Conservation Insider Bulletin, July 11

Conservation Insider Bulletin
Published weekly for the Conservation Council of North Carolina
Conservation News to Peruse & Use
Editor: Dan Besse, cib@conservationcouncilnc.org

July 11, 2008

Bush punts greenhouse gas regulation over to the next administration, plus legislative and judicial news, this week in CIB:

--Washington Watch: No Responsibility on His Watch

--Legislative Watch: Watered-down Drought and Stormwater Bills Advance; Farmworker Protection Approved; Beach Hardening Continues to Lurk

--Judicial Watch: Appeals Court Throws Out CAIR

Washington Watch: No Responsibility on His Watch

In another stunning display of arrogant irresponsibility, the Bush White House has successfully forced a protesting EPA to stall off action on regulating greenhouse gases to the next administration. EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson announced today that the agency would release its draft "advanced notice of proposed rulemaking" together with the explanations from higher Administration sources for its rejection of that draft.

This action is remarkable in that the U.S. Supreme Court declared in April 2007 that (contrary to the Bush Administration's assertions) the EPA has the authority and duty to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Pursuant to that directive, the EPA last December sent to the White House a report laying out the technical support for a draft rule, which concluded that greenhouse gas emissions clearly represent a threat to human welfare and further that it is economically justified to regulate them. The White House uber-bureaucrats charged with overseeing the EPA refused to receive the report, which languished in political limbo while other Administration officials prepared their rejection of its reasoning.

In plain language, what the Bush Administration has done is this: tell the Supreme Court that it doesn't like its decision, won't implement it, and by the time anybody can do anything about the refusal, they'll be gone. Here's a link to today's complete Washington Post story laying the matter out in more detail: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/11/AR2008071101703.html?hpid=topnews.

CIB encourages our readers to check it out: It's breathtaking...pun intended.

Legislative Watch: Watered-down Drought and Stormwater Bills Advance; Farmworker Protection Approved; Beach Hardening Continues to Lurk

Watered-down Drought and Stormwater Bills Advance: CCNC's Director of Governmental Relations Dan Crawford reports that stakeholder negotiations have produced a classic compromise on stormwater rules (i.e., a deal with which no one is happy). Under the compromise bill, which has passed the Senate and been recommended by the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee, coastal stormwater rules would be strengthened from the status quo—but not by as much as the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) rules would have done. In the short run, CCNC is backing the compromise. In the longer run, Crawford says to state policy-makers, "We need to let them [the EMC] do their job!"

Drought management legislation has also been brought forward for consideration in compromised form. HB 2499, "Drought/Water Management Recommendations", would specify the governor's emergency powers during water shortages, and increase the authority of the N.C. Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to impose restrictions on local water systems during drought. However, the compromise bill fails to include specific mandatory minimum water conservation measures, and is therefore viewed as a major "missed opportunity" by conservationists.

Farmworker Protection Approved: SB 847, "Prevent Agricultural Pesticide Exposure", has been approved by the legislature and sent to the governor for his signature. Toxic Free NC (formerly the Agricultural Resource Project) hailed the bill as a victory for farmworkers, who will gain explicit protection against retaliation for reporting pesticide safety problems. The bill also strengthens pesticide use record-keeping requirements by employers.

Beach Hardening Continues to Lurk: Rumors continue to circulate that some unspecified "compromise" approach may emerge late regarding SB 599, the so-called "Inlet Stabilization Pilot Program" bill. This legislation represents the latest attempt by a small group of wealthy beachfront property owners to carve out exceptions to North Carolina's anti-hardening policies on its ocean shore. The deceptively-named "pilot programs" authorized by the bill are the same old rock groins which have long been conclusively discredited as beach protection tools. These oceanfront hard structures act only to accumulate sand in front of one spot at the expense of down-current areas. Coastal conservationists vigorously oppose this legislation, which passed the Senate last year and has been held in the House since that time. By barring new oceanfront seawalls, groins, and jetties, North Carolina has protected much of its natural beach shoreline for more than 20 years. This is no time to retreat from that sound policy.

Judicial Watch: Appeals Court Throws Out CAIR

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit this week unanimously struck down the Bush EPA's Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). CAIR is a controversial rule which requires 28 states (mostly Eastern states) to reduce air pollutant emissions which travel interstate and affect smog and soot levels elsewhere. Some environmental groups defended the EPA's approach, while others challenged it as too slow and overly reliant on a "cap and trade" pollutant-trading approach.

In its ruling, the Court found that the EPA had exceeded its authority, and ordered the entire rule scrapped. The practical impact of the Court's decision will be to delay final rulemaking on the subject matter until the next presidential administration. As of CIB press time today, most environmental groups' comments on the ruling were not available online, although some were reportedly calling for Congressional action in response. Several North Carolina-based groups had criticized CAIR in 2006 as insufficiently protective of North Carolina's air.