THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 5, 1994 TAG: 9407050051
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Gov. George F. Allen has become a bit paranoid about the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
In recent weeks, the EPA has threatened to put the brakes on future highway projects in Northern Virginia, cited the state for flaws in its air pollution regulations and laid the foundation for a decision to stall the proposed water pipeline from Lake Gaston to Virginia Beach.
Allen administration officials suggest that federal regulators are retaliating against the new Republican governor for his business-first approach to the environment and his resistance to federal control of local decisions.
``We've been here six months and we've been slam-dunked a couple of times,'' said Becky Norton Dunlop, Virginia's secretary of natural resources.
But a closer look at the situation shows that while the governor and the EPA may indeed be headed for future confrontation, two of the three recent actions against Virginia had taken root before Allen took office last January.
Environmental groups long have fought the state over the limited rights of citizens to file suit to stop pollution permits, and they had planned to ask the EPA to impose sanctions if the law wasn't changed.
``This issue has been raised long before George Allen ever thought of running for governor,'' said Kay Slaughter, attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville.
The conflict over the Lake Gaston pipeline also has been in the works for years. The project, which eventually would supply Virginia Beach with 60 million gallons of water per day, was delayed last month when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - citing an EPA recommendation - ordered a full environmental impact statement for the project.
A congressional aide familiar with the decision said the Allen administration did not appear to be a factor in the pipeline dispute, which pits Virginia against its neighboring state over water from the Roanoke River.
``This is more of a North Carolina vs. Virginia issue, rather than an EPA vs. Virginia issue,'' said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The one area where the EPA and Allen administration are locking horns is over the implementation of the 1990 Clean Air Act in Northern Virginia.
The EPA wants Northern Virginia motorists to have their cars checked every two years at centralized inspection stations equipped with special machines to detect excess emissions.
The Allen administration has balked, saying the centralized system would create nightmarish traffic snarls at inspection stations.
Under the EPA plan, motorists whose vehicles fail would have to make at least three separate trips: to the inspection station, to a service station for repairs and back to the inspection station.
``To have to tool around and wait in line doesn't make any sense,'' said state Sen. Warren E. Barry, R-Fairfax.
The administration wants to continue the current system of conducting emissions tests - and any necessary repairs - at any of several hundred service stations and automobile dealers.
The state's congressional delegation has signed a bipartisan letter endorsing the decentralized program Allen is pushing.
``I believe the people in Northern Virginia want to improve the air quality,'' Dunlop said. ``It ought to be our job to make it easier for them.''
EPA officials reply that the most convenient system is often not effective in improving air quality. EPA audits of inspection-and-repair programs in other states found error rates ranging from 50 percent to 93 percent, according to Dick Wilson of the EPA.
Dunlop has submitted a proposed inspection-and-repair program with built-in safeguards such as roadside inspections and unannounced audits of service stations.
EPA regional administrator Pete Kostmayer is expected to rule on the plan later this month.
From the contentious tone of the dialogue so far, it appears Allen and Kostmayer will continue to lock horns.
Not only has Allen given the environment a back seat to industry, he has served notice that he will not let the state be pushed around by federal bureaucrats, whom he refers to as ``federales'' and ``nannies.''
Indeed, Dunlop said the car-emissions issue is really about states' rights.
Dunlop, a protege of arch conservative U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina, said officials from other states have encouraged Virginia to stand up to the EPA. She said a Vermont official approached her at a recent meeting and said: ``I don't agree with you on anything. I'm a liberal. But keep fighting for Virginia's right to do things its way.'' by CNB