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THE STORY
BEHIND THE GUIDANCE RECENTLY ISSUED
After Lobbying, Wetlands
Rules Are Narrowed – The New York Times, July 5, 2007
(Snip) “After a
concerted lobbying effort by property developers, mine owners and
farm groups, the Bush administration scaled back proposed guidelines
for enforcing a key Supreme Court ruling governing
protected wetlands and streams.
The
administration last fall prepared broad new rules for interpreting
the decision, handed down by a divided Supreme Court in June 2006, that could have brought thousands of small
streams and wetlands under the protection of the Clean Water Act of
1972. The draft guidelines, for example, would allow the government
to protect marsh lands and temporary ponds that form during heavy
rains if they could potentially affect water quality in a nearby
navigable waterway.
But just before
the new guidelines were to be issued last September, they were pulled
back in the face of objections from lobbyists and lawyers for groups
concerned that the rules could lead to federal protection of isolated
and insignificant swamps, potholes and ditches.”
Click here for
the full New York Times article: “After
Lobbying, Wetlands Rules Are Narrowed”
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The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced that silver and
largescale silver carp will be finally listed as injurious under the
Lacey Act effective August 9, 2007. The listing bans the importation
and interstate transport of the species, gametes, and eggs. That means the fish cannot be shipped around the
country without a federal permit. Such permits are typically granted
only for research purposes.
This is one more layer of protection in the attempt to prevent
Asian carp species from entering and destroying the Great
Lakes ecosystem. This is an important step in protecting
the Great Lakes as populations of the silver and largescale silver
carp are impossible, both technically and financially, to control and
ultimately eradicate if found within the Great
Lakes ecosystem. Eradication
would be not be feasible due to the characteristics of the silver
carp species including their rapid reproduction and growth patterns
and opportunistic feeding habits in consuming primarily
phytoplankton, as well as zooplankton, bacteri, and detritus.
While a good
first step, the bighead and black carp species are still not listed
as injurious under the Lacey Act as petitioned by the Great Lakes
Task Force in October 2002. Hopefully,
the listing of the silver and largescale silver carp will serve as an
impetus to move forward with listing the other Asian carp species.
DEQ SLAMMED BY ELECTED OFFICIAL FOR
DOING THEIR JOB
Payback
alleged in DEQ lawsuit
State lawmaker says officials are
suing his company for his effort to cut their budget.
Detroit News, July 11, 2007
“State Rep. John Pastor, who
has tried to cut the budget of state environmental regulators, is
accusing them of political payback in a civil lawsuit that alleges wetlands violations by his family's
contracting company. The
Attorney General's Office last month filed suit on behalf of the
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality against George H. Pastor
& Sons Inc. The $200,000 lawsuit alleges the Livonia-based
company failed to comply with wetland and soil erosion permit
requirements. The Republican served as chairman of the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on the DEQ until the Democrats took
control of the House last year.
He said the "continuing saga" has cost his company
$100,000 and claimed it's retribution for his effort to cut the
department's budget and push for more local control of environmental
regulations. "We have done everything asked of us and then
some," said Pastor, who will lose his seat to term limits at the
end of 2008 but claims the suit could hurt his political future. Robert
McCann, a spokesman for the DEQ, said Pastor's claims are
"completely untrue." "To suggest it is politically
motivated is unfortunate, but it doesn't change the reality of the
situation -- the company failed to do what they committed to
doing," he said. Pastor's company got permits in 2001 to build a
strip mall housing a Trader Joe's grocery at Eight Mile and Haggerty.
The state began demanding answers in 2003 on claims the company
failed to enhance wetlands with plantings or create new wetlands on
another site off Seven Mile, McCann said. The state requires
developers who build on wetlands to minimize the impact. If impact is
unavoidable, developers must construct wetlands elsewhere. Pastor
said no measures seem good enough and the company has tried since
January to set up a meeting with the DEQ. Instead, the state filed
suit June 7 before Ingham County Circuit Judge Thomas Brown, Pastor
said. "Every project is in violation nobody can do it right.
It's a program that doesn't work," Pastor said.
Bill Ballenger, editor of
"Inside Michigan Politics," said the suit wouldn't have
much weight politically.
"If he was a guy up for
re-election next year then I would say something like this could be
significant," Ballenger said.”
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