THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 8, 1996 TAG: 9604060016
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
So far, Gov. George Allen's mini-war with the federal government over states' rights has netted more in the way of legal bills and lost revenues for the commonwealth than positive results.
The latest setback came last week when the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the feds aren't violating the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by holding a big stick (translation: loss of highway funds) over Virginia's head to force compliance with the Clean Air Act.
The court also said that Virginia is too tough when it gives only individuals with a ``pecuniary and substantial'' interest the right to challenge the issuance of an industrial air permit.
Up until now, the state standard in water cases has been even tougher, but more about that later.
Allen and Attorney General Jim Gilmore have 90 days to decide whether to appeal the 4th Circuit ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The matter is under review.
The latest court decision comes on the heels of a federal district court judge's dismissal last fall of Allen's challenge - again on constitutional grounds - to the federal motor-voter law.
And a few months before that, another federal district-court judge ruled against the administration on technical grounds in yet another constitutional lawsuit, this one involving smog reduction testing in Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads. The 4th Circuit has since denied a rehearing.
There's a pattern here.
Allen and Gilmore see their efforts as part of a growing national movement to elevate the 10th Amendment, which reserves for the states powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution. That cause is likely to receive a full airing in the upcoming presidential election, with GOP nominee-apparent Bob Dole trumpeting the idea.
The 10th Amendment is ``no less a bulwark of freedom than free speech, freedom of the press, trial by jury or any of the other great freedoms found in our Bill of Rights,'' Gilmore said in testifying before a congressional committee earlier this year.
The recent court actions suggest that Allen and Gilmore should leave the matter right there, in the political arena. The 4th Circuit's ruling, by a 3-0 vote, was unequivocal and did not come in a bastion of liberalism.
Meanwhile, the legislature passed a well-aired bill setting reasonable guidelines about who should have the right to challenge air and water permits. A current Virginia rule, that only the person seeking the permit can appeal in water cases, is probably the most restrictive in the country.
As a penny-pinching governor, Allen should give taxpayers a break, sign the bill and drop the lawsuit. by CNB