DATE: Friday, October 3, 1997               TAG: 9710030683

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SERIES: DECISION '97

SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  161 lines

CANDIDATES' RECORDS ON ENVIRONMENT WIDE APART BEYER TOUTS POSITION, GILMORE PLAYS IT SAFE

When discussing economic development or higher education, James S. Gilmore III and Donald S. Beyer Jr. often sound similar. On the environment, however, the two candidates for governor are a study in contrasts.

Beyer, the Democrat, counts the environment as one of the top two or three issues of his campaign. He has penned a nine-point action plan, released a background paper on conservation policy, produced a TV commercial, consulted privately with environmentalists, and held news conferences on specifics such as curbing the flow of imported garbage from New York and the need to more aggressively pursue the microbe Pfiesteria piscicida, suspected of sickening fish and humans in waters around the Chesapeake Bay.

Gilmore, the Republican, has said little about his environmental agenda.

One topic he did address - whether he would retain Becky Norton Dunlop, Gov. George F. Allen's controversial secretary of natural resources - turned ugly. After a memo suggested Gilmore would dump Dunlop if elected, she publicly questioned Gilmore's loyalty to Allen and to conservative causes in general.

On Saturday, Gilmore is expected to give his most extensive comments on environmental issues when he addresses the fourth annual Virginia Environmental Assembly in Richmond. In doing so, however, Gilmore is remaining cautious.

He declined to debate Beyer at the assembly, insisting on a separate appearance, and he will not take live questions from the audience.

``Gilmore's task in this election is getting stronger with the people who voted for Allen'' in 1993, said Tom Morris, a veteran political scientist and president of Emory and Henry College. ``That means talking about cutting taxes, smaller government - traditionally conservative issues. So talking about the environment doesn't help him much at all. In fact, it's really a liability.''

Asked what Gilmore would do on the environmental front if elected next month, a campaign spokesman said the Richmond Republican would ``ensure that our natural resources are protected'' while also maintaining ``a balance'' between environmental protection and economic growth.

More specifically, spokesman Reed Boatright said, Gilmore has organized a task force to study the well-publicized management problems inside the state Department of Environmental Quality. A report, expected soon, would detail any recommendations to change how Virginia safeguards its air, water and soil, he said.

``I'm sure it's a big issue with some, but for a great majority of people, the environment really is a secondary issue,'' Boatright said.

In Virginia, a moderate-to-conservative state, the environment always has been a double-edged sword in state politics, say Morris and other analysts.

Yes, Virginians want a clean environment and their bounty of natural treasures preserved - including the Chesapeake Bay, the Appalachian Trail, the Blue Ridge Mountains and several historic rivers. But, experts say, candidates who are too aggressive risk a backlash from business, development and industry groups, which often bear the brunt of adventurous policies and regulations.

On this point, experts say, Beyer must be careful.

He seems to be getting the message.

``Don's not talking about a tree-hugging, screaming, liberal attitude here,'' said Bob Hicks, a former director of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, who helped organize the group Conservationists for Beyer.

``We're talking about putting some sensible, responsible, long-term planning and management back into place in Virginia,'' Hicks said. ``We've completely lost that in this past administration, and Gilmore hasn't said much to think it wouldn't continue.''

Said Beyer: ``It's a very big issue for me; it'll probably be one of the two or three issues that helps me win this election.''

Under Allen, the environment has been an ideological battle ground. The administration got locked in a war of philosophies and words with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was under constant siege from several lawmakers and environmental groups, and was deeply criticized by a state watchdog agency for spurring low morale among government regulators, poor management of conservation agencies and weak enforcement of environmental laws.

But how much of that controversy can be laid at Gilmore's doorstep?

As attorney general under Allen, Gilmore compiled a mixed record on the environment. Early in the administration, when the environmental war was especially intense, Gilmore sued the EPA for trying to impose a mandatory tailpipe-testing program on vehicles in Northern Virginia. He argued at the time that the federal government, while attempting to combat air pollution, was nonetheless interfering wrongly in a state issue.

Gilmore also sued over EPA's demand that citizens be allowed to challenge pollution permits in court, contending again that the federal government had no right to make such an order.

His conservative activism subsided, however. The change came on the heels of critical reports from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, embarrassing disclosures about the conduct of political appointees in the Department of Environmental Quality and two polls that said the public was growing tired of so much controversy over the environment.

More recently, Gilmore sued the EPA for not moving fast enough to fix the Blue Plains sewage treatment plant on the Potomac River, which serves 2 million people in Virginia, Washington and Maryland.

He also threatened to take the EPA to court for not setting a national standard for a toxic boat-paint additive, known as TBT, used by large shipyards in Hampton Roads. TBT is known to poison small marine life.

Congress had directed the EPA to establish a TBT limit for all states. But the agency had lagged years behind, forcing Virginia shipyards to abide by a strict state standard that shipping executives said was putting them at a competitive disadvantage.

In describing his environmental record as ``good,'' Gilmore also has touted a large, civil lawsuit he filed against Smithfield Foods Inc., the East Coast's biggest pork processor, which is based in Norfolk.

But critics have complained that Gilmore took legal action only after learning that a bigger, federal lawsuit was in the works. In addition, environmental groups have said, Virginia could have gone after Smithfield Foods for thousands of water-pollution violations months, if not years, earlier.

``Gilmore was directly involved in this whole Smithfield Foods thing, and I haven't heard him adequately explain what really went on,'' said Kay Slaughter, of the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville.

The attorney general's office has long said that the lawsuit was filed after waiting for federal investigators to complete their own probe and that there was no delay on the state's part.

Beyer, meanwhile, has not compiled much of an environmental record to inspect. Environmentalists give Beyer high marks for pressing for passage of the Water Quality Improvement Act of 1996, a law intended to fight nutrient pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

But Gilmore and some environmentalists question why Beyer, as lieutenant governor the past eight years, did not raise more red flags if he was so concerned about Allen's environmental performance.

``The silence was deafening,'' said Albert Pollard Jr., a lobbyist for the Sierra Club of Virginia.

``I can't think of a single environmental initiative he ever took'' in his eight years in Richmond, said Boatright, Gilmore's campaign spokesman.

The Piedmont Environmental Council also is nervous about Beyer's ties to Northern Virginia developers and how that might affect his stance on the proposed Western Bypass. The 58-mile, $1 billion highway project will spread development beyond the Washington suburbs and increase smog, the council argues.

Like Allen, Gilmore has publicly supported the concept. But Beyer has been less precise.

``He's kind of waffled on this one,'' said Josephine de Give, of the PEC. ``It's a concern for us up here who are worried about sprawl.'' ``Sprawl'' is the term for expansive suburban development that requires new roads, sewer lines and other construction.

In his nine-point action plan, Beyer pledged to seek ``advice and assistance'' on issues such as sprawl. The Western Bypass is not discussed in the plan.

In his blueprint, Beyer does recommend numerous changes. Among them:

A moratorium on major, new landfills, and support for legislation that would ban out-of-state garbage unless a community chooses to accept the waste. These proposals are meant to address the growing amount of garbage being imported to Virginia, including loads from New York City.

A pledge not to block new, toxic-waste sites from being placed on the national ``Superfund'' list. Allen stopped several such listings, including a former ordnance depot in Suffolk and an old steel plant in Chesapeake.

More acquisition of land for state parks.

A pollution prevention initiative, encouraging businesses to stem the amount of wastes they generate before they get into the environment. Allen and Gilmore also have encouraged such volunteer efforts.

The environment is ``an issue this administration has been noticeably weak on, and Gilmore's going to have to deal with that,'' said Patti Jackson, executive director of the James River Association. ``It also provides an opportunity to separate the two candidates.'' KEYWORDS: ELECTION VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL RACE VIRGINIA

PLATFORMS ENVIRONMENT CANDIDATES

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