• Toyota Agrees to $34 Million Settlement Over Air Violations
  
• EPA Storm Water Rule Exempts Oil and Gas Industry
  
• Criticism of Yellowstone Bison Kill Increasing
  
• Florida Scientist Plans for Post-War Iraq Wetlands Restoration
  
• Chemical in Soy Alters Reproductive Organs in Male Rats
  
• Paralyzed Vets Funded for Outdoor Activities
  
• Ohio Plants Trees to Celebrate 200th Birthday
  
• Amazon Conservation Zoologist Jose Mario Ayres Dead at 49
  

Toyota Agrees to $34 Million Settlement Over Air Violations

The U.S. government alleged that the 2.2 million vehicles manufactured and sold by the Japanese automaker did not meet Clean Air Act emissions standards. Toyota, according to the government, failed to inform it of limitations in the operation of the system that checks for leaks in vehicles' evaporative emission control systems.

Due to this limitation, the onboard diagnostic system would not promptly signal drivers of a problem with the vehicle's emission controls.

"Vehicle manufacturers must make all required disclosures so that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can carry out its responsibilities to ensure clean air," said Thomas Sansonetti, the Department of Justice's Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division. "This settlement makes clear that we will enforce these requirements vigorously."

To settle the suit, Toyota agreed to pay a $500,000 civil penalty and to spend about $3 million to extend the emission control system warranty on the affected vehicles.

The automaker will spend $11 million under the terms of the settlement to accelerate, by one year, its compliance with EPA's new "near zero" evaporative emissions regulation. Some 1.4 million new Toyota vehicles manufactured from 2004 to 2006 will comply the new standard, which they otherwise would not be mandated to meet.

Toyota will spend an additional $20 million on a supplemental environmental project to retrofit up to 3,000 public diesel fleet vehicles.

This project will include upgrades for older, high polluting school and municipal buses and will help eliminate some 220 tons of particulate matter emissions, 1,200 tons of hydrocarbon emissions, and 15,000 tons of carbon monoxide emissions.

"This settlement is another milestone by this administration in our work to produce cleaner air for the American people. With this bus retrofit action, our nation's school children will be breathing less of the small particles that can cause lung and respiratory damage," said EPA's Administrator Christine Whitman.

"This action is a reminder to all drivers that their vehicle's engine light plays an important part in keeping vehicles running clean and protecting the environment."

The proposed settlement will be published in the Federal Register for 30 days for public comment, and must be approved by the court.

EPA Storm Water Rule Exempts Oil and Gas Industry

The exemption postpones the requirement, under EPA's phase II storm water pollution rule, that companies obtain National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System storm water permits for oil and gas construction activity that disturbs between one and five acres of land.

The requirement was slated to go into effect today. It will now enter effect on March 10, 2005.

According to the exemption, the original rule greatly underestimated the number of oil and gas exploration, production, processing and treatment operations and transmission facilities that would be affected.

EPA now estimates some 30,000 oil and gas sites per year would be affected.

EPA wrote that the two year postponement will allow the agency more time to analyze and better evaluate the impact of the requirement on the oil and gas industry. The agency will use the time to further assess the appropriate best management practices for preventing contamination of storm water runoff from construction associated with the oil and gas industry as well as the scope and effect of the storm water provisions of the Clean Water Act.

"EPA believes that the oil and gas industry has raised significant questions about the differences between the nature of construction at oil and gas sites and other types of construction," the agency wrote in the exemption. "One such difference is the very short time window in which construction at oil and gas sites usually occurs."

Environmentalists see this move as another way the Bush administration has found "to help out its oil and gas buddies," said Sharon Buccino, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The rule excuses the oil and gas industry "complying with a rule that is critical to reducing pollution in America's streams and waterways," Buccino said.

Criticism of Yellowstone Bison Kill Increasing

West Virginia Congressman Nick Rahall, the ranking member of the House Resources Committee, sent a letter last week to Park Service Director Fran Maniella asking for detailed information on why the agency is pursuing this controversial policy.

"The slaughter of wildlife unique to a National Park is so antithetical to the NPS mission that detailed information regarding the justifications for this activity is needed," Rahall wrote.

Last week the park service sent some 200 bison, or buffalo, to Montana slaughterhouses as part of the agency's enforcement of the Interagency Buffalo Management Plan, signed in 2000 by the park service, the Montana Department of Livestock, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the U.S. Forest Service.

The bison have been rounded up for slaughter because they are migrating across the northern boundary of the national park and pose a risk of infecting cattle with brucellosis, park officials say. But the disease has never been transmitted from bison to cattle, most of which are vaccinated against the disease.

Under the management plan, state and federal agency officials attempt to haze bison that leave Yellowstone back within the park's borders. Bison that cannot be moved back usually are captured and tested for brucellosis and those that test positive are slaughtered.

But if the population of bison within the park exceeds 3,000 and the animals are migrating onto cattle grazing lands outside the park, the National Park Service can slaughter the bison without testing for the disease.

Prior to last week's slaughter, the latest estimate found the bison population at some 3,800.

"This represents a radical departure from the park service's mandate to protect park resources for future generations," said Tony Jewett, a senior regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association, one of the conservation groups protesting the bison kill. "There is something terribly wrong at Yellowstone."

Conservationists say the Yellowstone herd should be revered as it remains the nation's only free range herd.

"Secretary of Interior Gale Norton is cutting the heart out of our nation's oldest national park and turning her back on decades of commitment to protect and resurrect one of America's greatest living symbols and irreplaceable part of our nation's heritage," said Caroline Kennedy, director of special projects for Defenders of Wildlife.

Park service officials say the total number of bison sent to slaughter could grow to as many as 300.

Last Thursday, six bull bison captured in Yellowstone escaped from a Montana slaughterhouse. Government officials opted to shoot the animals rather than try to get them back into the pen.

The slaughter of the buffalo is "unconscionable" said Charles Clusan, director of the Natural Resource Defense Council's National Parks Program. "Congress mandated the park service to be the steward, not the executioner, of our last free roaming buffalo herd."

Florida Scientist Plans for Post-War Iraq Wetlands Restoration

The Iraq Foundation, an Iraqi opposition group based in the United States, is sponsoring the new project, known as Eden Again, for the restoration of the southern marshes which were the target of a campaign by the Iraqi government in the early to mid-1990s. The environmental and military campaign dried up the marshlands, destroyed the environment, burned villages, and drove hundreds of thousands of the indigenous Ma'dan population into external exile or internal displacement.

The group of about 10 scientists, which includes Thomas Crisman, a professor of environmental engineering sciences and director of UF's Howard T. Odum Center for Wetlands, comprises the technical advisory board to the restoration project.

Eden Again has received an initial grant of from the U.S. State Department and plans to seek more funding if the project goes forward. The scientists met for the first time earlier this month in Los Angeles.

"We're starting off with the basics," Crisman said. "We're trying to figure out, 'Can we restore the ecology, and can we restore the culture of the people who lived in these marshes?'"

Bounded by the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers in southern Iraq, the marsh once covered nearly 3,500 square miles and was home to numerous rare or endangered birds and other species. It also provided important food and nursery grounds for shrimp and fish in the Persian Gulf.

In the early 1990s, Hussein's engineers built huge channels and canals to drain it, Crisman said. The activity was ostensibly for agricultural purposes, but the real goal was to put down rebellion among its inhabitants, a people known as the "marsh Arabs" whose culture is thousands of years old, Crisman said. Today, the marsh has been reduced to 500 square miles.

Crisman said the goal of the project is both to restore the marsh ecosystem and to make it attractive for the marsh Arabs to return to their homeland. "We're looking at it from the scientific side, but the challenge is to restore both the ecology and the culture," he said.

Crisman, an expert in the ecology, management and conservation of wetlands in the subtropics and tropics, was as selected for the task force in part because of his extensive work restoring wetlands in Greece and the Mediterranean. He collaborated on that work with George Zalidis, a professor of soil and water resources at Aristotle University in Greece and also a member of the technical advisory board.

Chemical in Soy Alters Reproductive Organs in Male Rats

In the study, described in the April issue of the "Journal of Urology," pregnant female rats were randomly assigned to one of three regimens: a diet free of genistein, a diet supplemented with a low dose of genistein, and a diet with a high dose of genistein.

Male offspring were exposed to genistein only indirectly through maternal consumption during pregnancy and lactation.

When the genistein exposed offspring matured, researchers found the males had smaller testes and a larger prostate gland compared to unexposed rats. Their sperm counts were normal, but exposed adult males had lower testosterone levels and were less likely to ejaculate when presented with the opportunity to mate with a female.

"The effects of genistein continued long after the rats were exposed, leading us to believe that exposure to this plant derived estrogen during reproductive development can have long term detrimental effects in males," said the study's lead author, Amy Wisniewski, Ph.D., a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

While these findings do not indicate that genistein has a similar effect in humans, Wisniewsk and her team say the increasing popularity of soy and soy based foods, such as tofu and some infant formulas, may warrant further research to determine if genistein exposure in the womb and during breastfeeding influences human reproductive development.

Paralyzed Vets Funded for Outdoor Activities

Joseph L. Fox, Sr., Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) national president, said, "It's very gratifying that the IAFWA and the Fish and Wildlife Service have determined that PVA's outdoors accessibility program is worthy of their support. We all agree that our natural resources are a gift to be preserved and enjoyed by all Americans, including those who have a disability."

Steve Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said, "Land managers must seek innovative ways to provide greater access to hunting, fishing, wildlife photography and a host of other wildlife related activities to the more than 50 million disabled people who live in this country.

The check presentation took place in the office of Rep. "Chip" Pickering, a Mississippi Republican. "PVA's commitment to physically challenged hunters in Mississippi reminds us of our shared responsibility both to the outdoors and more so to one another," said Pickering, former chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus.

"We commend the Paralyzed Veterans of America for their active role in successfully addressing the needs of physically challenged outdoor enthusiasts and assisting state fish and wildlife agencies in increasing participation of physically challenged individuals in outdoor activities," said John Baughman, IAFWA's executive vice president. "Their programs are a showcase for veterans and all outdoor enthusiasts across the country."

Founded in 1946, Paralyzed Veterans of America has more than 20,000 members in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Find them online at: http://www.pva.org

Ohio Plants Trees to Celebrate 200th Birthday

The Bicentennial Legacy Tree Planting Program is aimed at planting two million trees, one for each of Ohio's school children, to celebrate this year's 200th anniversary of Ohio statehood.

Administered by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry, the grants are funded by a percentage of air pollution fines collected by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis, with communities providing a 50 percent match in local funds. To date, nearly 90 communities have received more than $1,000,000 in funding.

Through Ohio's Bicentennial Legacy Tree Planting Program, trees have been planted along roadways, on abandoned surface mine lands and on state wildlife areas.

Grant applications and guidelines can be obtained by calling the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry at 614-265-6707 or online at: http://www.ohiodnr.com

Amazon Conservation Zoologist Jose Mario Ayres Dead at 49

Dr. Ayres, a resident of Belem, Brazil, was the driving force behind two sprawling wildlife reserves in the Amazon that incorporated a pioneering conservation approach where local people play a vital role in the protection of rainforests.

Ayres, who held WCS's Carter Chair in Rainforest Ecology, helped create the Mamirauá and Amanã Sustainable Development Reserves, part of a protected block of rainforest in the heart of the Amazon Basin larger than the entire nation of Costa Rica. Inside these protected areas live an array of species including pink river dolphins, anacondas, thousands of varieties of fish, and spectacular bird life.

Ayres developed a plan calling for local people to not only remain in the reserve, but have a direct say in its management. This revolutionary concept represented a radical departure from traditional parks creation, which called for the removal of local people from protected areas.

Starting in 1987, Ayres began to assemble a scientific team that divided the area into different management zones, some to protect spawning areas for fish, others to allow commercial harvest, and others for subsistence fishing only. Under Ayres leadership, the group brought in the region's human inhabitants to become co-managers of the project.

The resulting "Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve" was declared by the Brazilian Government in 1996. It resulted in the virtual elimination of poaching within the reserves, the return of valuable foodfish and other wildlife, and a 50 percent reduction in infant mortality between 1994 and 1999.

Two year's after Mamirauá was created, Brazil declared the Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve to connect the two regions with nearby Jaú National Park, thus safeguarding more than 22,000 square miles of unbroken habitat.

In 1999, Brazil's President Fernando Henrique Cardoso visited the Mamirauá, calling it, "a living example of how it is possible to create positive co-existence between the inhabitants of a region and the preservation of that region."

Dr. Ayres was born on February 21, 1954 in Belem at the mouth of the Amazon River. At the age of 19, while on a visit to a zoo in Germany he saw a uakari monkey - a rare primate with white hair and a bald, bright red head. He decided to learn all he could about it, receiving both a Bachelor's and Master's Degree from the University of São Paulo, before moving his family upriver into the heart of the Amazon. The uakari became the subject for his Ph.D. in primatology, which he received from Cambridge in 1986.

Ayres received numerous awards for his work including the Conservation Award by the American Society of Primatology in 1987, World Wildlife Fund's Gold Medal in 1992, and the Rolex Award for Enterprise last year. The Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development, which Ayres created, was also awarded the Von Martius Prize from the Brazil-Germany Chamber of Commerce in 2000, and the UNESCO Prize in the Science and Development category in 2001.

He was the author or co-author of over 70 scientific articles and publications, most notably the book "Varzea, Diversity, Development and Conservation of Amazonia's Floodplain" (The New York Botanical Garden Press, 1999), which he co-edited with C. Padoch.

He is survived by his wife, Carolina and two children, Daniel and Lucas.