THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020452
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Federal officials have found what they call serious problems in how Virginia controls water pollution, setting the stage for another fight with Gov. George F. Allen over environmental issues.
Peter H. Kostmayer, regional director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said Wednesday that the EPA has drafted a new rule that would let citizens challenge water-pollution permits issued to businesses.
Virginia is the only state that bars such action - a fact that led the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other environmental groups to petition the EPA for help.
In response, Kostmayer also said the EPA will begin reviewing ``major'' permits until the dispute is settled with Virginia, and that comments from citizens will be included in determining what pollutants companies can legally discharge into state waters.
What remains unclear is how this modified permitting process will work and what impacts federal oversight will have on businesses and utilities seeking state discharge permits.
But EPA's intervention will almost surely spark another turf war with the Republican governor, who makes no secret of his dislike for federal environmental mandates.
Allen already has sued the federal government over a nearly identical action taken by the EPA last year regarding Virginia's clean-air program.
In that case, which remains unresolved, the EPA rejected Virginia's overall plan to comply with the Clean Air Act because citizens have no ``standing'' to sue companies over air-quality permits - or water permits.
Reaction Wednesday from the administration was hard to gauge. A spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Quality, the agency that oversees water permits, said the appropriate officials to address the EPA's latest move were unavailable for comment.
Privately, however, several state officials and legislative aides said they expected the federal action to trigger another long and loud battle with Allen, and perhaps another legal challenge.
Meanwhile environmentalists, noting that their concerns for the state's water-pollution program date back before Allen was elected, welcomed EPA's action.
``It's a step in the right direction, for sure,'' said Roy Hoagland, general counsel for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Richmond. ``The EPA is saying, `Yes, there's problems and we're going to make sure they're fixed.' ''
Coincidentally, the action came the same day a state House committee killed a bill that would empower Virginia citizens to challenge air- and water-pollution permits.
The measure, sponsored by Del. Kenneth R. Plum, D-Reston, was soundly defeated in the House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee.
The same bill was killed last year, too, although it did survive beyond the committee two years ago.
Plum raised eyebrows Tuesday when, speaking at a news conference announcing his bill, he said Allen was suing the EPA because he simply didn't like the clean-air requirements and was only seeking to delay them.
Allen's staff denied the charge.
The bay foundation filed a 72-page petition last year with the EPA outlining its objections with the state water-pollution program. Among other problems, the foundation alleged that state enforcement of pollution permits was suspect at best.
The group said that while shortcomings first alarmed members under then-Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, they have only increased under Allen.
Kostmayer said the EPA has asked for additional information from state enforcement teams before passing judgment on them, but that ``we found some of their (bay foundation's) concerns had merit.''
KEYWORDS: PERMITS ENVIRONMENT POLLUTION EPA by CNB