THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503110317
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
After three years of collecting dust, thousands of dollars raised from the sale of special Chesapeake Bay license plates may finally be spent.
The fact that none of the amassed $385,000 has been used so far to help restore the Bay, as the colorful plates are advertised to do, has irked plenty of motorists. Some have even asked for their $25-a-year donation back.
But under legislation passed by the General Assembly and awaiting Gov. George F. Allen's signature, the money sitting in escrow since 1992 would be spent over the next two years. It would finance a half-dozen projects including better public access to state parks, more fish passages across blocked streams, oyster restoration and greater shoreline-erosion protection.
The plan, sponsored by state Sen. Fred M. Quayle, R-Chesapeake, enjoyed bipartisan support and was approved easily in Richmond. Environmentalists were even happy.
But the story doesn't end here.
Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Becky Norton Dunlop, a critic of the plan since its unveiling, continues to champion her own spending strategy. She would offer the money to local soil and water conservation districts across the state.
To enact her program, which environmentalists have criticized as an attempt to supplement budget cuts to these conservation districts, Dunlop may recommend that Allen veto the Legislature's plan and adopt hers instead.
If the secretary intends to trump lawmakers, she isn't saying.
For the record, Dunlop still is ``willing to consider the suggestions offered by the General Assembly,'' her spokeswoman, Julie Overy, said Friday.
``It's hard to say you're not supporting your own plan,'' Overy said, ``so she's not saying she's dead-set against the governor vetoing the bill at this point.''
Under her plan, districts from western Virginia to the Eastern Shore would submit grant applications for projects that would benefit the Bay.
Norfolk and other urban areas in Hampton Roads, however, could not receive any of the money because there is no local conservation district here.
An office does serve Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, assisting farmers and city planners. But cities such as Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News and Hampton have no such representation, said Billie Jean Elmer, field operations manager for the state Soil and Water Conservation Division.
``To be honest, I never thought of that, but I'm sure there's a bulk of (Bay plate) money coming from Norfolk and these areas,'' Elmer said.
Dunlop also is opposed to the Legislature's plan because it would create a new commission to oversee plate funds in the future. A political conservative, the secretary views the commission as ``more government bureaucracy'' and believes an existing panel could handle the task.
This summer, the Department of Motor Vehicles will turn over another $185,000 raised from sales of ``Friend of the Chesapeake Bay'' plates, which are illustrated with an oyster, a crab and Bay grasses.
Under the Legislature's plan, a seven-member commission, including citizens, an environmentalist and members of the House and Senate, would recommend to the General Assembly where money should go after the initial $385,000 is disbursed.
The program has not reached the governor yet, officials in Richmond said. But when it does, Allen will ask for a recommendation from Dunlop, Overy said.
Sen. Quayle, who co-sponsored the original bill creating the Bay plate in 1992, said Friday he has sent a letter to Allen urging him to sign the plan as is.
Quayle said he has not heard rumblings of a possible veto. He said he prepared the letter ``just to let the governor know we're anxious to see him sign the bill as we passed it.''
Like others around Virginia, Quayle said he was ``a little surprised'' that none of the plate money had been spent yet. But he believes that the change in administrations in Richmond is more to blame for this inaction than any conscious foot-dragging. ILLUSTRATION: WHERE WILL THE MONEY GO?
THIS FISCAL YEAR\ $50,000 for greater public access to state
parks through the Department of Conservation and Recreation<
$50,000 for greater public access to facilities run by the
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
$75,000 for fish passageways
$25,000 for oyster seed and aquaculture<
$50,000 for shoreline erosion grants
NEXT FISCAL YEAR
$135,000 for grants through soil and water conservation
districts.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE BAY AUTOMOBILE LICENSE PLATE VIRGINIA STATE
DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES by CNB