DEQ reverses - again.Byline: The Register-Guard For the second time in recent weeks, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has reversed course and abandoned an ill-advised rule change that would have weakened environmental protections. Late last month, the DEQ DEQ Abbreviation for the Incoterm "Delivered Ex Quay." jettisoned what would have been one of the weakest mercury-control plans in the nation. In its place, the agency issued a far more rigorous proposal to control toxic emissions from Portland General Electric's coal-fired power plant near Boardman. Now, the agency is retreating from proposed rule changes that would have allowed industries to release dirtier water into the state's rivers. The welcome reversal came after a review panel of fisheries fisheries. From earliest times and in practically all countries, fisheries have been of industrial and commercial importance. In the large N Atlantic fishing grounds off Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, European and North American fishing fleets have long biologists submitted a report warning that the proposal would damage salmon and other fish populations. The proposed rule changes were pursued at the urging of - and with funding from - the pulp and paper industry The global pulp and paper industry is dominated by North American (United States, Canada), northern European (Finland, Sweden) and East Asian countries (such as Japan). Australasia and Latin America also have significant pulp and paper industries. , which discharges wastewater into the state's rivers. It should surprise no one that the changes favored industry interests over environmental concerns. The revisions would have diminished water clarity, with increased pollution making the average Oregon river more than 30 percent murkier at times. The review panel said the dirtier water would have made it harder for sunlight to penetrate streams and, in turn, make it harder for salmon to forage forage Vegetable food, including corn and hay, of wild or domestic animals. Harvested, processed, and stored forage is called silage. Forage should be harvested in early maturity to avoid a decrease in protein and fibre content as crops mature. . The DEQ responded appropriately to the review panel's concerns, withdrawing the proposal and saying it may craft a new one that follows biologists' recommendations. The DEQ turnaround was remarkably similar to the agency's decision on mercury emissions from PGE's Boardman plant. One might reasonably ask why the state's chief environmental watchdog was working so closely with the pulp and paper industry that it's supposed to regulate, an industry that stood to benefit substantially from the proposed water-clarity changes. The answer is that Oregon lawmakers have squeezed the DEQ's budget, leaving it without the money and staff it needs to regularly review and update water quality standards. DEQ Director Stephanie Hallock has even warned that her agency may be forced to turn over its duties to the federal government for lack of state funding. Enter the Northwest Pulp and Paper Association, a coalition of paper mills that drain wastewater into rivers. The group offered to pay the agency $120,000 to revise water-clarity standards. The DEQ accepted the offer under a 1997 state law that lets businesses pay the agency to "expedite ex·pe·dite tr.v. ex·pe·dit·ed, ex·pe·dit·ing, ex·pe·dites 1. To speed up the progress of; accelerate. 2. or enhance" regulatory actions. It also agreed to review two association-provided reports concluding that Oregon's water-clarity standards are unnecessarily rigid and have little impact on fish. This is no way to run a regulatory agency regulatory agency Independent government commission charged by the legislature with setting and enforcing standards for specific industries in the private sector. The concept was invented by the U.S. . Lawmakers should repeal The Annulment or abrogation of a previously existing statute by the enactment of a later law that revokes the former law. The revocation of the law can either be done through an express repeal any law that allows industries to bankroll bank·roll n. 1. A roll of paper money. 2. Informal One's ready cash. tr.v. bank·rolled, bank·roll·ing, bank·rolls Informal rule revisions that affect their own operations and bottom lines. Better yet, they should figure out how to pay for environmental enforcement without taking handouts from industries the self-interest of which is glaringly glar·ing adj. 1. Shining intensely and blindingly: the glaring noonday sun. 2. Tastelessly showy or bright; garish. 3. obvious. In recent years, environmentalists have criticized the DEQ for being an industry lapdog instead of the aggressive watchdog agency it's supposed to be. Its responsiveness to well-founded complaints about its mercury and water-clarity proposals suggest that criticism is not entirely warranted - and that the Legislature must provide the agency with the legal framework and resources it needs to fulfill ful·fill also ful·fil tr.v. ful·filled, ful·fill·ing, ful·fills also ful·fils 1. To bring into actuality; effect: fulfilled their promises. 2. its mission. |
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