THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 28, 1995 TAG: 9503010661
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
The Allen administration has quietly appointed three select panels of business and government officials to study streamlining the state's environmental permitting process.
The move has sparked another row with environmental groups, who wonder why they and citizens weren't represented on the committees.
``We're extremely concerned about this,'' said Joseph H. Maroon, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Virginia. ``It not only shows a lack of balance, but clearly marks a trend that citizens and the environmental community are being left out of important decision-making.''
Adding to Maroon's frustration: The environmental groups found out about the panels only because someone had leaked a memo describing their formation and duties to study air, water and waste permitting.
Peter W. Schmidt, director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and author of the memo, said the worries are overblown.
All citizens will have a chance to comment on the panels' recommendations later before any changes become law, he said.
``I understand their concerns, but this is hardly smoke and mirrors,'' said Schmidt, a Chesapeake concrete executive picked by Allen last year to head the state's top environmental agency.
``They'll have plenty of time to comment and be heard on whatever recommendations we come up with,'' he added.
Environmentalists and citizens are not represented, he said, because they would likely slow down the panels' discussions.
``We're talking about the permitting process . . . and these folks may not have a complete knowledge of the process,'' he said. ``We have a quick window of response on this, and the discourse needs to move quickly.''
The dispute is the latest wrinkle in Allen's ``Blue Ribbon Strike Force,'' a government reform program that includes a campaign to assess the worth of 50 environmental laws.
Environmentalists fear the campaign will roll back protection laws in the name of economic opportunity. The administration says it wants to streamline what has become a tangled mess of regulations and rules that are hurting business.
Each of Schmidt's special panels consists of up to six people: two from state government, one from local government, a lawyer, one or two consultants, and a business representative.
Among those participating are the law firm of state GOP chairman Pat McSweeney and industry officials who have fought for years for looser environmental laws.
The memo from Schmidt asks panelists to ``define, assess and make recommendations for improving the permitting process'' in their respective fields within four months. The groups are supposed to start meeting in March.
Environmentalists also took exception to a line in the memo that urges the panels to make recommendations in a way that would not involve the state's Administrative Process Act. The act requires state agencies to hold open hearings and solicit public comment before they change their policies.
Schmidt wrote: ``What I hope the group will develop, within roughly a four month time frame, are recommendations we can incorporate into our ongoing activities. My thought is to to weave these into guidance documents rather than pursuing the APA route.''
But Schmidt said Thursday in an interview, ``There's no attempt to bypass the APA process. There'll be hearings, protocol will be followed. We have every intention of doing that.''
In another memo, dated Feb. 14, Schmidt outlined a new study examining the time that the department takes to process permits. Now, the goal for reviewing air pollution permits is 90 days; for water pollution permits, 120 days.
Schmidt wants to cut that by 25 percent, he said in the memo.
While applauding more efficient permitting, environmentalists said they fear that setting arbitrary time-lines will only lead to weaker permits, and more pollution. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
ON THE PANELS
Membership of three committees that will study streamling
Virginia's environmental permitting rule:
7 lawyers, engineers and consultants
6 officials of the Department of Environmental Quality
3 industry representatives
by CNB