Montana Republicans Seek to Ease Environmental Laws By MICHAEL JANOFSKY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Associated Press As timber mills like Darby Lumber have closed, Montana has lost industrial jobs. Dave Barrett salvages beams at the former mill, near Darby, Mont. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Associated Press Gov. Judy Martz supports changes in environmental laws. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ELENA, Mont. Citing steadily declining jobs in traditional industries like mining, logging and energy development, Montana is preparing to change its environmental regulations to make them more favorable to business. The current efforts are the most ambitious by any state to speed the process of obtaining construction and operating permits, and they have set off an old-fashioned fight between environmentalists and business interests. But both sides agree on one thing: the state's actions have taken on added force and importance in light of President Bush's promise to review the Clinton administration's environmental policies and the willingness of the nominee for interior secretary, Gale A. Norton, to let the states assume more power to regulate themselves. "The concept is not new, but I haven't seen other states do something as comprehensively as Montana," said Paula Carrell, state program director for the Sierra Club. The changes proposed for Montana, in at least eight bills being drafted, have the support of the new governor, Judy Martz, a Republican, and Republican leaders of the Legislature, who say the Republican majority in both chambers almost assures passage of the bills. In particular, two state laws are under review, the Montana Environmental Policy Act and the Montana Major Facility Siting Act, which regulates the construction and operation of power plants. Both laws are nearly 30 years old. "The laws are so vague," said Don Allen, executive director of the Western Environmental Trade Association, a coalition of industry groups. The Montana Environmental Policy Act "and other things are used so widely that they play a role in keeping our economy from what it needs to be." Governor Martz agrees. "The process needs to be changed," she said, adding that only the regulations for gaining permits would be changed, not laws that protect the air and water. For example, some permits could be granted after 90 days of review rather than a year. Another change under consideration before the Legislature would allow the state to issue a permit after the 90-day deadline even if all environmental reviews had not been completed. Environmentalists who have fought long and expensive battles over mine cleanups and timber harvesting are not optimistic that they can stop the initiatives. "State agencies will be forced to act prior to having all the information they need to make an adequate decision," said Anne Hedges, program director for the Montana Environmental Information Center, a watchdog group. Supporters of the legislation contend that the state's current environmental regulations make it too expensive for companies to operate profitably, driving away high-paying jobs and discouraging out-of-state businesses from expanding into Montana. They also contend that the regulations have helped drive up Montana's electricity costs by discouraging the construction of power plants. Utility rates for consumers have doubled in the last year. The environmental groups are challenging the new measures as unnecessary, saying they could endanger not only the quality of the state's air and water but also its economy. They say that Montana ranks eighth in the country in per capita job creation, and that the state's 5 percent unemployment rate, though slightly higher than the national average, is relatively low and has been falling. Yet the Republican lawmakers want Montanans to believe that the state is in dire trouble, said Thomas Power, chairman of the economics department at the University of Montana. "Their whole premise is wrong," Mr. Power said. "All they know is they are losing jobs in mining, milling and smelting; therefore they must be hurting. But the industrial base of the country is evaporating. These people are staring into the rearview mirror, lost in fantasies tied to the past." cont: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/28/politics/28MONT.html _______________________________________________ Crashlist website: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base
