THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 10, 1996 TAG: 9602100264
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BRIAN KELLEY AND SCOTT HARPER, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
An unorthodox bill that would oust Secretary of Natural Resources Becky Norton Dunlop finally got a public airing Friday, with friends and foes lining up to debate Virginia's controversial environmental chief.
The 90-minute hearing amplified an argument that has raged since Dunlop was appointed to the Cabinet in 1994 by Gov. George F. Allen:
Is the former Reagan White House staffer and protege of North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms a political zealot bent on reversing environmental gains? Or is she a steadfast Republican reformer intent on balancing economic growth with realistic environmental protection?
Dunlop didn't attend Friday's hearing before a House General Laws subcommittee. But an eclectic assortment of government officials, environmentalists, fishermen, business executives and others involved in Virginia's environment crammed into a Capitol meeting room to decide the fate of Dunlop's employment.
The hearing was supposed to have been held Monday, but was delayed at the last minute by bad weather. The delay provided a cooling-off period after inflammatory remarks delivered by the bill's sponsor, Del. George W. Grayson, a Williamsburg Democrat, caused a political stir.
Nonetheless, it now appears that Grayson's bill will be postponed until at least next year. He asked Friday that the full committee carry over his measure until 1997 - a likely outcome that would mean Dunlop can remain in office without fear of a legislative challenge this year.
His request quietly ended what started as a blistering attack on Dunlop's character and motives on Jan. 29. Speaking from the floor of the House of Delegates, Grayson called Dunlop an arch-conservative extremist.
``No one since Gen. Ulysses S. Grant has posed a greater threat to our resources and our people,'' Grayson fumed in his speech.
Art H. Buehler III, one of 10 anti-Dunlop speakers Friday, said that as a former employee of the Department of Environmental Quality, he can attest to the accuracy of a recent state survey that found morale and fear abundant at DEQ.
``A lot of people at DEQ are scared to death'' of retribution if they speak out against changes inside the regulatory agency, Buehler said. He criticized what he called political decisions that favor business over scientifically based policies affecting environmental protection.
``The commonwealth already has a Department of Economic Development,'' Buehler said. ``We don't need two.''
But Ernest Bowden, president of the Eastern Shore Watermen's Association, said his group would be ``the first to rally'' if its members felt there was any truth to allegations that Dunlop is hurting the Chesapeake Bay.
He and 14 other pro-Dunlop speakers praised her fairness and hard work in dealing with hotbed issues, including the recent debate on whether to restrict the harvesting of blue crabs in the Bay.
Dunlop advocated that Virginia not enact new crab protections until scientific surveys were completed. When the federal government found that a recent decline in crab stocks was due to nature, and not overfishing, the state approved a looser set of limits than originally proposed.
Friday's hearing didn't lack political theater. Grayson and subcommittee chairman Jay DeBoer, D-Petersburg, questioned and confronted three administration officials who appeared and spoke on behalf of Dunlop.
At one point, DeBoer demanded an apology from William Pruitt, head of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, for a negative comment made earlier this week after a group of watermen traveled to Richmond to speak about the Dunlop bill, only to find the hearing had been postponed.
``You owe me an apology,'' DeBoer snipped. ``I'll take it now.''
Other delegates defused the verbal confrontation. And Pruitt left the podium. Without apologizing. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Strong opinions for and against Becky Norton Dunlop came out at a
hearing on a bill to oust her as environment secretary.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY by CNB