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State
Environmental Quality Acts
When the United States Congress
passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, it
set forth the first comprehensive environmental policy of our
nation. Today, it remains one of the most important and influential
federal environmental laws in the United States, as it requires
all agencies of the federal government to evaluate the impacts
of their actions on the environment. Some states have recognized
the need for environmental assessment of state and local government
actions as well as federal actions. They have enacted state environmental
quality acts (SEQAs), or "little NEPAs." These state
acts generally mirror the federal Act and require state, county,
and/or municipal governments to consider the environmental impacts
of their actions and decisions. SEQAs require state agencies to
assess the impact of their actions on the environment. If the
proposed action may significantly affect the environment, the
agency prepares an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Road
projects and building construction are examples of projects that
are funded and/or permitted at the state level, and both can cause
serious environmental degradation if not carefully analyzed. To
date, only sixteen states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto
Rico have enacted SEQAs. For more information on how your state
can enact a State Environmental Quality Act, visit: http://www.serconline.org/SEQA/pkg_frameset.html.
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Alaska
Game Board OKs Aerial Wolf Control (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
11/5)
http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~1745943,00.html
The Alaska Board of Game recently
approved the state's first program in more than 15 years to shoot
wolves from aircraft, despite a campaign by opponents decrying
the plan as inhumane. Under the plan, about 40 wolves will be
shot from planes in one area, while 100 to 130 wolves will be
shot from the ground after being spotted by planes in another
area. The Board argued that it is necessary to kill wolves because
they are negatively impacting the moose population. Karen Deatherage,
with Defenders of Wildlife, and other opponents said the decision
was made based on weak numbers, not sound scientific surveys.
Deatherage also said the board's action is a slap to Alaska voters,
who twice in recent years have said no to aerial shooting of wolves.
"They've trampled on the voters' wishes and opened the door
to the wholesale slaughter of hundreds of wolves," she said.
For more information about how your state can protect wolves,
visit: http://www.serconline.org/wolfpreservation/index.html.
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ALEC's
Timber Industry Resolutions
The American Legislative Exchange
Council (ALEC), a right wing organization supported by corporate
funding, has come out with a series of three resolutions regarding
timber forest management that, instead of preserving the forests,
will actually increase their chances of being destroyed. The first,
and most controversial, is the resolution in support of the Bush
administration's Healthy Forests Initiative. Although years of
fire suppression have made some of the western forests more prone
to devastating wildfires, the proposals of the Bush administration
would only add more fuel to the fire. Even though Bush presents
this as a way to protect homeowners from the fires, it is actually
a backdoor attempt to allow timber companies to "thin"
backcountry areas under the guise of protection. Rather than taking
trees with smaller diameters, thinning will be used to extract
more commercially viable, large-diameter trees leaving large amounts
of fuel for the hot, devastating fires. The Bush administration
also scapegoats environmental groups as the reason for the fires,
citing NEPA as a major roadblock, when, in reality, it has been
shown that environmental reviews delay very few projects. The
second resolution that ALEC is promoting would "ensure proper
timber harvesting to ensure forest health." The resolution
erroneously suggests the increased timber harvesting will improve
watersheds, that so called proper timber harvesting will decrease
fire loads, and that timber programs have been eliminated out
west. The third and final resolution is in support of the Sustainable
Forest Initiative. ALEC wants us all to believe that voluntary
management in the private sector is better than government regulations.
Would the national forests still be standing if that were the
case? Probably not. ALEC's forest management resolutions promote
the interests of timber companies -- not forests.
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2003
State Ballot Report – Final
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.
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Indiana
Environmental Groups Can't Represent Members in Appeals
(Indianapolis Star 11/6)
http://www.indystar.com/articles/8/090069-6388-009.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.
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Michigan
Shoreline Vegetation Law under Contention (Detroit
News Metro-State 11/6)
http://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0311/06/d09e-317265.htm
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.
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Oregon
Law Would Balance Logging Interests (Statesman Journal
11/6)
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=70381
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.
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Pennsylvania:
Open Space Initiative Approved (Philadelphia Inquirer
11/5)
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/7185823.htm
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.
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Texas
Agriculture Commissioner Warns of Water Conflict
(San Antonio Express-News 11/6)
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=1080116
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.
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North
Carolina: Paper Mills May Be Freed from Pollution Rule
(Charlotte Observer 11/5)
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/7185486.htm?ERIGHTS=1551997727785678124charlotte
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.
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EPA
to Ease Sewage Rules (USA Today 11/2)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-11-02-sewer-rules-usat_x.htm
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.
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Flame
Retardants to Be Extinguished (LA Times 11/4)
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-naflame4nov04,1,6292922.story?coll=la-news-environment
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.
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Michigan
Committee OKs Trash Bill (Detroit Free Press 11/7)
http://www.freep.com/news/mich/etrash7_20031107.htm
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.
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Utah
Legislator Fights for Control over Uranium Mill Tailings
(Salt Lake Tribune 11/06)
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Nov/11062003/utah/108690.asp
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."
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Oklahoma
Aquifer Proposals Debated (The Oklahoman 11/05)
http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=1111663&TP=getarticle
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.
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