Capitol Watch
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June/July 2000
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Features
Cleaner Air Coming to Detroit
Henry Ford Hospital to Close Incinerator
by Mary Beth Doyle
Selling Their Future Short?
Engler Panel Ignores Doctors' Advice
by Dave Dempsey
Recycling Land
Brownfield Redevelopment is a Balancing Act of Priorities
by Mike Tolinski
Dumbing Down the Children
Michigan, Other States Ignore Federal Lead Testing Law
by Peter Montague
Columns
Tiny Township Turns Down GM
Rural Milan Residents Reject Rail-Car Yard, by Aretta Schills
Diet, Health, and the Environment
An Interview with John Robbins, by Rachel Shaw
Healthy Home and Garden
Energy Star Products Save Cash and Power, by Kristi Jacques
Huron Valley News
Webster Township Holds Sprawl Forum, by Ernie Becker
Science for the People
Pesticides Linked to Decreased Fertility, by Mary Beth Doyle
Court Rebukes Engler, Upholds EPA Smog Rule
In February, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. upheld EPA's key policy to reduce smog in the eastern United States. Environmental groups applauded the court's ruling in support of the Agency's "NOx SIP Call," which had been challenged by several midwestern states, including Michigan.
"This is a huge victory for clean air and the health of kids and seniors," said David Hawkins, Director of Air and Energy Programs for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The pollution cuts will reduce the severity of ozone smog episodes during the summer and help to create a level playing field for electricity generation."
The Clean Air Act requires states to adopt rules to prevent interstate pollution as part of national smog clean-up efforts. In 1995, in response to a lawsuit by several environmental groups, EPA convened representatives of 37 states in the eastern part of the country to develop regional clean-up plans. In 1998 EPA issued a rule requiring 22 of those states to cut smog-forming emissions from electric power plants and other pollution sources to abate interstate pollution. Industry and several upwind states sued EPA and the case was argued in November, 1999. The Circuit Court decision rejected all significant industry and state attacks on EPA's rules and clears the obstacles that have prevented implementation of this important public health program.
The decision means power plants and other large air pollution sources in the central and eastern U.S. will have to reduce their summer smog-causing emissions by about 60% by 2003.
Michigan Right to Farm Law Usurps Local Powers
The Legislature approved amendments to the Right To Farm Act, which prohibit local ordinances that affect agriculture without state approval. The state Department of Environmental Quality will now decide agriculture regulations for townships. Given that approximately half of the state's population now lives in townships, the new law may have implications for half the state.
Environmentalists and local government officials strenuously opposed the bill. John LaRose, executive director of the Michigan Townships Association, told the Capitol News Service that "the state can take over a township's authority when it wants to at the behest of businesses and industry." The state chamber of commerce, real estate industry, and the Michigan Farm Bureau lobbied in favor of the bill.
Environmentalists warned that the new law could make it more difficult for townships to control the huge farms known as consolidated animal feeding operations, whose waste poses serious water pollution and quality of life problems. Fearing a squeeze-out by the large agricultural operations, family farmers also opposed the legislation, but were not permitted to testify against it.
Study Finds Eco-Crime Pays in Michigan
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released a report in January that large industrial polluters are breaking the Clean Water Act in Michigan and routinely getting away with it. EWG found that all ten major facilities violated the law at least once in the two-year period between April 1997 and March 1999. On average, they accrued violations during five of the eight quarters analyzed, and four companies committed violations in every quarter. Three of the ten are ranked as "significant violators." None of the violators have been fined under the Act.
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