ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL BLOGS

AB 492 GOES "INACTIVE"

     I have Posted numerous items regarding AB 492 (go to "PERCHLORATE" under "CATEGORIES" on the right-hand side of this page), the legislation designed to require annual reporting of perchlorate handling.  The bill, which passed the Assembly and was on the verge of passage in the Senate, has suddenly been placed on "inactive" status on the motion of Sen. Nell Soto (D-Ontario).

     This development is probably a good things since, as previous Posts re AB 492 have pointed out, the bill was inartfully drafted.  Initially primarily intended to require dry cleaners annually to report their handling of perchlorate, the bill missed the mark since, as it turns out, dry cleaners don't use perchlorate.  Maybe someone woke up to this fact?

     In any event, I have contacted Sen. Soto's office to attempt to find out why she moved to put the bill in the legislative trash can, so to speak.  I'll let you know what I hear.

CAL EPA DECIDES NOT TO LIST PERCHLORATE AS PROPOSITION 65 REPRODUCTIVE TOXICANT

  In a Post of June 20, 2005, I mentioned that Cal EPA was considering such listing.  But, in the same Contra Costa Times' article quoted in the Post below concerning Olin's victory in the San Jose perchlorate civil trial, we learn that such listing will not occur.  To quote from the article:

On Thursday, the California Environmental Protection Agency announced it will not include perchlorate on the state's Proposition 65 list of toxic chemicals known to cause cancer and birth defects. The EPA said it has not been clearly shown to cause reproductive harm.

OLIN WINS SAN JOSE PERCHLORATE TRIAL

  On July 16 and 26, 2005, I Posted about the trial by Santa Clara County residents against Olin Corporation regarding Olin's admitted contamination of area groundwater with perchlorate.  As the Posts said, the Plaintiffs did not claim health problems from the contamination but did claim damages to property values and to lifestyle.

     Now comes word that, last Friday, the jury hearing the case rendered a defense verdict.  The story can be found in The Contra Costa Times (free subscription site).

   

DTSC TO HOLD PUBLIC PERCHLORATE "BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES" WORKSHOP ON AUGUST 19, 2005

     In 2003, the California Legislature enacted AB 826, or the "Perchlorate Contamination Prevention Act" (statute-wise, the legislation amended Health and Safety Code Section 25404; added Section 25504.1; and added Articles 10.01 (commencing with Section 25210.5) and 12.5 (commencing with Section 25249.1).  The Act, among other things, requires (in the words of the Legislative Counsel's Digest):

the [Department of Toxics Substances Control] to adopt regulations, by December 31, 2005, specifying best management practices for managing perchlorate materials.  The bill would prohibit a person from managing perchlorate materials after the effective date of those regulations, except in compliance with the best management practices
specified in those regulations.

     Moving to get its act together in light of the upcoming year-end deadline, DTSC has scheduled a "Perchlorate Best Management Practices" workshop for this Friday, August 19, 2005.  The workshop will be held in Sacramento; but, in this Internet age, you don't even have to be in Sacramento to participate.

     The audio of the workshop will be broadcast over the Internet; and Internet listeners can submit comments and questions during the workshop at an e-mail address provided by DTSC.  For complete information about physical attendance or Internet participation in the workshop, go to the workshop announcement from DTSC.  The announcement also enables you to sign up for e-mail notification of related developments and advises where to go to find the "best management practices" draft regulations, when available.

FIRE POLLUTION, THE WEST AND THE THIRD WORLD

   In the last few days, the press has widely covered Astronaut Collins' observation from the Space Shuttle of environmental degradation on Earth.  Noteworthy was her singling out of widespread fires on the African continent.

     Now comes word that hundreds of forest fires raging on Indonesia's Sumatra Island have polluted nearby Malaysia:

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysia said it would hold crisis talks with Indonesia over the choking haze caused by fires in Sumatra, which has reached hazardous levels and forced Kuala Lumpur's second airport to close.

In Port Klang, a major shipping centre just west of the capital Kuala Lumpur, the air pollution index shot up to 410. Several other parts of the country also recorded levels in excess of 300 which is considered officially "hazardous".

"If the API hits 500 we will declare it an emergency," Environment Minister Adenan Satem said. "The situation is not getting better, it is getting worse."...

Adenan showed satellite images of Indonesia's Riau and North Sumatra provinces on Sumatra island where hundreds of forest fires are raging, sending pollutants across the Malacca Strait and onto Malaysia's central west coast....

Indonesian officials warned that the blazes, caused by illegally using fire to clear land on Sumatra island and Kalimantan, would worsen in coming weeks.

Meteorological Department official Wong Teck Kiong said only the October monsoon season would shift the haze, as the southwesterly winds bringing smoke from Sumatra would not change direction until then.

     The raging, environmentally-destructive fires in Africa and Indonesia serve as a reminder that automobiles and industry-- generally the chief pollution culprits in Western media reports-- may have received distorted focus regarding the world's most serious environmental damage.  In fact, the generally good environmental stewardship in Western industrial countries compares favorably to undeveloped/newly developing areas not rich enough to be able to afford environmental policing.

     As the above article says, the fires raging in Indonesia, and the resulting air pollution, come about as the result of using fire to clear cut forests.  If a similar situation occurred in the United States today, we would be apoplectic;  Congress would be holding hearings; the Sierra Club or similar organizations would be running ads on TV and holding press conferences; the Department of Justice would be seeking search warrants in an attempt to locate the firebugs; etcetera etcetera.

     In short, Western capitalist-oriented societies have frankly done a better job in protecting the environment than has been done by undeveloped/newly developing countries.  The message:  wealth-creation is the friend, not the enemy of the environment; and attempting to turn back the clock on the industrial revolution would make things worse, not better, for the air we breathe, the land we live on and the water we drink.

MAYBE "REEFER MADNESS" WAS RIGHT...

     For those of you old enough to remember, or for the younger among us who learned about it as a joke, the black-and-white '50's film "Reefer Madness" has come to symbolize old-fashioned attitudes toward marijuana use.  Now we are told, however, that "reefers" may be an environmental hazard- causing "madness" among environmentalists.

     In a letter published in today's Long Beach (CA) Press-Telegram, Detective Gregg Roberts of the Long Beach Police Department outlines some of the dangers his officers face when raiding a home marijuana factory:

The concerns of police officers at a clandestine indoor marijuana grow are as follows:

Mold spoor. Marijuana mold spoor is documented as being toxic and causes respiratory and allergic reactions. At an indoor grow operation, decaying marijuana plant material is prevalent and mold is common.

Toxic chemicals. The chemicals used in the hydroponic cultivation of marijuana include fertilizers, pesticides and steroids, which can all create health hazards for humans.

Mercury. Mercury vapor lights are used in the grow rooms. Any broken bulbs can cause harmful mercury exposure. ...

...Various studies are now indicating that the use of respiratory protection is probably appropriate at any marijuana grow, and almost always at a clandestine indoor grow operation, and especially when handling items coming out of the grow room.

     Peace, man!

    

ASTRONAUTS' VIEW OF DEGRADED EARTH ENVIRONMENT--AOL's OWN DEGRADING HEADLINE OF THE STORY

     If you subscribe to AOL, as you know when you login you are greeted with (besides the famous "You've Got Mail" audio) the visual of today's top news.  While I in general like AOL, I have from time to time (not infrequently) found its top news headlines somewhat lacking in accurately capturing the story being reported.  Today's AOL headline on the Shuttle astronaut's environmental observations proves no exception. First, the headline:

Damage Seen From Space-Astronauts Say Atmosphere Looks Like "Eggshell":  Other Signs of Harm

     When I read this headline, my first reaction was that pollution has actually caused our atmosphere to compress in size (!)-- the link to the Reuters story is the "Other Kinds of Harm" language that follows "Atmosphere Looks Like 'Eggshell".

     Here, however, is the "eggshell" comment in the context of the Reuters story featured in the above AOL headline:

"Sometimes you can see how there is erosion, and you can see how there is deforestation. It's very widespread in some parts of the world," Collins said in a conversation from space with Japanese officials in Tokyo, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

"We would like to see, from the astronauts' point of view, people take good care of the Earth and replace the resources that have been used," said Collins, who was standing with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi in front of a Japanese flag and holding a colorful fan.

Collins, flying her fourth shuttle mission, said the view from space made clear that Earth's atmosphere must be protected, too.

"The atmosphere almost looks like an eggshell on an egg, it's so very thin," she said. "We know that we don't have much air, we need to protect what we have."

(emphasis added)

     Reading Astronaut Collins' quote in context makes plain that she was observing, as a matter of historical fact, that the Earth's atmosphere is thin--something we have known since before "global" was ever put together with "warming" to coin one of today's favorite phrases.  She was not saying, as implied by the AOL headline, that pollution has been a cause of the thinness of the atmosphere.

     It is time for AOL to ask their headline writers to read the stories posted before writing the stories' headlines--something which the writers to date appear reluctant or too busy to do. 

 

REP. CONYERS INTRODUCES "United States Toxic Mold Safety and Protection Act of 2005"

     It has come to my attention that, in March of this year, Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) introduced the above-referenced legislation (also known as "the Melina Bill"), which as of this date has been referred to the House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity (to track the bill's status, go here).

     The Library of Congress' website on legislation, "Thomas- Legislative Information on the Internet", provides the following summary of what the bill, if enacted, would do:

"United States Toxic Mold Safety and Protection Act of 2005 or the Melina Bill - Directs: (1) the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to jointly study the health effects of indoor mold growth and toxic mold; (2) EPA to promulgate standards for preventing, detecting, and remediating indoor mold growth; and (3) EPA, NIH, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to sponsor related public education programs.

Directs: (1) rental property lessors to conduct annual indoor mold inspections and notify the occupants of such results; and (2) HUD and EPA to promulgate mold hazard disclosure regulations.

Directs the Secretary of HUD to: (1) establish, with respect to indoor mold in public housing, inspection requirements for existing housing and construction standards for new housing; and (2) establish model construction standards and techniques for mold prevention in new buildings.

Establishes an indoor/toxic mold inspection requirement with respect to federally made or insured mortgages.

Amends the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993 to provide for industry standards development for building products that are designed to retard mold development.

Directs EPA to make grants to States and local governments for mold growth remediation efforts in buildings owned or leased by such governments, including schools and multifamily dwellings.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an annual tax credit for 60 percent of non-reimbursed mold inspection and remediation expenses ($50,000 annual maximum) paid or incurred by a taxpayer.

Requires the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to: (1) establish a toxic mold insurance program, with priority for one-to-four-family residential properties; and (2) establish in the Treasury a National Toxic Mold Hazard Insurance Fund.

Authorizes the Director to assist qualifying insurers to form a federally-assisted toxic mold hazard insurance pool. Provides for Federal operation of such program under specified circumstances.

Authorizes State waiver of income, resource, and other Medicaid requirements for an individual whose health has been adversely affected by toxic mold exposure, and who lacks adequate medical insurance coverage."

     Rep. Conyers is understandably affected by the fact that the daughter of one of his employees has apparently taken ill after exposure to mold (hence the nickname "the Melina Bill").  However, even assuming that certain types of mold can be health hazards, nonetheless the problem of mold exposure varies significantly across the United States, depending on region.  The damp climates of the Northeast and Midwest call for different considerations regarding mold than do the relatively dry climates of Southern California and Arizona.

     Thus, do we really need to attempt to expand federal regulation further over what is likely a problem with regional variations?  Is there any reason to believe that the States should not be left to fashion their own specific responses to the particular and varied circumstances faced by each jurisdiction?

     For example, H.R. 1269, if enacted, would as summarized above require landlords to perform annual mold inspections.  While in some States, depending on climate, such a requirement may make sense, in other States less frequent inspections may be adequate.  Moreover, although perhaps not fashionable to ask anymore, since this is a legal Blog, one must ask:  what does mold in, say, an apartment building have to do with interstate commerce (which would have to be the basis for federal jurisdiction over a local health problem)?

     Rep. Conyers' H.R. 1269 is well motivated.  But for both practical and legal reasons, the feds should stay out of this one.

     By the way, if you would like to get Rep. Conyers' side of the argument, you can do so at his website. Please note that the website has a typographical error, labeling the bill as "H.R. 1268" when the actual bill is H.R. 1269.

AB 1341 AND ASSEMBLY MEMBER RUSKIN--NO RESPONSE

     In my Post of July 22, 2005 (category:  "RECYCLING") I advised that I was seeking information from California Assembly member Ira Ruskin as to why he asked that AB 1341 be put on inactive status.  To date, zero, nothing, nada in response to my inquiry.  I'll keep trying.