• Bush Signs Yucca Mountain Resolution
  
• Pew Report Offers Controversial Climate Policy
  
• Illegal Crops Threaten Birds in Colombia
  
• Land Near Yellowstone Added to National Forest
  
• Clam Die-Off Cuts Washington Tribal Harvest
  
• Brayton Point Power Plant to Stop Harmful Water Use
  
• Georgia County Buys Land to Protect Drinking Water
  
• One Gulf Campaign Unites Five Gulf of Mexico States
  

Bush Signs Yucca Mountain Resolution

The resolution overrides a veto of the proposed repository issued by Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn.

White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer said the resolution "will allow us, after a decade of scientific study, to take the next step in establishing a safe repository in which to store our nation's nuclear waste."

"Nuclear waste is now stored in 131 temporary locations in 39 states," Fleischer noted. "The successful completion of the Yucca Mountain project will ensure our nation has a safe and secure underground facility that will store nuclear waste in a manner that protects our environment and our citizens."

The president's signature allows the Department of Energy to move forward with plans to bury 77,000 tons of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel under a mountain 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Without Yucca Mountain, the nuclear waste would have to remain in temporary storage at the nation's 103 operating nuclear power plants, decommissioned plants, and Department of Defense weapons production sites - 131 sites in 39 states.

The state of Nevada says it will now fight the Yucca Mountain repository in the federal courts and through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing process.

"The fact that the President signed House Joint Resolution 87 does little more than end the political process," said Governor Guinn. "I have always believed that our best chance in defeating Yucca Mountain is in the federal courts, where impartial judges will hear the factual and scientific arguments as to why Yucca Mountain is not a safe place to store this nation's high level nuclear waste."

Guinn added that the state hopes to persuade the NRC that the plans for the Yucca Mountain repository are based on "flawed science."

"The NRC has the tremendous responsibility to determine whether Yucca Mountain should be licensed," Guinn said. "Unlike Congress, the NRC is required to examine all the science before it can license this project. I am confident that once it does so, the NRC will also conclude that Yucca Mountain is not safe, and that the better decision is to explore safer alternatives that will not put at risk the citizens of our county. The NRC itself has concluded the nuclear waste can be safely stored at existing reactor sites in dry casks for at least 100 years, and possibly up to 1,000 years."

More information about the Yucca Mountain Project is available at: http://www.ymp.gov

Pew Report Offers Controversial Climate Policy

"Designing a Climate-Friendly Energy Policy: Options for the Near Term" examines a number of energy policy options that the Pew Center argues would advance U.S. energy policy goals during the upcoming decades while at the same time contributing to efforts to curb global warming.

"As the findings in this report indicate, the notion that energy policy and climate policy objectives are necessarily at odds is simply a myth," said Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center. "Energy use and climate change are inextricably linked, so it makes sense for policy makers to consider options that simultaneously advance the goals of energy policy and climate policy."

"Choices made in the current energy policy debate will directly impact U.S. greenhouse gas emissions far into the future," Claussen added. "In addition, near term energy policy decisions will affect the costs of implementing any future climate policy."

The report identifies chief U.S. energy policy objectives, including:

1. a secure, plentiful, diverse primary energy supply
2. a reliable infrastructure for energy conversion and delivery
3. affordable and stable energy prices
4. environmentally sustainable energy production and use.

The Pew Center report says that the key elements of a climate friendly energy policy must include:

• Increasing natural gas production and expanding natural gas transportation infrastructure
• Developing and deploying renewable energy technologies and efficient electricity production technologies
• Enhancing efficiency of automobiles and light trucks, industry and buildings
• Research and development on non-fossil fuels and carbon sequestration.

But the non-profit Clean Air Trust criticized the report for its suggestions that a key enforcement tool of the Clean Air Act - the new source review (NSR) provisions - be revised. The NSR regulation requires that power plants and other smokestack industries install updated emissions control equipment if they increase their capacity or make other major modifications.

"We were further dumbstruck, however, when we learned that the Pew Center, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, had hired industry lobbyists to write the report!" the Clean Air Trust stated in a release. "These lobbyists have worked separately (for chemical and electric power industry clients) to weaken or eliminate this key enforcement tool."

In the Pew report, the authors state that NSR has discouraged power companies from "undertaking efficiency improvements" and suggest that policy makers should "distinguish investments that raise conversion efficiency from those that simply increase the capacity of existing coal fired plants."

"We can't fathom why the Pew Center would seek to promote these industry views," states the Trust. "We can only speculate that the leaders of the Pew Center are less interested in the truth than in aligning the organization with the goals of some of its industry partners - including American Electric Power and Cinergy, which face Justice Department lawsuits for alleged violations of new source review. Obviously they don't realize that tough and continued enforcement of the Clean Air Act would also lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, which is their ostensible goal."

The full text of the Pew report is available at: http://www.pewclimate.org

Illegal Crops Threaten Birds in Colombia

While Colombia has more bird species than any other country worldwide, much of their habitat is also suitable for growing coca and opium poppies, and many forest acres have been clearcut to make room for these illegal crops.

"Ultimately, the conservation of forests and forest-dependent birds in Colombia may hinge on successfully curbing economic incentives for deforestation, including international trade in illicit drugs," writes Columbia University researcher Maria Alvarez in the August issue of the journal "Conservation Biology."

Colombia has lost about 70 percent of its continuous mountain forests over the past 200 years, and illicit crops account for about half of the recent deforestation, Alvarez found. The acreage planted in illicit crops has grown by about a fifth each year since 1995.

Alvarez used existing data to compare maps of the crops with those of bird species that are threatened or found only in Colombia, creating the first geographic analysis of the overlap between illicit crops and critical bird conservation areas in Colombia.

Alvarez found that most of Colombia's illicit crops are in the Amazon region and most of threatened birds are in the Andes. However, opium poppies are expanding into the Andes and are now grown in a number of reserves with high bird diversity.

Almost 7,000 acres of illegal crops are grown in and around three protected areas in the southern West Andes, which has about 115 threatened bird species. There are a total of about 5,500 acres of illegal crops in two protected areas in and around the northern West Andes, which has about 60 threatened bird species.

Many of these bird species are found only in specific regions and some are known only in single reserves.

"If the expansion of illicit crops in the Andes continues, the effect on forest dependent Colombian birds might be devastating," Alvarez said.

Illicit crops are also being grown in several smaller mountainous regions in northern Colombia that have high bird diversity. About 23,000 acres of illicit crops are grown in five protected areas in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Maria and the Serrania del Perija, which each have about 40 threatened bird species.

Some reserves considered critical to bird conservation could be fragmented by as much as a tenth over the next decade, Alvarez concluded.

While the Colombian government is trying to eradicate illicit crops by spraying herbicides from low flying aircraft, these efforts have been largely ineffectual, she added.

"The area sprayed has increased 80 times in the last 16 years and the area planted in illicit crops has grown five times," Alvarez said.

In regions that depend on illicit crops, the government plans to help farmers switch to legal crops, giving conservationists the opportunity to help protect critical bird habitats.

"Conservationists must become involved so that the crops selected are ecologically appropriate and so that the best natural habitats are protected from wholesale destruction," said Alvarez.

Land Near Yellowstone Added to National Forest

The deal, completed Monday, is intended as the first phase of a two year purchase that will protect 3,246 acres of private lands in the Taylor Fork drainage, one of Montana's most scenic wildlife and recreation areas. The land is being conveyed to the U.S. Forest Service for addition to the Gallatin National Forest.

Funding for the conservation purchase, a top national priority for the U.S. Forest Service and the Bush administration, was secured thanks to the leadership of Senator Conrad Burns of Montana, the ranking Republican member of the Senate's Interior Appropriations Subcommittee.

"This purchase resolves one of the longest, and sometimes most contentious, land use battles in the West," said Alan Front, TPL's senior vice president. "It has been an enormous effort by a lot of people, but it shows that when people are willing to sit down and work hard, we can resolve these issues."

Alex Diekmann, TPL's local project manager, noted the Taylor Fork is a primary calving ground for the Gallatin elk herd and also provides critical habitat for grizzly bears, which have been known to produce litters as big as three or four cubs - something that seldom occurs elsewhere in the Yellowstone region. He also noted the area is a favorite haunt of outdoor enthusiasts.

The acquisition is the final step in a complicated, decade long effort to end the checkerboard pattern of private land holdings that once dominated the Gallatin National Forest. That checkerboard pattern, which still exists in many other public lands in the West, is a legacy of the 19th century federal policy of granting large quantities of land to railroads as a way to encourage development.

The acquisition by the Forest Service is being funded through the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. Last year, in response to a request from the Montana delegation led by Senator Burns, Congress appropriated $3.0 million for the first phase of the purchase.

"I am glad my work on the Appropriations Committee has secured the funds to improve opportunities for sportsmen and elk and grizzly bear habitat in the Yellowstone area," said Senator Burns. "This is important land for all Montanans and I am glad to see its wildlife and recreational areas preserved."

The land conveyed to the Forest Service Monday was purchased by TPL almost two months ago. The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation provided interim financing for the purchase, along with additional acreage TPL will hold until next year. Last year, TPL received a $1.8 million grant from the foundation to help fund its Yellowstone work.

Clam Die-Off Cuts Washington Tribal Harvest

“We’re going to slow down our harvesting, because these beaches are very important to us,” said David Herrera, Skokomish tribal fisheries manager.

Guy Miller, Skokomish tribal shellfish technician, prepares to survey a plot of the Duckabush Tidelands. (Photo courtesy Skokomish Tribe)

“It's reassuring that pollution or diseases didn’t cause the die off,” said Randy Hatch, shellfish biologist with the Point No Point Treaty Council. The treaty council is a natural resource management organization formed in 1974 to serve the Skokomish, Port Gamble S'Klallam, Jamestown S'Klallam and Lower Elwha Klallam tribes.

“Things like this are going to happen, there is nothing we could have done to stop it. But, the die off’s effect on tribal economies can’t be underestimated,” said Hatch.

In the current harvest plan negotiated with the state through the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the tribes agreed to harvest 121,430 pounds off the three beaches, which carried 245,860 pounds of harvestable clams. That harvest will be cut by about 40 percent in order to protect the clam populations left on the beaches, said Hatch.

As salmon populations have declined over the past decade, various shellfish harvesting opportunities for species such as crab, geoduck and intertidal clam and oysters have become increasingly important to tribal harvesters.

“The tribes, as co-managers with the state, believe in providing the greatest security possible to shellfish,” said Herrera. “The tribes are the original fisheries managers in western Washington; we have always worked for sustainable harvests.”

Because of the nature of treaty harvests, large die offs like this affect tribal members more than recreational harvesters. While it is still possible, but now a bit harder, for a recreational harvester to get a limit of 40 clams in a day, tribal harvesters will have to work much harder to make a living.

“We will curtail our harvesting opportunities to preserve the remaining clams,” said Herrera. “Even though we’re sacrificing a lot, we need these beaches to have harvestable amounts of clams available in the future. The only way to do that is to lower our harvests now.”

Brayton Point Power Plant to Stop Harmful Water Use

Capping over five years of extensive study, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's New England Office and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Monday issued a new draft water discharge permit for the Brayton Point power plant that would substantially reduce the Somerset, Massachusetts facility's environmental impacts on Mount Hope Bay.

The jointly issued draft permit, which is subject to a 45 day public comment period, would curtail the power plant's water withdrawals from the bay and heated water discharges back into the bay.

The fossil fuel burning power plant, owned by the PG&E National Energy Group, currently withdraws up to one billion gallons a day of water from Mount Hope Bay and discharges it back into the bay at temperatures up to 30 degrees Fahrenheit warmer. Withdrawals and discharges such as this require a permit under the federal Clean Water Act which was enacted in 1972 to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of U.S. waters.

The new draft permit specifically proposes that the Brayton Point Station reduce its annual heat discharge to the estuary by 96 percent from 42 trillion BTUs (British Thermal Units) per year to 1.7 trillion BTUs per year.

Brayton Point must reduce its water withdrawal from the bay by approximately 94 percent, from nearly one billion gallons per day to 56 million gallons per day.

"The science shows that Brayton Point has compromised the Mount Hope Bay ecosystem and that stronger controls are needed to reduce those impacts, particularly in regard to water withdrawals and warm-water discharges," said Robert Varney, regional administrator of EPA's New England Office.

"These tougher limits, proposed by EPA and Massachusetts, and supported by Rhode Island, will substantially reduce the power plant's impact on the bay and give the struggling fish populations a better opportunity to recover. We look forward to working with PG&E to implement this new permit so that this valuable public resource can be restored."

"Unless major reductions are made in the plant's cooling water withdrawals and thermal discharges, the Mount Hope Bay fishery will likely never recover," said Lauren Liss, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

Mount Hope Bay, bordered by Massachusetts and Rhode Island, is part of the Narragansett Bay estuary, a designated estuary of national environmental significance. At one time, Mount Hope Bay was a productive nursery area and an excellent habitat for fish. But research conducted by the state of Rhode Island, regulatory agencies and even PG&E has shown that its fish populations are in a state of collapse.

Water the power plant takes from the bay for cooling contains billions of fish eggs, larvae and juveniles, most or all of which are destroyed when they are pulled into the facility and subjected to severe physical and chemical impacts as well as extreme water temperatures.

The draft permit will be subject to extensive public review and comment, beginning with public information meetings August 5 in Somerset and August 6 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Formal public hearings will be held August 26 in Somerset and August 27 in Bristol. The permit is available on the agency's website at: http://www.epa.gov/ne/braytonpoint.

Georgia County Buys Land to Protect Drinking Water

The county is acquiring the land to protect the quality of its drinking water, which is supplied by the river, and to provide recreational opportunities for county residents.

The purchase comes on the heels of the county's acquisition of a nearby property, a 470 acre tract along the Chattahoochee River that will also be the site of a future park.

"We feel like each county owes its citizens greenspace that they can enjoy," says Claude Abercrombie, the Douglas County commissioner who represents District 2. "This land on the Dog River is just a beautiful, beautiful area that can be protected. We can preserve the land to filter out pollutants that might otherwise get into our drinking water and we can create a place for recreation. We feel very fortunate to be able to acquire it."

The project will protect 2.13 miles of Dog River buffer and approximately one mile of Flyblow Creek, a tributary of the Dog River.

Mike Mulcare, president of Friends of Douglas County, is delighted. "With so much development pressure on the land, it was very important for the county to protect this area," says the retired Delta Airlines manager. He helped a group of residents form the Friends organization after they won a 1997 fight to protect Bear Creek from a re-zoning that would have increased development.

"The kind of quality of life that the Dog River is a part of is what people came to Douglas County for in the first place," says Mulcare. "They came to see the creeks, owls, squirrels and the deer that the habitat supports."

One Gulf Campaign Unites Five Gulf of Mexico States

The One Gulf Campaign is the result of a partnership of federal and state agencies, businesses, environmental groups, citizens, and representatives of agricultural and fishing industries across the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf of Mexico Program is a non-regulatory, inclusive consortium of state and federal government agencies underwritten by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Stakeholders, representing both the public and private sectors from all five Gulf states, participate in efforts to safeguard the environmental health of the Gulf while promoting economic development.

This summer, the One Gulf Campaign has taken 10 billboards along Interstate 10, from Houston, Texas, through coastal Alabama and the panhandle of Florida to encourage a timely response to environmental issues affecting the Gulf of Mexico and direct viewers to a website at: http://www.onegulf.org.

In Alabama, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) says that people traveling to Alabama's beaches this summer can do so with the knowledge that the agency is conducting coastal and beach monitoring programs to ensure clean and safe beaches.

"The One Gulf Campaign and its website offer all Alabamians a unique opportunity to become involved in the preservation of this precious natural resource," said ADEM's mobile field operations chief John Carlton. "This is a true partnership effort, and ADEM is honored to represent Alabama's commitment to protect our coastal environment."