EPA leader touts state control
By James Gonser
Advertiser Staff Writer
Environmental Protection Agency chief Christie Whitman told a group gathered at the Hilton Hawaiian Village yesterday that the Bush administration is serious about building partnerships with the states to protect the environment.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Whitman said the administration is providing an additional $25 million to states for environmental enforcement and another $25 million this year for information technology above the financing already provided to states.
Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christie Whitman was at the Hilton Hawaiian Village to present a symbolic $2 million check for environmental programs.
"Right now the states conduct 95 percent of the compliance reviews and 90 percent of the enforcement actions," Whitman said. "The president wants to provide the states with funding to help them do that job better. (The states) are on ground, they know where the problems are and who the bad actors are. They can help prioritize and be more effective."
Gary Gill, deputy director for environmental health in Hawai'i, said the state Health Department monitors, administers and enforces EPA regulations in Hawai'i.
"Almost all the enforcement actions on environmental issue are taken by the state," Gill said.
The Bush administration has been criticized by environmentalists for rejecting the Kyoto agreement on global warming, expanding oil drilling in Alaska's wilderness and weakening or delaying tough new standards on arsenic levels in drinking water. But Whitman also recently upheld environmental protection by telling General Electric it will have to pay hundreds of millions to dredge the Hudson River and remove carcinogenic PCBs the company put in the water.
Whitman said by putting the emphasis on state enforcement of environmental laws, the EPA is not backing away from its obligations.
"We actually have more in the budget for our criminal division, which is where we really at the EPA have the overriding role," she said.
Whitman is in Hawai'i for the annual Environmental Council of States meeting. The ECOS is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association of state and territorial environmental commissioners. Established in 1993, ECOS champions the role of states in environmental management.
George Meyer, president of ECOS, said states have been doing the lion's share of enforcement, and agrees that is appropriate.
"The states understand on a more detailed basis what their issues are," said Meyer, of Madison, Wis. "There is a proper role for the federal and state government. Finding the proper balance is what we are trying to do."
Health Director Bruce Anderson attended the meeting and said playing host to the ECOS meeting allows Hawai'i to act as a showplace for environmental protection.
"Hawai'i is becoming a serious meeting place for national groups like the ECOS and as the host state, we will be able to bring an island perspective to environmental issues and gain support and understanding from the EPA and our sister states."
Whitman, a former governor of New Jersey, has visited 21 states since taking over the EPA.
"Hawai'i has some unique challenges with water and air," she said. "Nonpoint source pollution is the biggest challenge in the water. It's runoff. Some of it is natural, but some comes from development and the lack of porous ground. The land has been paved and as people come here to live and want to enjoy Hawai'i, you lose some of the ground for the natural cleaning that takes place. It is not unique to Hawai'i. It is taking place in every state."
Whitman will present a symbolic check for $2 million to the ECOS today for grants to states to develop water quality monitoring and public notifications programs at the nation's beaches. The grants will be available through the EPA to any state with a beach and Hawai'i's share is expected to be about $50,000.
"My being here is a chance to talk about the issues or concerns here, to see how we can ensure that the agency and the region are responsive to the specific needs of individual states," Whitman said.
About half of the EPA's $7.5 billion annual budget — or $3.3 billion — consists of grants for states, tribes and other EPA partners, Whitman said.
Whitman also announced that the administration plans to introduce a proposal to establish mandatory reductions by power plants of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions while also providing the flexibility needed to achieve those reductions in ways that make environmental and economic sense.
