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Date: Fri, 4 Oct 1996 12:20:06 -0500
From: "CLEAR View Mailing List"
Attached is the latest issue of A CLEAR View, our periodic bulletin on the 'wise use' movement.
Permission to repost by electronic means (or reproduce in other media) all or part of the attached report is granted so long as the information is attributed to CLEAR.
Distribution within environmental organizations and networks is encouraged.
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As always, send along your news and leads regarding 'wise use'-- you are our eyes and ears! Please contact CLEAR (at clear@ewg.org) with any comments or questions.
Thank you.
A CLEAR View Vol. 3 No. 15 October 4, 1996
CONTENTS:
Notable Quote Features: *1: Property Rights: Sens Wyden and Warner introduced legislation that protects homeowners from anti-enviro actions. *2: Boundary Waters Canoe Area: Measure to allow trucks on three portages included in omnibus parks bill.
What the Users Are Up To: *3: Dial Up a Business Alliance: The Greater Richmond Alliance for Clean Air has installed a toll-free phone number for residents interested in area ozone levels and ways to battle air pollution. The alliance is a subsidiary of the Foundation for Clean Air Progress. *4: "Takings" Legislation in Alabama: "Property Rights" supporters in Alabama have been pushing "takings" for three legislative sessions. *5: Conservative Activists Push to "Oust" Rep. Boehlert from Task Force: The National Rifle Association and Former Sen. Malcom Wallop (R-WY) want Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) dropped as co-chair of the House GOP Environmental Task Force. *6: Litigation Program Launched: The National Association of Homebuilders has a developed litigation center to steer public policy towards protecting the property rights of developers. *7: Chenoweth Holds Hearing: Rep. Helen Chenoweth (R-ID) heard testimony concerning HR 3862, the Citizen's Fair Hearing Act. *8: Group Wants Judge Impeached: People for the West circulates petition calling for the impeachment of a Federal District Court judge in Arizona. *9: Federated Women in Timber: The California-based group has made an effort to become credentialed as a Non- Governmental Organization, or NGO, by the U.N. *10: Myth Busting: The pesticide Alar is still in the news. A journalist tells us why.
Resources, Tools and Strategies for Environmental Activists: *11: New Report on Toxic Dumping: National and state-specific studies of toxic pollution of America's waterways.
A CLEAR View Vol. 3 No. 15 October 4, 1996
Notable Quote: "So if elected president, you can bet that I'm going to take a long hard look at revamping the system. Naturally, that will require a very solid Secretary of Interior. Although most of my secretaries would have to type and look good in a skirt, I'd make an exception here and appoint Clark Collins, executive director of the BlueRibbon Coalition." -- from a column by Steve Janes in Sno West (Snowmobile West) magazine, August 1996. The BlueRibbon Coalition supports opening wilderness areas to all-terrain vehicles.
Features:
*1 Property Rights: Counter-Measure Introduced In Senate In an unusual partnership, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and John Warner (R-VA) on September 12 introduced legislation that would allow homeowners to sue in federal court for compensation if anti-enviro actions regulated by the federal government, such as filling wetlands or emitting pollution, reduce their property values by more than $10,000. In his statement on the bill's introduction, Senator Wyden discussed how his bill would counter the current property-rights legislation requiring compensation for reduced property values from environmental regulation. He spoke of "the interests of the largest group of property owners -- the 60 million homeowners" living in the United States: "The typical homeowners who we all represent live in already constructed homes; they are not developing their property. When they use their property in a typical fashion, they are not regulated under the wetlands law, the endangered species law, or any other Federal status. The typical homeowner is helped, not hurt, by many government policies that keep our air clean and our water healthy and pure. When these homeowners' property rights and property values are threatened, the threat is more likely to come from pollution from neighboring factories than from government actions to protect the environment." A copy of proposed legislation S. 2070, Homeowners Empowerment and Protection Act of 1996, is available from CLEAR. (sources: Congressional Record 9/12; Greenwire/Congress Daily/A.M., 9/17).
*2 Parks Bill: Oberstar, Grams Attach BWCA Measure Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and Sen. Rod Grams (R-MN) on September 12 convinced a House-Senate conference to include a measure in the omnibus parks bill to allow trucks on three portages in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota. The move, which upset environmentalists and delighted some northern Minnesotans, has the potential to undercut federal mediation that began last week to resolve the dispute over whether motorized vehicles and boats should be allowed in the BWCA (Greenwire, 8/1). The office of Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN) -- the main proponent of the mediation -- criticized the move by Oberstar and Grams as a "Republican back-room deal." Meanwhile, a coalition of northeastern MN citizens groups on September 11 leveled attacks on Wellstone and the mediation process, alleging the senator helped stack the 20- member mediation panel with enviros. The BWCA, in northeastern Minnesota's Superior National Forest, is part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Over one million acres in size, this wilderness contains several thousand portage-linked lakes and streams, interspersed with islands, forests and crags. The BWCA is said to be one of the most heavily used wilderness area in the United States. (from Greenwire/Byrne/Rebuffoni, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 9/13).
What the Users are up to:
*3 Who's Answering, Please? Sometimes you want to know who's on the other end of the phone. Residents of Richmond, Virginia should wonder next time they use the new toll-free phone number to get the latest Richmond-area ozone forecast. According to an article in the Richmond-Times Dispatch, the 800 number is a service recently started by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Greater Richmond Alliance for Clean Air. (Secretary of the DEQ, Becky Norton Dunlap, is a board member of the National Wilderness Institute, an anti-environmental group connected to the Alliance for America, Grassroots ESA, and Get Government off Our Back networks.)
It turns out that the phone call directs the caller to the alliance's parent organization, the Foundation for Clean Air Progress, a national nonprofit group in Washington. The article doesn't mention who else is behind the green-sounding group: American Farm Bureau Federation; American Highway Users Alliance; American Recreation Coalition; Transportation Coalition for Clean Air; The National Grange; National Council of Farmer Cooperatives; American Trucking Associations; American Corn Growers Association; The Road Information Program; American Bus Association; Service Station Dealers Association; Salt Institute; National Asphalt Pavement Association; American Road and Transportation; Builders Association; Petroleum Marketers Association of America; American Petroleum Institute; Asphalt Institute; Associated General Contractors; National Private Truck Council; National Association of Fleet Administrators.
*4 Can't Name A Case in Dixie "Takings" has been the agenda of "property rights" supporters in Alabama for the past three state legislative sessions. Supporters of private property rights in Alabama have united to push a bill that would provide compensation to private property owners whose land value has allegedly been diminished by government regulation. The "Alabama Private Property Protection Act of 1995" (note that the sponsors failed to update the year to 1996) specifies that a claim against a state agency for compensation could be triggered by any loss of property value. Prominent supporters are the Alabama Forestry Association, the Alfa Farmers Federation, the Cattleman's Association, and the Poultry and Egg Association, who collectively fund the Stewards Partnership, a for-profit organization that actively lobbies the legislature on property rights issues. The non-profit arm of the Stewards Partnership -- the Stewards of Family Farms, Ranches, and Forests -- is also financed by these groups. In 1992, State Forester Bill Moody started the Stewards organizations by dedicating about $7,000 worth of staff time and materials from his office. He developed the organization and promotional literature with the approval of the Alabama Forestry Commission in 1992 (Montgomery Advertiser, Oct. 1992). Moody, now retired, and his son Mike Moody run the Stewards groups. When Moody was deposed under oath in May, 1993 for spending state funds on his private group, he could not name a single case of federal regulations having a negative impact on a family farm. The deposition specifically asked Moody about "takings" under the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, among others. To this day, the Stewards have not publicly named a case of a "taking" that would be prevented by their property rights bill. Without a justifiable need for private property protection, the Stewards maintain their agenda through scare tactics such as telling "horror stories" about property owners who are victims of "unbridled regulation." Leading the charge against a compensation bill is the Association of County Commissions who fear such a bill would bottleneck their many responsibilities and drain their operating budget. For example, a "takings" bill would block Tuscaloosa County from meeting its commitment to Mercedes-Benz, a future county employer who has nearly completed an all- terrain vehicle assembly plant. The county's agreement with Mercedes- Benz stated that it would provide zoning to facilitate rapid development in the vicinity -- the automaker wants to ensure its future employees managed growth and traffic control. But with the threat of a "takings" bill, the county is hesitant to make land use and zoning decisions that would make the county vulnerable to "takings" lawsuits. The state senate committees which have been hearing testimony on the subject have begun to lose interest in the "takings" issue. In fact, at a senate committee hearing before the legislature ended its session this year, the case for legalizing bear wrestling drew more attention than the argument for "takings". "Takings" supporters, however, have successfully convinced Alabama Governor Fob James (R) to list property rights as a top priority this election year. During his weekly statewide radio address in April, the Governor was asked "Could this bill potentially become the largest unfunded mandate in state history?" and "Would you have to raise taxes to compensate landowners?" The Governor replied that the fiscal note, a financial impact statement prepared by the Legislative Research Service, showed "zero dollar" impact to the state treasury. In fact, the one paragraph fiscal note stated "indeterminable amount", since the Service had not undertaken a detailed cost estimate per agency of the staff time needed to review proposed actions and handle property owners' claims. Considering his bottom line of "no new taxes", James was stumped by the suggestion that defending property rights could become an unfunded mandate. He canceled his weekly radio program the following week. (Contributed by Hendrik Snow, Coordinator of the Watchdog Campaign, Alabama Environmental Council)
*5 Conservatives Want Boehlert Dropped from Task Force Greenwire reports that Former Sen. Malcolm Wallop (R-WY), Rep. Wes Cooley (R-OR) and the National Rifle Association were among a group of "conservative activists" who on September 16 asked House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) to "oust" Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) as co-chair of the House GOP Environmental Task Force (Congress Daily/A.M., 9/17). The letter contended that Boehlert's activities "undermine the mission and credibility" of the task force and accused Boehlert of working with the Sierra Club and other enviro groups to weaken GOP-led efforts to revamp the nation's environmental laws while retaining a GOP majority in Congress. Gingrich named Boehlert, who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, to co-chair the task force with Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) (Greenwire, 3/22). Boehlert aide David Goldston said the allegations were based on faulty assumptions and that "no one has worked harder than Boehlert" to preserve the GOP majority. Sierra Club's Debbie Sease: "If it weren't for [Boehlert's] leadership in trying to pull together a cadre of moderate Republicans, the voting record of [GOPers] in this Congress would be even worse than it is now." Gingrich's office had no response to the letter. (Ronald Powers, AP/mult., 9/17).
*6 New Litigation Program The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) has launched a litigation program to steer public policy towards protecting the property rights of developers. According to a recent newsletter published by Oregonians in Action (OIA), an organization seeking to restore private property rights in Oregon, the NAHB plans to duplicate the success that some special interest groups have had through litigation to shape public policy. A major priority of the program is the "Strategic Dolan Initiative" or SDI. The national organization will be working with state and local homebuilder organizations to identify state and local laws that violate the US Supreme Court's decision in Dolan v. City of Tigard, which was a "takings" case won by the OIA Legal Center in 1994. That decision requires cities and counties to prove that conditions they impose on building permits are "roughly proportional" to the impacts of the building project. According to the August OIA newsletter, the "OIA Legal Center has found that some cities and counties are still imposing conditions that violate the High Court's decision." The Legal Center says it welcomes the NAHB program, and hopes to work closely with state and local homebuilder groups (from the Oregonian's in Action newsletter "Looking Forward," August 1996).
*7 Chenoweth holds Hearing Witnesses testified September 17 on a proposed bill to grant people who believe they have been economically harmed by the Endangered Species Act the "standing" to sue for redress under that act. Introduced July 22 by Idaho Rep. Helen Chenoweth's (R), the Citizen's Fair Hearing Act (HR 3862) would ensure that any person having any economic interest that is directly or indirectly harmed by a designation of critical habitat could bring a citizen's suit. The bill is in response to a decision by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit that said private property owners and other persons suing "to recover damages imposed by the Endangered Species Act" do not have standing to bring the suits because they do not fall into the zone of interests protected by the act. According to the decision, unless the plaintiffs were seeking to further the purposes of the ESA (protect species), they could not sue. Environmentalists state that the bill is essentially unnecessary to protect the public's right to sue. They say that while it is true that certain cases have been denied standing under the ESA, those plaintiffs could seek redress under the Administrative Procedures Act. "This is just one of the many myths about the act, that somehow [people] are being denied access to the courts," according to John Kostyaak of the National Wildlife Federation. Nine witnesses gave testimony supporting the bill. Earl Christensen, a farmer representing the Idaho Farm Bureau, said he and the Bureau filed suit against the Fish and Wildlife Service for its listing of an endangered snail living in the Snake River ecosystem. In the suit, Christensen and the Bureau claimed "a threat of economic damage" because he and other ranchers would have to contribute to a special fund that would help preserve the snail's critical habitat. Christensen said that the judge ruled that he and the Bureau were outside the "zone of interest" and therefore did not have standing to file the suit. He said "it cost him and the Idaho Farm Bureau $165,000 to find out he didn't have standing." He testified that the bill "would allow people like him to contest the government's action." John Leshy, solicitor for the Interior Department, testified against the bill, saying that it was unnecessary and "the bill is a flawed solution to a problem that doesn't exist." He said that legislation should wait until a decision is made on the appeal of the 9th Circuit case sometime in March of 1997. (The case is on appeal as Bennett vs. Spear before the Supreme Court.) He said that the reason Earl Christensen was ruled by the court to be outside the zone of interest was because of the narrow precedent set by the 9th Circuit case. He also said that litigants can litigate the government over ESA regulations and that "2,000 cases are pending right now." Testifying in support of the bill was John Macleod, Esq. of Crowell and Moring who spoke on behalf of the American Forest and Paper Association. He offered a new interpretation of the Constitution by declaring that it was their belief that "Congress, not judges, should decide the law." He later summed up by saying, "As it stands, the ESA does not allow integrity of the listing process." Nancy Marzulla of Defenders of Property Rights also testified. She said that "Defenders have filed an amicus brief in the Bennett case" and also commented that "Judges should not create law." Witnesses included: Senator John Torgerson, Alaska State Senate, Kasilof, Alaska; John A. Macleod, Esq., Crowell and Moring, Washington, D.C.; Earl Christensen, Idaho Farm Bureau, Burley, Idaho; John Leshy, Solicitor, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.; Nancie G. Marzulla, President and Chief Legal Counsel, Defenders of Property Rights, Washington, D.C.; Sam Kazman, General Counsel, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C.; David Hayes, Commissioner, Williamson County, Texas, Georgetown, Texas; John Carr, Executive Director, Direct Services Industry, Inc., Portland, Oregon.
*8 People for the West Circulates Petition A petition urging Congress to impeach Judge Carl A. Muecke from the Federal District Court in Arizona has been launched by People for the West! (PFW!). The judge, in 1995, ordered a halt of New Mexico and Arizona logging until the Forest Service performed a consultation on forest plans. Since then, Muecke has steadfastly maintained that the ban on logging will not be lifted until the Fish and Wildlife Service issues a biological opinion as required by the ESA. PFW!, which represents logging, mining and grazing concerns, claims that the judge is shirking his duty to provide fair and impartial decisions. (from Forest Guardians' Frontline fax report, No. 56 July 29, 1996).
*9 If You Can't Beat the New World Order, Join It... The Federated Women in Timber has made an effort to become credentialed as a Non-Governmental Organization, or NGO, by the United Nations, according to the June 21, 1996 issue of "Scoop," an e-mail newsletter from The National Center for Public Policy Research, a group that promotes grassroots conservative activism. According to Mary Fattig of the California-based timber organization: "It is not that we want to be part of the United Nations. It's that we have to be part of the United Nations" because the Sierra Club and similar groups are part of it. During a May 23 meeting of the Environmental Policy Task Force, an anti-environmental working group established by the National Center for Public Policy Research, Fattig discussed a UN project to develop "biosphere zones" that she said would "dictate how many people can live in a single square mile." Although we can't be sure, we assume Fattig was referring to the U.N.'s "Man and Biosphere Program" which, instead of dictating where people can live, collects and standardizes long-term ecological data in 324 "biosphere reserves" worldwide. The Clinton administration has said that the program "plays a leadership role in creating an ecological information system to monitor global change."
*10 Myth Busting: Taking the Alar out of Alarm The pesticide Alar continues to haunt the environmental movement, according to journalist Elliot Negin in the fall edition of Columbia Journalism Review. And for no good reason. In his article "The Alar 'Scare' was for Real," Negin says Alar "is still very much in the news" and is "the rallying cry" of the food and chemical industry trade groups as they lobby for 'agricultural-disparagement' laws meant to blunt criticism of their products." Negin recounts the myth of Alar: in the late 1980's, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) manipulated CBS's 60 Minutes into hyping the dangers of Alar, a chemical sprayed on apples to regulate their growth and enhance their color. About 40 million people watching the program heard that Alar was a dangerous carcinogen. Shortly thereafter, according to the myth, NRDC's public relations firm fed the information to major news organizations. The public panicked, orchard owners lost millions of dollars, and the pesticide manufacturer, Uniroyal Chemical Co., had to take Alar off the market (even though it posed no risk, according to the company). Negin says that like most myths, "this one includes a fact or two: There was indeed an overreaction to the 60 Minutes report as viewers confused a long-term cumulative threat with imminent danger." But otherwise, the Alar myth is only myth: Studies have verified NRDC's findings that "Alar is a potent carcinogen." Negin says that elaborate subsequent studies and review confirm the early NRDC studies. EPA banned it because it "pose[d] an unacceptable risk to public health." In addition, 60 Minutes has been vindicated in court. On April 29, the Supreme Court upheld "an appeals court decision dismissing a 1990 $250- million class-action suit filed by a group of Washington state apple growers." Despite these hard numbers, Negin says public perception continues to view Alar as an example of environmental false alarm and "government regulation run amok." Negin asked John Stauber, editor of PR Watch, why misconceptions about Alar persist. Stauber said that erroneous reporting on "Alar is largely due to a sophisticated public relations counterattack mounted shortly after the 60 Minutes show." Stauber says the national news media continues to ignore the reality of the Alar story. It has not been following the "legacy of the Alar controversy: the agricultural-disparagement laws, sometimes called "veggie hate-crime bills." Stauber says that "the laws making it illegal to disparage fruits, vegetables, and meat are part of the national campaign to intimidate anyone who raises legitimate concerns about food safety." Stauber concluded by saying that "reporting on mad cow disease, E. coli bacteria, or pesticides could bring on a multimillion-dollar lawsuit." (from the Columbia Journalism Review, September/October 1996)
Resources, Tools and Strategies for Environmental Activists
*11 New Report on Toxic Dumping
Under existing federal pollution control laws, the American
people are kept in the dark about the vast majority of toxic
pollution spewed into the environment by U.S. industry. Even
the most comprehensive toxic pollution reporting system in the
nation, the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), accounts for only
about 5 percent of all toxic pollution of the environment each
year. Most pollution of America's waters is unregulated and
unmonitored -- allowing polluters to pollute with little fear of
regulation or disclosure. The Environmental Working Group
and U.S. PIRG have released a report based on the publicly
available TRI data to show the staggering amount of toxic
chemicals flowing into our rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans.
The report "Dishonorable Discharge: Toxic Pollution of
American Waters" is available free via world wide web
For additional information on anything you've read in A CLEAR View, please contact CLEAR.
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CLEAR Clearinghouse on Environmental Advocacy and Research 1718 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20009 tel. 202-667-6982 = fax 202-232-2592 = = e-mail: clear@ewg.org = www: http://www.ewg.org
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CLEAR provides grassroots and national environmental advocates and organizations with information about the vital importance of fair and effective environmental policies in protecting human health, natural resources, communities and private property. Through publications, research and facts, CLEAR helps concerned citizens understand and counter misinformation about environmental policy and science and the impacts of environmental law on the economy and private property.
CLEAR depends on grassroots activists to keep us informed of any articles, anti-environmental events, success or horror stories about local, regional and national resource and property rights battles.
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CLEAR is a project of the Environmental Working Group, a not- for- profit 501(c)(3) environmental research and publishing organization based in Washington, D.C.
About the Environmental Working Group
The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C. Environmental Working Group is a project of the Tides Foundation, a California Public Benefit Corporation based in San Francisco that provides administrative and program support services to nonprofit programs and projects.
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