• Judge Refuses to Dismiss Energy Task Force Suit
  
• Air Conditioner Efficiency Standards Lowered
  
• Fast Track Trade Approval Could Harm Environment
  
• Chemical Warfare Agents Released Over Navy Ships
  
• Ashland Fined $10.7 Million for Refinery Fire
  
• Conference Produces Wildfire Management Plan
  
• Deep Sea Expedition Explores Galapagos Vents
  
• 2003 Parks Pass to Feature New Mexico Monument
  

Judge Refuses to Dismiss Energy Task Force Suit

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Sierra Club and Judicial Watch are seeking facts about who met with Vice President Richard Cheney's task force and when those meetings took place. At a hearing Thursday, Judge Sullivan denied the government's motion to dismiss the group's case against the task force, which is based on alleged violations the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

FACA requires that governmental advisory groups that are not composed entirely of federal employees include balanced representation and provide public notice and records of their meetings. The groups are asking the court to require Cheney and other defendants to disclose what actions the task force took during the creation of the national energy policy.

Heavily weighted to rely on oil and nuclear power, the policy was issued by by President George W. Bush with much fanfare on May 18, 2001.

"The administration continues to stonewall but, once again, a federal judge has said enough is enough," said NRDC senior attorney Sharon Buccino.

Judge Sullivan's decision follows a ruling by another federal judge in February forcing the Energy Department to release more than 13,000 task force documents to the NRDC.

Federal agencies are already implementing many of the task force's recommendations. The Interior Department, for example, has taken steps to expedite and streamline energy exploration and production on public lands.

The task force was charged with producing an energy policy that would benefit the nation as a whole, but critics argue that the Bush policy is far more beneficial to the energy industry than to the public or the environment. The groups are suing for the task force records to show whether, as they believe, the energy industry had far more access to and influence over the task force than did conservation and public interest groups.

"We welcome both the judge's decision to move forward and his rejection of Vice President Cheney's argument for executive branch secrecy," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. "Americans deserve to know what happened behind those closed doors where the energy industry met with administration officials, and the law requires it."

Air Conditioner Efficiency Standards Lowered

Critics say the rollback of higher efficiency standards could cost consumers an extra $1 billion a year in electricity bills, require the equivalent of 48 new power plants, and result in the release of about 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.

"I am disappointed that the President passed up the opportunity to save energy, prevent potential blackouts, and save consumers substantial amounts of money on their electricity bills," said Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat who also chairs the citizens group Alliance to Save Energy.

In January 2001, just before leaving office, the Clinton administration published a rule increasing energy efficiency standards for central air conditioners and heat pumps by 30 percent. The rule was delayed under the Bush administration's regulatory review plan for 60 days, and the administration announced its intent to weaken the energy efficiency standard by one-third last April.

On Tuesday, the Department of Energy (DOE) published a new rule in the Federal Register requiring a 20 percent increase in efficiency over current federal standards for air conditioners and heat pumps. Many appliance sold today already exceed existing standards by up to 10 percent, or even exceed the new Bush administration standard, meaning the real impact of the new regulation will be about a 10 percent increase in efficiency when the rule takes effect in 2006.

The 20 percent standard finalized by the Bush administration is the same standard requested by the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute, which filed suit against the Clinton era rule last year.

"This is just the latest example of an administration that puts the needs of corporate special interests before the consumer," said Maria Weidner of the nonprofit public interest legal firm Earthjustice.

"Energy efficient appliances, already widely available in Europe, should be required in the USA to help solve our energy crisis," she said. "Increased energy efficiency would help protect our natural resources and protect the pocketbook of every American consumer who pays a utility bill."

Seven states - California, Nevada, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey - favor the higher standard overturned by the Bush administration, and are seeking a federal court order directing the Department of Energy to enforce the 30 percent increase in efficiency. The Consumer Federation of America, the Public Utility Law Project, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have joined the states in suing for the higher efficiency standard.

"At a time when states like California and New York are both experiencing electricity shortages and struggling to meet clean air standards, the Bush administration's decision to roll back air conditioner energy efficiency standards is arrogant and hypocritical," said Dr. David Goldstein, co-director of the NRDC's energy program.

"The administration's energy plan emphasizes the importance of avoiding blackouts and reducing the costs of energy. Vice President Cheney has said 'we're going to encourage [energy efficiency] in every way possible.' But this rule takes America in the opposite direction - toward energy insecurity and higher utility bills," said Goldstein.

Fast Track Trade Approval Could Harm Environment

Under the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act, or fast track bill, Congress will be able to approve or reject negotiated trade agreements, but it will not be able to amend them.

"Today's passage by the Senate of a vital package of trade legislation is a critical step in advancing America's trade agenda and strengthening the U.S. economy," Bush said. "The passage of this bill sends an important signal to our trading partners that we are committed to free and open trade."

With a 66 to 30 vote, the Senate approved its version of the trade bill; the House passed fast track legislation in December. A conference committee will hammer out differences between the two bills after the Memorial Day recess.

The Senate version added language requiring that trade negotiators discuss labor and environmental issues. However, the Senate rejected an amendment that would have restricted lawsuits by foreign nations who believe their profits are being reduced by U.S. environmental, health or labor laws.

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, for example, foreign companies have attacked environmental standards in California and the civil jury system in Mississippi. A recent study by Tufts University researchers estimates such attacks could cost taxpayers as much as $32 billion.

"As a long time supporter of enhanced international trade, we are disappointed that the Senate legislation fails to take the steps that are needed to bring U.S. trade policy into the 21st Century," said Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, president of the League of Women Voters.

"The legislation fails to effectively encourage U.S. negotiators to achieve basic international standards to protect the environment, enhance basic human rights and improve labor conditions," she said.

Chemical Warfare Agents Released Over Navy Ships

The DoD released detailed fact sheets on six Cold War era chemical and biological warfare tests. Release of the information is part of an ongoing effort to provide information needed by the Department of Veterans Affairs to respond to some veterans' claims that tests conducted in the 1960s affected their health.

A DoD investigative team found that inactive agents were used in lieu of chemical and biological warfare agents in many of these tests, but a number did involve the use of actual chemical and biological warfare agents.

Of the six tests disclosed by the DoD, three used live nerve agents, one used a live biological agent, and one used a simulated agent that, while believed to be harmless at the time, was later found to be hazardous. The sixth test used a non-hazardous substance.

In the 1960s, the DoD conducted a series of chemical and biological warfare vulnerability tests, known as Project Shipboard Hazard and Defense (SHAD), on naval ships. The SHAD tests were intended to show the vulnerability of Navy ships to chemical and biological warfare agents.

By learning how those agents would disperse, military planners could improve procedures to protect crewmembers and decontaminate ships, the DoD said. But some veterans have expressed concern that their participation in these tests may have exposed them to harmful substances.

The DoD has been investigating the project since August 2000, when the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) asked the agency for information needed to clarify claims information from service members who believed they might have been exposed to harmful substances during their participation in SHAD tests. VA said medical experts needed to know what substances veterans may have been exposed to and who might have been exposed, and the DoD agreed to deliver that information if it could be found.

An investigative team located and searched records to identify which ships and units were involved in the tests, when the tests took place, and to what substances their crews and other personnel may have been exposed. This required declassification of test related ship and personnel information, without release of military information that remains classified.

The SHAD program plans, part of the larger Deseret Test Center program, may have included as many as 100 individual tests under different names, but many of these planned tests were never executed. Because it is difficult to determine which tests are SHAD related, investigators plan to look at all Deseret Test Center's chemical and biological tests conducted between 1963 and 1970.

Read the SHAD fact sheets online.

Ashland Fined $10.7 Million for Refinery Fire

Ashland Inc. pleaded guilty on May 13 to negligent endangerment under the Clean Air Act and to submitting a false certification to environmental regulators. The company will pay out a total of $10.7 million in fines, payments to injured parties, compensation to respondents to the resulting fire and for local pollution control improvements.

On May 16, 1997, an explosion and fire at the company’s refinery in St. Paul Park severely injured one man and hurt four other individuals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says the explosion was the result of Ashland's failure to seal a manhole cover on a sewer used to transport flammable hydrocarbons, such as oil and gasoline.

Hydrocarbons leaked from the manhole cover and reached a flame or spark that ignited the fire. After the initial fire was extinguished, a second leak of hydrocarbons from the manhole cover caught fire and injured members of a cleanup crew.

In July 1997, after the fire, Ashland sent a false certification to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency stating that its sewer system was in compliance with the CAA, and failing to reveal that an unsealed manhole cover had caused a fire.

Under the agreement, Ashland will pay $3.5 million to the most severely injured man and pay medical coverage for him and his family. The four other injured workers will receive $10,000 each.

Ashland will pay a $3.5 million criminal fine, sponsor a workshop at a national petroleum conference dealing with the Clean Air Act's New Source Performance Standards for petroleum wastewater systems, take out full page notices in two major regional newspapers concerning the accident and its resolution, pay $50,000 to each fire department that responded to the incident and add $50,000 Ashland's own Emergency Response Team Budget.

Ashland will also perform $3.7 million in upgrades to the treatment system at the St. Paul Park Refinery to ensure that the accident does not recur.

Conference Produces Wildfire Management Plan

At a conference of the Western Governors' Association in Idaho City last week, the governors were joined by Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and Interior Secretary Gale Norton in crafting proposals to reduce the risk of wildfires.

The plan endorsed by the conference attendants sets performance standards for the implementation of the 10 Year Comprehensive Strategy, signed last August, which emphasizes the need to increase firefighting resources and reduce the buildup of fuels such as underbrush. The goals of the implementation plan are to promote community assistance, reduce hazardous fuels, and maintain and restore fire adapted ecosystems.

To achieve these goals, local managers will work with states, tribes, local governments and citizens to plan the location of firefighting resources, fuels reduction, restoration projects in burned areas and maintenance of healthy ecosystems.

“Working together, we will promote sound forest management to restore forest health and make the recreational opportunities and resources of our forests more accessible,” said President George W. Bush after the conference. “In many areas, this will require active forest management efforts to thin our forests of excessive natural fuels and restore native vegetation to our forests and rangelands.”

Earlier this year, President Bush directed Veneman and Norton to convene a conference of federal, state and local partners to discuss scientific issues and community efforts regarding forest and rangeland health and management. Governors Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho and John Kitzhaber of Oregon serve as co-leads for the Western Governors' Association on wildland fire and forest health restoration issues.

"For decades we've been suppressing wildfires that used to naturally thin many of our forests. The unfortunate result, however, has been to raise the potential for dangerously large and intense wildfires," said Governor Kitzhaber. "This plan guides our restoration and fuel reduction efforts in ways that make our forests and rangelands more resilient to fire. The plan will not only make our forests and rangelands healthier, but also increase the safety of our communities and cause less danger to our firefighters."

The plan, “A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment 10 Year Comprehensive Strategy Implementation Plan,” can be found at: http://www.fireplan.gov and http://www.westgov.org

Deep Sea Expedition Explores Galapagos Vents

Before 1977, the thought of deep sea creatures that thrived in extreme heat and dined on a chemical soup was something found only in science fiction novels. However, after a trip to the Galapagos that year, what scientists discovered went from science fiction to science fact.

About 8,000 feet below the water's surface, the scientists found hydrothermal vents hosting thriving communities of sea life, including clams, mussels and tubeworms, living on or in the vents.

How and if the sea life around the vents has changed, along with a search for new vent communities in the area, will be part of the focus of a scientific expedition May 24 to June 2 to the Galapagos to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the initial discovery.

Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, National Science Foundation and other institutions and universities will travel aboard the 274 foot long research ship Atlantis, operated by Woods Hole. The trip is the first of NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration 2002 missions.

During the journey, scientists will collect samples, map new areas, and conduct biological, chemical and geologic studies.

"The expedition will provide a very dramatic example of the amazing and exotic biological environments we now know exist along the crest of the mid-ocean ridge that encircles the Earth," said Steve Hammond, director of NOAA's VENTS program and co-chief scientist for the Galapagos expedition. "Without a doubt, exploration of these deep ocean realms will lead to major scientific discoveries and eventually to tangible economic benefits as well."

Before 1977, it was thought that life depended on the sun or photosynthesis, but the creatures discovered in and around the thermal vents thrive on chemosynthesis, or the energy and heat from the Earth's interior.

"Some scientific discoveries are profound because they make pieces fall into place and solve long standing puzzles. Others are profound because they shatter old notions and launch entirely new lines of inquiry. The discovery of the Galapagos vents in 1977 did both," said Timothy Shank of Woods Hole, the other co-chief scientist on the cruise.

Students and the general public can follow the expedition online at: http://www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/ or http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/

"Discovery of the hydrothermal vent communities is one of the most exciting developments in oceanography in the past 50 years," said Jim Yoder, director of NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences. "The upcoming cruise is a great opportunity to see how these fascinating communities may have changed over the years."

2003 Parks Pass to Feature New Mexico Monument

Donna Archuleta of Albuquerque, New Mexico snapped the grand prize winning photo in the annual National Parks Pass Experience Your America Photo Contest, sponsored by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation with Eastman Kodak Company.

“I was very surprised and deeply humbled by the news,” said Donna Archuleta, “but of course I’m thrilled my picture won!”

Her photo of historic Fort Union National Monument just north of Santa Fe will be featured on the 2003 National Park Pass. The $50 pass allows one year of unlimited entry into all National Parks that charge entrance fees.

Archuleta’s winning photo was one of more than 8,000 entries submitted in the second annual contest - almost double the number as last year.

National Park Service Director Fran Mainella said the diversity of entries - from landscapes and animals to abstracts and historic scenes - expressed the myriad reasons Americans love their parks.

“With the kick off of the summer vacation season right around the corner, we know millions of Americans are going to be heading out soon to visit their National Parks,” Mainella said. “Most of them will be taking pictures, and one of those pictures is going to be next year’s contest winner, just like Donna Archuleta.”

Congress authorized the National Parks Pass in 1998, along with an annual contest to select its cover image. Parkgoers use the $50 annual passes for access to National Parks that charge entrance fees. More than 80 percent of the proceeds from sales of the National Parks Pass fund national park projects.

“The National Parks Pass offers Park lovers everywhere a means to support and connect with all 385 national parks,” said Jim Maddy, president of the National Park Foundation. “Americans have a long history of supporting their national parks through volunteering, philanthropy and visitation, and the pass is a great way to continue this tradition.”

This year’s winning entries are featured online.