THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090391
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
In two previous lawsuits, Attorney General James S. Gilmore III accused the federal Environmental Protection Agency of going too far in its zeal for clean air and water.
In a third legal action, expected to be filed today, Gilmore blasts the EPA for not going far enough to protect the Chesapeake Bay.
This latest move comes as Gilmore seeks to position himself as an environmental centrist for his all-but-announced Republican bid for governor next year.
The trick for Gilmore will be to remain loyal to Gov. George F. Allen's environmental policies, yet send signals that he would blaze a more moderate path.
``We're trying to say that as much as we support Governor Allen, Jim Gilmore will be his own man with his own views,'' explained Dick Leggitt, a Gilmore campaign consultant.
The environment looms as a concern in the 1997 governor's race because of the philosophical debate stirred by Allen's attempt to unleash business from what he describes as stifling regulations.
The Allen administration has eased some industrial standards, slashed the enforcement budget of the state Department of Environmental Quality, and served notice that it will eliminate regulations that are more strict than federal minimums.
A recent survey found many career regulators feared retaliation if they enforced environmental laws.
``Of all the strengths and weaknesses of the administration, I think the one that is going to be the most lamented for a long time is their environmental record,'' said Lt. Gov. Donald Beyer Jr., the presumed Democratic nominee for governor next year.
Republicans have taken steps to inoculate Gilmore from any political attacks stemming from his defense of Allen policies in court.
Some GOP lawmakers recently persuaded Allen to appoint Gilmore as chairman of a special environmental commission, a position they believe will give Gilmore a chance to build his own record.
``It gives him a chance to look beyond the enforcement area,'' said Del. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights. ``Part of the future vision has to be Jim Gilmore's because he will be the candidate next time.''
Gilmore said he hoped the commission study would include finding ways to recruit ``clean'' industries and promote companies that develop technologies to clean up the environment.
``I want to pursue some exciting new ideas,'' Gilmore said Wednesday in a telephone interview.
Allen announced the commission last month, but no members other than Gilmore have been named. Gilmore said he hoped for a ``bipartisan'' panel.
Environmentalists fear the commission is designed simply to repackage Allen's controversial policies.
``They can either change their attitude toward the environment or they can change the way people perceive their attitude,'' said Albert Pollard, a lobbyist with the Sierra Club.
``If it's the former, we're behind them 100 percent. If its the latter, it's just cynical politics.''
Cox confirmed that one of the commission's jobs would be to highlight some Allen administration successes, such as the elimination of a 2,000-case backlog in the remediation of underground fuel storage tanks.
``We need to do a better job of telling people about what we have done and where we plan on taking the state,'' Cox said.
Meanwhile, Gilmore is moving ahead today with plans to intervene in a federal lawsuit over the Blue Plains sewage treatment plant, operated by the District of Columbia on the Potomac River.
Gilmore contends the EPA is failing to protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed by agreeing to the district government's plan for improving maintenance at Blue Plains, which serves 2 million people in Washington, Virginia and Maryland.
``We don't see why they are going so soft on their fellow federal entity,'' Gilmore said.
Last year, an EPA inspection found that Blue Plains posed a ``significant risk to the public health and the environment'' because of deteriorating equipment and inadequate maintenance. An EPA-District agreement reached last month calls for $20 million in improvements over the next two years.
Gilmore said the plan is inadequate because the EPA will allow Blue Plains to exceed some permitted levels in discharges into the Potomac.
The Blue Plains case marks a departure for Gilmore, who in past lawsuits has portrayed federal regulators as overzealous, not lax. One lawsuit challenged an EPA plan for vehicle emissions inspections in Northern Virginia. The other challenged EPA pressure to expand citizen input in air and water permits.
Beyer, the Democrat, saluted Gilmore's intervention in the Washington case.
``I live right across the river from Blue Plains and I smell it all the time,'' Beyer said. ``Anything that can be done to make it better, I support. Sometimes everyone has to pile on to make something happen.''
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB