THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 24, 1994 TAG: 9406240483
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940624 LENGTH: Medium
``There is some general mood that environmental regulations are extremely burdensome,'' said Richard N. Burton, the former director of the state Department of Environmental Quality. ``They are extremely complex.''
{REST} Burton, who was ousted by Gov. George F. Allen on June 3, was speaking at a breakfast briefing on environmental regulation and economic development at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Virginia Beach.
Allen replaced Burton with Peter W. Schmidt, executive of a concrete-block company with operations in Suffolk and Chesapeake.
As executive director of the State Water Control Board from 1983 to 1993 and DEQ director for 14 months after that, Burton was one of the chief architects of the environmental regulatory system in Virginia.
``It is no longer productive to wish away environmental issues,'' Burton said. ``Any manager failing to plan for the cost of environmental compliance two, three, five years in advance will experience major disruptions to even the best plans made by the best managers.''
The burden for caring for the environment rests with businesses, Burton said. Many regulations and laws result from bad stewardship, he explained.
``If there is good stewardship, there's less reason for burdensome laws and regulations,'' he said.
Burton's warnings come at a time of increasing tension between Allen's administration and federal environmental regulators. Allen campaigned last year on the promise of doing no more than the minimum required when it comes to enforcing environmental laws.
He has repeatedly said that water, air and waste quality controls are excessive and hamper economic development.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Virginia isn't even doing the minimum required under one federal law. This month the agency charged that Virginia is violating the Clean Air Act by restricting citizens rights to challenge air pollution permits in court.
The Allen administration said it would fight the EPA in court, if necessary.
Burton admonished economic development officials to consider and plan for environmental issues and concerns when they pitch their communities to prospective companies.
Burton also called on businesses not only to be aware of and involved in the environmental legislative and regulatory process at the state and federal levels, but also to participate locally with the public and interest groups. That way a company can be aware of what the public's concerns are and what ideas are emerging.
``Once a law is passed and regulations are adopted, it's too late,'' he said.
by CNB