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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Environment - " Local air quality controls dealt blow"

The Evansville Courier & Press had this story Dec. 2, reported by Mark Wilson. Some quotes:

Evansville officials fear a state decision to cancel its contracts with local air pollution control agencies could be a setback for efforts to improve air quality here.

"Frankly, we were taken by surprise," Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel said.

The city was not aware the state was going to make the change until it received notice Monday of the decision through a brief letter, Weinzapfel said. But the letter left out details of how the state would replace the services.

"We haven't heard any details on how IDEM will pick up that workload," Weinzapfel said. "My primary concern is not the money. I'm concerned we won't see the attention paid to air and environmental concerns here in Evansville and the surrounding area that we have had."

Weinzapfel said it is still too early to know exactly how the decision will affect the Evansville Environmental Protection Agency or the jobs of the six people employed there.

The approximately $164,000 contract represents about 40 percent of the department's $403,269 annual budget, said Dona Bergman, Evansville EPA director.

The department includes four people to enforce state and local air pollution regulations on behalf of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

On Dec. 5th an editorial in the C&P concludes:
The city's expressed concerns are valid.

Evansville sits amid some of the nation's largest coal-burning power plants.

Even though Vanderburgh County has no power plants, it remains out of compliance with federal standards for fine particulate matter — soot.

Consequently, it is important, for both health and economic reasons, that monitoring be timely and oversight be strong. Greater efficiency or not, it is unclear whether the state will provide the manpower sufficient to serve the needs of Southwestern Indiana.

For now, we will reserve judgment and encourage the state to provide Hoosiers with an adequate opportunity for input on this issue vital to their health and welfare.

Today Tim Evans of the Indianapolis Star reports under the headline "Responsibility for all Indiana air-quality issues will shift to state in '09: State officials say '09 move will streamline services, but some fear local problems could get short shrift." Some quotes:
The state will take over all air permitting, monitoring and compliance functions next year, a move that state officials say will streamline government but that some environmentalists fear could lead to less attention to local air-quality issues.

The change will end all contracts with local pollution control agencies in Indianapolis and five other parts of the state. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management announced the decision earlier this month with little input from the agencies or other stakeholders.

"There has been no public discussion about how this work will be done," said Janet McCabe, executive director of the advocacy group Improving Kids' Environment and a former IDEM official.

"I'm very worried that the loss of services will lead to poor air quality and health issues." * * *

The move is part of an effort to streamline permitting, monitoring and compliance functions across the state. Some of that work had been done by local agencies such as the Office of Environmental Services in Marion County, which had contracts with IDEM.

In Indianapolis, that agency provides a variety of environmental services, including air permitting, air monitoring, compliance inspections and air planning in Marion and surrounding counties. The staff also has an enforcement program that conducts year-round inspections, responds to citizen complaints and takes action related to open burning issues, air permit violations, asbestos and industrial pretreatment issues.

The contracts with the local agencies had been paid with federal funds and fees from industries. Elstro said that money now will stay with IDEM to pay for the added work the agency will do because of the changes.

In a statement about the change, IDEM Commissioner Thomas Easterly said: "Having a single permitting, monitoring and compliance authority for Indiana means we can eliminate duplicate government services and provide consistent regulatory oversight for all 92 counties." * * *

Easterly said IDEM "is in a position to further streamline and consolidate statewide services because it has eliminated a backlog of permits, hired and trained staff members, and is implementing a system for the online submittal of air permit applications."

Elstro said he did not know whether the agency would be hiring additional workers or placing the responsibility on existing staff. Elstro also could not say whether the changes would produce any savings.

"Ultimately, IDEM is responsible for air quality in the state of Indiana," he said. "This will bring all of that work back in-house."

McCabe, a former commissioner of IDEM's Office of Air Quality, said she has several concerns about the new approach, including the lack of input from stakeholders, the short time frame for making the switch and the potential for less local attention to problems.

"I'm all for spending money wisely and managing efficiently," she said. "But there are a lot of functions here that are, in my opinion, better done at the local level."

She cited areas such as planning, responding to complaints and working with businesses as examples of the strengths a local agency would have over the state. How those issues will be handled has not been spelled out, she said.

"I would like to see their plan," McCabe said. "I think it is appropriate for a large city like Indianapolis to have its own air agency."

Steven R. Hardiman II, spokesman for the city's Department of Public Works, issued a statement saying: "We are confident that neither the best interests of taxpayers or of our environment will be put at risk as we work toward resolution."

He said the city "is currently involved in positive discussions with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) in reference to the decision to not extend contracts with local air pollution control agencies."

"As a result of ongoing conversations, we are very encouraged that we will be able to work effectively with our state partners to reach an agreement that addresses potential efficiencies that benefit taxpayers and the environment."

Hardiman said the city relies on the IDEM contract to pay for 41 workers in the Office of Environmental Services.

"If we were to lose this funding," he said, "we would be unable to maintain our work force at the current level."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 10, 2008 07:59 AM
Posted to Environment