• GAO Will Not Appeal Energy Task Force Ruling
  
• Administration Wants Exemptions from Pesticide Ban
  
• U.S. - EU Meet to Discuss Climate
  
• Conservationists Halt Road Project in Arizona Wilderness
  
• Risk Management Team Cuts Oil Spill Danger
  
• Project Offers Model for Everglades Restoration
  
• System Could Help Companies Manage Greenhouse Emissions
  
• Los Angeles Invests in Hybrid Cars
  

GAO Will Not Appeal Energy Task Force Ruling

The decision by the investigative arm of Congress could weaken Congressional oversight of the executive branch.

Comptroller General David Walker, head of the GAO, said that while the agency still believes it had a legal right to request - and receive - information regarding the energy task force meetings, "further pursuit of the [task force] information would require investment of significant time and resources over several years."

Walker also noted that several conservation and public interest groups have also gone to court "attempting to obtain much of the same information GAO has been seeking, and this information will be made available to GAO if they are successful in their cases."

In December, the GAO was refused legal standing by a federal judge in its attempt to get records related to the task force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney. Judge John Bates, appointed to the U.S. District Court in December 2001 by President George W. Bush, ruled in Walker v Cheney that the GAO has no standing in the case because it did not suffer any direct harm as a result of the withholding of the documents.

The GAO maintains that it has the right and duty to examine the records of meetings between administration officials and energy stakeholders while the Cheney task force was formulating the National Energy Policy.

"Section 712(1), Title 31, U.S.C., authorizes GAO to investigate 'all matters related to the receipt, disbursement, and use of public money,' and there is no doubt that public money was used to fund the activities of the NEPDG," the GAO stated in December.

Three other lawsuits are pending, including two by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), to force the White House to turn over the information. The NRDC sued the Energy Department under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for records relating to the energy task force, including minutes of meetings that occurred.

Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club have sued the Bush administration for violating the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which promotes open and balanced government decision making.

Although the Energy Department and other federal agencies have released some information about which cabinet officials met with regarding energy policy, the White House has refused to provide similar information.

Walker said he did not expect the district court's December decision to impact the GAO's right to audit executive branch decisions because the court did not address the merits of the case, and confined its ruling "to the unique circumstances posed by this particular case."

"GAO will continue to fulfill its statutory mission: to support the Congress in the discharge of Congress' constitutional responsibilities and to help assure reasonable transparency and appropriate accountability in government," the agency said.

"In the final analysis, transparency and accountability in government are essential elements for a healthy democracy," Walker said. "In America, all public servants, including constitutional officers, work for the people. While reasonable people can disagree on the proper amount of transparency and the appropriate degree of accountability, in the world's greatest democracy, we should lead by example and base public disclosure on what is the right thing to do rather than on what one believes one is compelled to do."

"While we have decided not to pursue this matter further in the courts, we hope that the Administration will do the right thing and fulfill its obligations when it comes to disclosures to GAO, the Congress, and the public, not only in connection with this matter but all matters in the future," added Walker. "We hope that GAO is never again put in the position of having to resort to the courts to obtain information that Congress needs to perform its constitutional duties, but we will be prepared to do so in the future if necessary."

Administration Wants Exemptions from Pesticide Ban

Under the 1987 Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to prohibit substances deemed dangerous to the Earth's ozone layer, methyl bromide, used against crop pests in the soil and in grain storage facilities, will be banned starting in 2005.

On Friday, the U.S. government formally recommended "critical use exemptions" for a variety of agriculture and other uses for the chemical. The Protocol permits exemptions for uses "for which there are no technical or economically feasible alternatives."

The requested critical use exemptions would cover the following uses: food processing, commodity storage, forest seedlings, orchard seedlings, orchard replant, turf and sod, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, strawberry, strawberry nurseries, cucurbits, ornamentals, ginger, transplant trays used in certain greenhouse production systems and sweet potatoes.

The U.S. request would allow 39 percent of baseline methyl bromide use to continue after 2005, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said would still be "substantially below the most recent year's consumption." The use of methyl bromide has decreased by more than 50 percent since 1990 due to restrictions required by the EPA, though the U.S. is still the largest consumer of the chemical in the world.

The agency said it expects that number to drop as new alternatives to methyl bromide are developed and market tested.

Critics of the request say the exemptions will increase the risk of cancer in the U.S.

"This attack on the ozone layer will put more people at risk of cancer," said David Doniger, policy director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) climate center. "It also punishes the responsible growers who have invested time and money into adopting safer alternatives."

Doniger said other pesticides and crop management techniques are already available to eliminate most of the methyl bromide still in use and stop damaging the ozone layer.

The administration requested exemptions totaling 39 percent of the baseline production level, but the Montreal protocol allows exemptions of no more than 30 percent. The parties to the Montreal Protocol will meet this November to review recommendations for exemptions to the ban on methyl bromide.

More information on the EPA's critical use exemption for methyl bromide is available at: http://www.epa.gov/ozone/mbr/

U.S. - EU Meet to Discuss Climate

The two sides agreed upon six technical areas for further research. The research goals include development of a global observation system to monitor atmospheric levels of carbon, a greenhouse gas; conduct studies on the influence of aerosols - particles suspended in the atmosphere - on clouds, climate and the water cycle; and cooperative development of standards for hydrogen energy technologies.

The two sides agreed to designate points of contact to coordinate the development of specific research activities and modalities of cooperation and to monitor the progress of these activities, building on existing cooperative arrangements wherever possible, according to State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher.

The two sides also agreed to review the progress of their cooperation at the next Joint Meeting, which could take place in Italy later this year. Additional topics to be considered then are abrupt climate change including critical thresholds, integrated assessment of mitigation and adaptation options, linkages between climate change management and energy systems transformations, and capacity building for strengthening the involvement of developing countries and young scientists in climate change research and monitoring.

For more information on the meeting and potential areas of cooperation on climate change research, visit: http://www.state.gov/g/oes/climate/

Conservationists Halt Road Project in Arizona Wilderness

A coalition of environmental organizations including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Arizona Wilderness Coalition, Wilderness Watch and Maricopa Audubon Society petitioned the Department of Interior's Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) over approval of a new road within the wilderness area.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had approved the road construction, which was requested by two California residents wishing to develop a 60 acre inholding - private land surrounded by federal or other non-private land - within the wilderness into an upscale, private horse ranch. The IBLA's decision to issue a stay order means that no construction will occur on the proposed road until the appeal is resolved on the merits.

"With only five percent of the land in Arizona designated as wilderness, it is imperative that all of these areas be afforded the highest degree of protection," said Brian Segee, southwest public lands director with the Center for Biological Diversity. "The BLM's decision to permit road construction and private development within the Mount Tipton Wilderness would fragment important wildlife habitat and eliminate opportunities for quiet and solitude, essentially destroying the area's natural and wild character."

Designated under the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act of 1990, the 31,000 acre Mount Tipton Wilderness lies in the Cerbat Mountains in remote western Arizona, north of Kingman. A diverse range of habitats within the wilderness - ranging from Mohave desert scrub and chaparral communities at lower elevations to a remnant stand of old-growth ponderosa pine near the summit of 7,148 foot Mount Tipton - provide habitat for a wide diversity of wildlife species including bobcat, kit fox, several species of raptors, mule deer and Gambel's quail.

The proposed road construction and associated development of a private residence, barns, riding areas, and installation of a well and septic system, would "permanently and irreversibly degrade the natural character and ecological value of this important wilderness area," the environmental coalition argued.

According to the BLM, more than 1,100 vehicles would use the new road each year, and the lights and noise associated with the proposed horse ranch would impact thousands of acres within the wilderness boundary.

"The BLM could, and should say 'no' to this proposal," said Don Hoffman, executive director of the Arizona Wilderness Coalition. "The agency's job is to protect the wilderness qualities of Mount Tipton, not to facilitate the development of private land."

Risk Management Team Cuts Oil Spill Danger

The state of Alaska, environmentalists, oil companies, and the fishing industry brought together a risk management team after the 1989 spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound, helping to cut the risk of a future spill by 92 percent, concludes the study published in a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®).

Measures taken before the formation of the risk management team had brought down the risk by 75 percent, the report found. Actions taken based on the late 1990's risk assessment report reduced the risk by an additional 68 percent, with a 51 percent reduction in the expected oil outflow.

The potential benefit, say the authors of the $2 million study, is the prevention of another disaster like the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, which resulted in heavy damage to the region's natural environment. After a $2.2 billion cleanup, oil still contaminates some beaches.

The Prince William Sound team estimated the probability of future accidents involving oil tankers, including collisions, drift groundings, powered groundings, foundering, fire, explosion and structural failure. The authors constructed an accident probability model that accounted for the relationships between vessels' operating environment, triggering incidents, and accidents.

The risk management team's task was not only making a reliable assessment of oil spill risk, but also fostering cooperation among distrustful participants, including environmentalists, the fishing industry, and oil companies.

"While the stakeholders in [Prince William Sound] all recognized the need for a rational method to evaluate the merits of risk intervention measures, to improve the allocation of resources, and to avoid implementing measures that would adversely affect system risk," write the authors, "they did not trust each other at the beginning of the project."

The risk assessment fostered a cooperative risk management atmosphere, the report says.

"All stakeholders finished the project convinced that they had reduced risk of further multibillion dollar accidents and, with the cooperation fostered by the collaborative analysis process, the stage has been set for further improvements in managing risk," the authors write.

The paper, "The Prince William Sound Risk Assessment," appears in the current issue of the journal "Interfaces: An International Journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences." A summary of the study can be found at: http://www.informs.org/Press/ExxonValdezabstract.pdf

Project Offers Model for Everglades Restoration

Craig Manson, Assistant Secretary of Interior for fish and wildlife and parks, dedicated the new project at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). The project, which is being conducted in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District, will quantify the effects of water depth, flow rate and other hydrologic factors on wading birds, tree islands, marsh plant communities, marsh fishes and invertebrates and peat soils.

"Improving our scientific knowledge of the Everglades and the South Florida ecosystem is essential to the success of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan over the next four decades," Manson said. "Working with the state and the Corps, we will define the hydrologic regimes that sustain a healthy Everglades."

The project will entail the construction of four smaller impoundments from two existing impoundments, each about 20 acres. Each impoundment will be divided into two habitat types that will contain tree islands, ridges, sloughs, and deep water areas designed to simulate alligator holes.

Loxahatchee NWR covers more than 145,000 acres at the northern end of the Everglade's system and features thousands of tree islands. The refuge was established in 1951 through an agreement with the South Florida Water Management, and this agreement was renewed in 2002 for another 50 year period.

The Interior Department committed an additional $1 million in 2002 to combat invasive species at the refuge.

The dedication ceremony for the new research project took place during the 4th Annual Everglades Day Festival.

"The refuge attracts 300,000 visitors a year providing an ideal opportunity to educate the public about Everglades restoration," Manson said.

System Could Help Companies Manage Greenhouse Emissions

The company is releasing the system to promote standardization of methodologies used and comparability in gathering of greenhouse gas inventory information. The system, called the SANGEA(TM) Energy and Emissions Estimating System 2.0, is an automated, electronic data management information system designed to gather greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage data from exploration and production, refining and marketing, petrochemicals, transportation, electricity generation, manufacturing, real estate and coal activities.

"Making our greenhouse gas emissions estimating system available publicly demonstrates our commitment to addressing the important issue of global climate change," said ChevronTexaco chair and CEO Dave O'Reilly. "We believe it is essential to have the ability to measure and calculate industry data consistently on a global basis."

ChevronTexaco believes the system is unique because it enables facilities to set up reports, enter monthly data, review results and to revise the report setup as operations change. Data can be sent automatically to management for review on a quarterly basis.

The system is designed to be easy to audit, and to take into consideration established auditing principles. Users are prompted to enter audit trail information along with input data. The system can track time, date and user of entries and changes, and requires documentation of changes made after the original data is submitted.

The SANGEA(TM) Emissions Estimating System combines energy use management with greenhouse gas emissions estimating. ChevronTexaco says combining the greenhouse gas management system with the energy management system is more efficient for the user and ensures consistent energy utilization and greenhouse gas emission data for a facility.

ChevronTexaco has used the SANGEA(TM) Emissions Estimating System since January 2002. The company began developing an improved reporting system in January 2001 because its assessment determined that there were no comprehensive systems on the market to monitor and measure energy utilization and greenhouse gas emissions across an organization's various activities.

The calculation methods and emission factors of the SANGEA(TM) system are based on the American Petroleum Institute's Compendium of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimation Methodologies for the Oil and Gas Industry, which ChevronTexaco considers to be one of the best practices for the petroleum industry.

Los Angeles Invests in Hybrid Cars

"The Prius fleet agreement with the city of Los Angeles is an important step in Toyota's continuing efforts to reduce the environmental impact automobiles have in major cities," said Ken Camarillo, fleet field manager for Toyota Motor Sales. "We look forward to expanding fleet sales of our hybrid technology in Los Angeles and many other major cities throughout the U.S."

The agreement to purchase the vehicles began early in 2002 with an original order of 23 units. Los Angeles bought the Prius fleet for use by a variety of municipal agencies, such as parking enforcement.

The vehicles have proven so popular that the city increased the size of their Prius fleet to its current level, and has plans to purchase more units in the future. The city of New York now has the largest fleet of hybrids.

"The fleet purchase of the Toyota Prius is a significant step toward achieving our goal of having one of the cleanest, most efficient big city fleets in the nation," said Jim Bonnville, Los Angeles director of fleet services.

As part of the transaction, the University of Toyota's Technical and Body Training Development department provided a training course for Los Angeles city service technicians on Prius operation and proper maintenance of the hybrid system. The training course was developed by TMS technical & body training development manager, John Saia, and Toyota technical training administrator, Natae Cutler. A specialist in the Toyota Hybrid System, Cutler also conducted the course.

"As a result of the city of Los Angeles technician training, we've created a new 'off the shelf' curriculum package that can be used to train Prius fleet customer technicians in other regions," said John Saia. The new training package will be available to Toyota regions in early 2003.

"The training program conducted by the University of Toyota was an invaluable tool in properly training our service technicians to ensure proper and safe maintenance of our Prius fleet," said Richard Coulson, automotive supervisor for training safety and compliance for the city of Los Angeles.

Introduced in 1997, the Prius was the world's first mass produced hybrid electric-gas vehicle, combining an efficient gasoline engine and an electric motor. It automatically switches between the gasoline engine and electric motor, depending on driving needs. Because the gasoline engine recharges an onboard battery pack, the Prius never needs to be plugged in.

The five-passenger Prius has an fuel economy rating of 52 miles per gallon (mpg) in the city and 45 mpg on the highway. It also is certified as a super ultra low emission vehicle (SULEV).

In addition to the cities of Los Angeles and New York, other city and state government agencies that have chosen Prius include California, Washington, Houston, Oregon, San Francisco, Austin, Florida DEP, Nevada, Colorado, Denver, Missouri, San Antonio, and Maine. Even smaller towns such as Vail, Colorado and Mesquite, Texas have ordered the Toyota hybrid.