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EPA Must Limit All Toxics From Vinyl Production WASHINGTON, DC, June 21, 2004 (ENS) – Environmentalists won a partial victory Friday when a federal appeals court ruled the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has failed to set emission limits for all hazardous air pollutants emitted by factories that manufacture polyvinyl chloride (PVC).The popular plastic is used in the construction industry for siding water distribution, irrigation and sewer pipe, wire and cable insulation, electrical conduit, floor and wall coverings, and roofing; in the healthcare industry for blood bags and tubing, packaging, gloves, masks, labware and medical devices; in vehicle manufacturing; toys and electronics. PVC producers release large quantities of vinyl chloride, a known human carcinogen, in addition to other hazardous air pollutants that threaten the environment and public health in and around communities where these plants are located. The environmentalists challenged a final agency rule that set limits for vinyl chloride, but did not address other pollutants emitted by these facilities. Among these pollutants are vinylidene chloride, methanol, chlorine, hydrogen chloride, and ethylene dichloride - exposure to these and other hazardous pollutants is associated with serious adverse health effects. Although the court rejected the challenge to the vinyl chloride limits set by the agency, it agreed that the EPA must set standards for these other pollutants. "For its part, EPA contends it simply utilized vinyl chloride as a surrogate for other [hazardous air pollutants]," according to the three-judge panel. "EPA makes several efforts to defend this view, none of which can save it." "In short, we do not find EPA's explanation persuasive, and hold its determination that vinyl chloride is a surrogate for all other [hazardous air pollutants] emitted from PVC production facilities is arbitrary and capricious and not supported by the record." The court ordered the agency to reconsider properly why it has not set these limits. "Instead of requiring control of dangerous air pollutants, EPA has blithely assumed the problem away," said Howard Fox, managing attorney for Earthjustice, a non-profit law firm that represented Mossville Environmental Action Now and the Sierra Club in the case. "The court has blown the whistle on EPA's uncorroborated 'surrogate' scheme," said Fox, "pointing out what is obvious from the agency's own decision: there is no 'there' there."
Court Blocks Oregon Salvage Logging EUGENE, Oregon, June 21, 2004 (ENS) - A federal court last week halted logging of federal lands burned by the 27,000 acre Timbered Rock Fire in 2002.The proposed logging project consisted of 790 acres within an old growth reserve set aside by the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. The reserve was protected to safeguard old growth habitat for the northern spotted owl and for threatened salmon. The logging was approved by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages the federal land burned by the 2002 fire. Judge Ann Aiken of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon blocked the project in order to consider a legal challenge to the timber sale by conservationists, who consider the case a major test of the Northwest Forest Plan's ability to protect old growth forests. The merits of the case will be heard next month. "There is a reason that it is called the Elk Creek old growth reserve rather than the Elk Creek stump field," said George Sexton of Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, one of five groups involved in the legal challenge. "The BLM may ignore public comments and the needs of salmon and owls, but they cannot ignore the law." Conservationist worry that if the project moves forward, the Forest Service and BLM will be able push forward with a similar plan to log in areas affected by the massive 2002 Biscuit Fire. The Biscuit Fire ravaged some 500,000 acres in southwest Oregon in 2002, much of it in the Siskiyou National Forest. Earlier this month, the Bush administration proposed logging some 370 million board feet in the area affected by the fire, including 170 million board feet out of old growth reserves. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and prominent scientists have all raised concerns that the logging would harm water quality in streams, destroy habitat for endangered species, and diminish the values of old growth forests.
Petition Filed to Protect Rare Salamander TUCSON, Arizona, June 21, 2004 (ENS) - A petition filed last week by a coalition of conservation group seeks federal protection of the Siskiyou Mountains salamander as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).The salamander was formerly protected under a provision of the Northwest Forest Plan called the "Survey and Manage" Program, which required the Forest Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management survey proposed logging areas for rare species associated with old growth forests and to establish logging buffers to protect them. The Bush administration eliminated the Survey and Manage Program in March 2004. The standard covered some 300 species not currently protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, but dependent on the old growth forests managed by the plan. Timber interests argue the provision is unnecessary and delays approval of logging projects. The Siskiyou Mountains salamander occurs in southwestern Oregon and northwestern California on rocky slopes under mature and old growth forest. These areas are mostly outside the protected reserves created by the Northwest Forest Plan and the Survey and Manage Program provided critical protection in areas where logging is planned. The petitioners contend habitat loss caused by the logging of old growth forest is the principal threat to the species. "Our petition will ensure the salamander has a safety net that prevents extinction," said Joseph Vaile, campaign coordinator for Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center. The petitioners say at least 105 other species formerly protected by the Survey and Manage program should be protected under the Endangered Species Act and will petition for protection unless the program is reinstated. "If the Bush administration is going to sweep these species under the rug and forget about them, we owe it to future generations to protect them and the old growth habitats they depend on under the Endangered Species Act," said Noah Greenwald, conservation biologist with the Center.
Commercial Ships Belch One Million Tons of Smog Annually NEW YORK, New York, June 21, 2004 (ENS) - Commercial shipping discharges about one million tons of smog forming pollution in U.S. waters every year, according to a new report by Environmental Defense, a national advocacy organization based in New York."Ships are floating smokestacks that contribute to a ripple of harmful health effects across America," said Environmental Defense attorney Janea Scott. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that commercial shipping's percentage of transportation sector smog will rise from 6.6 percent in 1996 to about 28 percent in 2030, a figure Environmental Defense cites in its report. By comparison, all of the nation's highway vehicles are projected to contribute 37.5 percent of the smog forming pollution from the transportation sector in 2030. "Many communities near ports, coastal waterways and inland waterways are hard hit by high polluting commercial ships," said Scott. "These ships need strong pollution controls to protect the millions of Americans with asthma and other lung diseases." Many of the nation's largest coastal and inland ports have unhealthy smog levels. Environmental Defense says that in communities like New York, Los Angeles and Houston the smog forming pollution from ships is comparable to hundreds of thousands of vehicles operating on roads and highways. The organization criticized the EPA for giving diesel ships longer to meet new diesel standards than other nonroad diesel engines. Last month the agency ordered cuts the sulfur content in nonroad diesel fuel from the current average of 3,400 parts per million (ppm) to 500 ppm in 2007 - the same standard as current highway diesel fuel. It calls for this standard to be further tightened to 15 ppm by 2010, but gives diesel trains, boats and ships until 2012 to meet the final standard.
Federal Land Tax Breaks For Counties Equals $224 Million ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, June 21, 2004 (ENS) - The federal government is handing some $224.3 million to county governments whose jurisdictions contain tax-exempt federal lands. These federal payments to county governments may be used for any governmental purpose.The annual payments, made under the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Act (PILT), compensate nearly 1,900 local governments for tax revenue lost because of the federal land in their jurisdiction, said Interior Secretary Gale Norton in announcing the payments last week. This year's total of $224,301,697 represents an increase of $6.1 million more than fiscal year 2003. Including this year's payments, the Interior Department has distributed more than $3.4 billion to local governments since the program began in 1977. "These important dollars help states offset the loss of tax revenues to counties that contain federal lands," Norton said. "We recognize the impact of federal land management on local communities and this money will help pay for essential services such as firefighting, search and rescue operations and a host of other badly needed on the ground services." Payments are made for tax exempt federal lands administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service, as well as for federal water projects and some military installations. These payments are in addition to other federal revenues that the federal government transfers to the states. The Interior Department collects revenues of $6 to $11 billion annually from commercial activities on federal lands, such as oil and gas leasing, livestock grazing, and timber harvesting. A portion of these revenues are deposited in the general fund of the U.S. Treasury which in turn pay for a broad array of federal activities, including payments to counties. Norton touted the Bush administration's decision to send out checks some three months earlier than in the past. "The accelerated payment schedule makes it easier for state and local governments to budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1 for many jurisdictions," Norton said. All states except Rhode Island will receive PILT funding in 2004. The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands also receive these funds. New Mexico counties topped the list, receiving $22 million, followed by Utah and California, which each received $19.1 million.
New Jersey Offers Open Space Funding Workshops TRENTON, New Jersey, June 21, 2004 (ENS) - The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is offering help to local governments and nonprofit groups to obtain funding for open space acquisition.Through the Green Acres Program and the Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program, the state will sponsor eight informational workshops from July to October to guide municipal and county officials and nonprofit organizations through the state-funding application process. DEP Deputy Commissioner Joanna Dunn Samson said, "I encourage local governments, nonprofit organizations and land use professionals to take advantage of the Green Acres Program's informational workshops to explore opportunities for open space funding." Topics to be discussed at the workshops include Green Acres Funding for Land Preservation and Park Development, Elements of a Land Transaction, Changes in Use, Historic Preservation Trust Funding and the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program (EIFP). During the workshops, DEP will encourage municipal and county government applicants who have a project with a water quality benefit to apply to the EIFP for acquisition funds. The EIFP is a partnership between the DEP and the NJ Environmental Infrastructure Trust (Trust). The EIFP provides low-cost financing to municipal, county, and other local government units as well as to water purveyors for the construction of wastewater, drinking water and stormwater or nonpoint source pollution management projects, including open space acquisition that provides a water quality benefit. Financing through EIFP provides a rate equal to one-quarter of the current market rate and results in a loan structure that reduces annual debt service when compared to local financing options. The EIFP has no limit on the amount of money that a borrower can finance to acquire land and the funds can be used as a local match for land acquisition projects funded through Green Acres. Green Acres partners with, and provides grants and low interest loans to, qualifying county and municipal government agencies and nonprofit land conservancies who work to further these same goals. This year's workshops are scheduled from 9 am to 3 pm:
Key Environmental Satellite Shut Down WASHINGTON, DC, June 21, 2004 (ENS) - The nation's longest serving polar orbiting satellite has been deactivated after 15 years of capturing environmental data and surpassing its originally estimated life span by a factor of six.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officially shut down critical components and transmitters for the satellite, known as NOAA-11, after it had circled the Earth more than 80,000 times from the North to South poles. From 1988 to 1994, NOAA-11 supplied scientists with images needed for accurate weather and climate forecasting. "NOAA-11 had an incredible run," said Gregory Withee, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellites and Information Service. "NOAA satellites are designed to operate for only two and a half years, but NOAA-11 lasted 15 years. That is a credit to the engineers who built it, and the technology that sustained it." When it was launched on September 9, 1988, NOAA-11 was a third-generation operational meteorological satellite, and considered an advance from earlier spacecraft for its ability to provide higher resolution global data and images. The satellite's design provided a platform for its advanced instruments to measure the Earth's atmosphere, surface, cloud cover and the near-space environment. "At that time, the technology on NOAA-11 gave us more day and nighttime environmental data on local and global scales than any satellite before it," Withee said. "That further increased scientists' ability to develop more precise long range weather and climate forecasts." In addition to tracking weather and climate data, NOAA-11 was key in NOAA's search and rescue operations. It relayed distress signals transmitted by emergency beacons aboard airplanes and boats. The shutdown of the transmitters and other equipment aboard NOAA-11 will keep the satellite from interfering with other satellite frequencies. In 1995, NOAA-11 was placed in a standby mode, but was reactivated to provide sounding data after NOAA-12's sounding instrument failed. Since 2000, NOAA-11 has again been on a standby status. Two polar-orbiting environmental satellites, NOAA-16 and NOAA-17, are still in operation.
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