, such as State Rep. Lane Shetterly, say that the forests were given to the state as a trust land to be used only for industrial purposes. Trey Carskadon, marketing director for Steven's Marine, said the initiative is not an "anti" plan of any kind. "It's a 'pro-plan,'" he said. "It's pro-timber and pro-management, and they're balanced together." If the signatures are collected by the July 2 filing date, the measure will appear in the November 2004 election.

Montgomery County voters approved a $150 million "Green Fields and Green Towns" ballot initiative last week, Pennsylvania's most expensive plan to preserve open space. Enjoying the support of Republicans and Democrats, developers and environmentalists, the initiative passed easily by more than a 3-1 ratio. The money will be used to buy land to keep it from being developed and to pay for park improvements, trail development, and preservation of historic sites, farmland, and natural resources. The county task force assembled to devise a spending plan for the initiative recommended the county devote $67 million to municipalities for their own projects. The remainder of the money is to be used to develop trails and greenways, such as those along the Schuylkill; to preserve farms by buying development rights from farmers; to improve county parks and historic resources; and, to pool funds with private conservation organizations on a variety of projects. The initiative succeeds a 1993 plan advanced by the Board of Commissioners to spend $100 million on similar projects. Financial constraints forced the county to scale back that plan, and only $67 million was spent. That plan was not offered as a referendum. The current initiative was designed to be more flexible than its predecessor, allowing municipalities to use money not just to buy open space, but to improve parks and restore historic sites to help with redevelopment. For more information on how your state can preserve open space, visit: http://www.serconline.org/conservationfunding/index.html.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs told statewide water planners that the state needs to better protect its aquifers. "From a rural perspective, all economic activity follows water," Combs said. "You simply can't engage in revenue-producing activity if you don't have water." She has been critical of the Texas Land Commissioner's proposal to lease rights to underground water on state lands in West Texas to Rio Nuevo Ltd. In addition, she planned to meet with Mexican President Vicente Fox to discuss the 1.4 million acre-feet water debt owed to Texas. For more information on using planning to protect groundwater, visit: http://www.serconline.org/groundwaterWithReport/pkg_frameset.html.

A state environmental board, moving to reduce industrial emissions of hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas, may exempt the paper mills that are believed to be among its largest sources. Tons of hydrogen sulfide waft from huge wastewater lagoons at four of the state's five paper mills, state air-quality officials say. The board will hold a hearing focusing on three proposed concentration limits for hydrogen sulfide, and on whether to exempt emissions from wastewater systems. The N.C. Division of Air Quality estimates that the paper mills and a phosphate mill account for 99 percent of the state's industrial emissions of hydrogen sulfide. The state Manufacturers and Chemical Industry Council disputes this estimate, claiming that animal-waste lagoons and municipal sewage-treatment plants release 85 percent of the gas. The limit on hydrogen sulfide, set in 1990, is an average of 1500 parts per billion (ppb) per hour, measured at the property line. The proposed new limits, based on the recommendations of a science advisory board, are a one-hour maximum concentration of 40 ppb -- a 97 percent reduction. Limits of 23 ppb or 83 ppb, averaged over 24 hours, have also been proposed. The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League contends the lower limit is necessary; the manufacturers' group contends the proposal would be too expensive to implement and may force some mills to close down.

A major policy change was announced this week by the EPA to alter how communities around the country treat sewage waste, especially during periods of wet weather. The rule change effectively will allow cities and towns to skip a required treatment procedure for sewage they pump into rivers, lakes, and coastal waters during high rains. The change aims to settle years of disputes over how municipal sewage plants handle the increased flow of waste -- mainly storm runoff -- that comes during wet weather. At issue is whether local governments should have to spend billions of tax dollars upgrading those plants so peak flows of sewage can get all the sanitary treatment that federal law demands in normal conditions. The administration's plan would let hundreds of communities, big and small, escape that expense by partially treating sewage surges in big storms. Environmental groups and some federal regulators say those flows should be treated completely to keep disease-carrying microbes out of recreational waters. Others suggest that this unifies a policy that has been traditionally unclear. The policy change will allow communities to "blend waste," a procedure which mixes sewage that does not undergo the biological treatment step for peak waste and mixes it with fully treated waste.

Great Lakes Chemical Corporation announced it will stop producing brominated flame retardants by the end of 2004. Great lakes was asked by the EPA to phase out penta and octa PBDEs, which have been found in increasing quantities in human breast milk, and may cause neurological and developmental disorders. PBDEs, which have been used in furniture and plastics, are persistent organic pollutants and have migrated as far as the North Pole. Although the company agreed to stop production, it denied any risk from PBDEs, saying that the phase-out allowed them to focus on a new type of flame retardant they are developing. The EPA will work with other manufacturers to get them to phase out the chemicals as well.

A Michigan state House committee recently approved a bill that would help prevent other states and Canada from dumping trash in Michigan landfills. The bill, which was proposed by House Land Use and Environment Committee chairwoman Ruth Johnson, would also make it easier for counties to take trash from one another. According to Johnson, the current trash requirements have "been an open invitation to outsiders to dump their waste in our state," and this has forced communities to build too many landfills. Opponents of the bill feel that it would allow counties to dump trash in neighboring counties without consent. Republican Rep. Neal Nitz also complains that the bill would financially damage two landfills in his district that make money from importing trash. The bill could be considered by the full House as early as next week.

GOP Rep. Stephen Urquhart has proposed a bill that would give legislators in Utah control over the disposal of uranium mill tailings, a hazardous nuclear material. Although the state has oversight authority over certain radioactive materials, the disposal of mill tailings is currently under the control of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Urquhart has also proposed a plan to allow Utah to establish its own high-level nuclear waste storage site. Proponents of Urquhart's plans believe that the disposal of nuclear waste should be a states' rights issue. "The people of Utah obviously have a big interest in radioactive waste," said Urquhart, "and the task force wants to hear their concerns and we want to do a good job of ensuring their safety."

During a two-day Governor's Water Conference in Oklahoma, officials took part in a debate over how to deal with the growing demand of water in Oklahoma's metropolitan cities. Of main concern was a plan by the Central Oklahoma Municipal Water Trust, a consortium of central Oklahoma communities, to spend $200 million to build a pipeline to siphon off water from the Arkbuckle-Simpson Aquifer. Ada Water Resources is fighting the efforts of the consortium. "It's not in the best interests of Oklahoma to solve the water supply problem in one area by devastating the economy and environment of another," said Dick Scalf, a member of the Ada Water Resources Board. For more information about groundwater withdrawal, visit: http://www.serconline.org/groundwaterWithReport/pkg_frameset.html.