DATE: Sunday, October 5, 1997               TAG: 9710050096

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A18  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: ELECTION '97

SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:  158 lines

GILMORE OUTLINES HIS AGENDA FOR PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT GOP CANDIDATE SAYS HE WOULD RESPECT GROUPS; BEYER REPEATS HIS USUAL THEMES.

Republican candidate for governor James S. Gilmore III announced an action plan Saturday on what political analysts see as one of his most vulnerable issues - the environment.

In contrast to Democratic hopeful Donald S. Beyer Jr., who has made the environment a priority in his campaign, Gilmore until now has said very little about the issue that has dogged his former boss and fellow Republican, Gov. George F. Allen.

In a speech before the Virginia Environmental Assembly, Gilmore laid out an agenda of business incentives and compromise. Among his specific pledges: stop the net loss of wetlands due to construction; urge businesses to prevent pollution before it occurs; study pollutants from factory farms and measure their impact on the Chesapeake Bay; and work with local governments to contain sprawling development into pristine lands.

But in perhaps his biggest departure from Allen's approach, Gilmore promised to consult and respect state environmental groups, such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Virginia Conservation Network and the Sierra Club. Such groups have waged a four-year war of words and ideals with the Allen administration and have found themselves all but ignored in policy deliberations.

``I'm here to tell you that your organizations are vital to the environmental health of this state,'' Gilmore told the assembly of more than 100 conservationists and activists. ``I want to reach out to all aspects of Virginia.''

His comments were met with polite applause and some mild skepticism.

``It looked like Gilmore had really done his homework; he was quite articulate,'' said John W. Newell, former mayor of the town of Ashland. ``But did you notice how he was careful not to make too many commitments? He treaded very lightly.''

Beyer, who released a nine-point action plan earlier in the campaign, also spoke to the assembly Saturday. He reiterated his central message - that under the Allen administration, which included Gilmore as its attorney general, environmental protection fell apart and desperately needs fixing.

``We need to restore leadership, pride and respect'' to the job of safeguarding Virginia's air, water and soil, Beyer said.

Asked if Virginia spends enough tax dollars on the environment, Beyer did not hesitate. ``No, absolutely not,'' he said, noting that less than 1 cent of each dollar in the state budget goes toward environmental causes - a statistic, he said, that puts Virginia among the lowest in the nation.

If elected next month, Beyer said, one of his first priorities is to rebuild the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, which regulates businesses and industry. DEQ, he said, has been filled with ``political hacks'' by the Allen administration, while career professionals have been intimidated and harassed for trying to do their jobs.

Beyer also has pledged a moratorium on new landfills and supports legislation that would bar shipments of out-of-state garbage unless communities vote to accept it. The effort is aimed at the growing amount of waste coming to Virginia for disposal in private landfills.

Failure to act on this issue, Beyer said, would likely result in more incidents like the one this summer in the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, when a truck carrying waste from several Northeast states crashed and exposed illegal medical wastes hidden inside the load.

Asked about controlling imported trash, Gilmore said the key is to maintain safe landfills that don't leak and to inspect trucks for illegal and hazardous wastes.

On how Virginia has reacted to an outbreak of toxic, fish-killing microbes in three state waterways, the candidates also differed. Gilmore applauds how Allen has approached the suspected presence of the microbe, Pfiesteria piscicida, by not closing down rivers, and by waiting for conclusive scientific evidence.

Beyer said Virginia has ``buried its head in the sand'' on pfiesteria, which is suspected of killing 12,000 fish in the Pocomoke River and sickening more than 20 people.

``How many dead fish does it take to remind us of our commitment to clean water?'' Beyer asked.

Gilmore called such statements ``grandstanding,'' and he chided Beyer for turning the scientific issue into a political one.

While the two candidates criticized each other's positions on several specifics, they did not do so face-to-face. Gilmore declined to debate Beyer on environmental issues, so the two appeared separately before the assembly, making five-minute statements and answering prepared questions. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT

What are the two candidates for governor saying about the

environment?

Democrat Donald S. Beyer Jr.:

1) Rebuilding the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

(DEQ) - appoint a new DEQ director and new secretary of natural

resources; ``de-politicize'' the regulatory agency by hiring

professionals who will put the environment before politics and

rekindle high morale among employees.

2) Enforcing Virginia's environmental laws. Fines are an

indicator of whether the state is enforcing the laws - they dropped

last year, 90 percent to $4,000. The U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency has criticized Virginia for being soft on polluters.

3) Retaining Virginia's authority to issue air- and

water-pollution permits to businesses and industries. The federal

government has threatened to take over these state functions, but

has indicated a willingness to wait and watch Virginia's

performance.

4) Protecting Virginians from out-of-state trash by:

Imposing a moratorium on new major landfills.

Increasing state inspections of landfills for compliance.

Supporting legislation in Congress that gives localities power to

ban imported waste.

Increase civil penalties for illegally hauling, storing or

disposing nonhazardous waste.

Increase criminal penalities for transporting, disposing or

storing hazardous waste.

5) Committing to clean rivers, streams and the Chesapeake Bay,

with more thorough monitoring for more pollutants.

6) Calling for a comprehensive plan to meet drinking water needs

into the next century.

7) Working with the private sector to develop cost-effective ways

to control pollution emissions.

8) Spending money previously authorized by voters to buy more

parkland.

9) Dealing with Pfiesteria piscicida, a fish-killing microbe:

Requested a legislative hearing to ensure that Virginia is doing

all it can to combat the pfiesteria organism.

Wrote President Clinton seeking federal money for pfiesteria

research in Virginia.

Work more closely with state neighbors to develop monitoring

stations and share information on pfiesteria.

Republican James S. Gilmore III:

1) Organizing a task force to study the well-publicized

management problems inside DEQ. The report would detail any

recommendations to change how Virginia safeguards its air, water and

soil.

2) Fully funding efforts to control nutrient pollution in

tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, or about $15 million a year.

3) Implementing the Small Business Environmental Compliance Fund

to help small companies comply with environmental laws and

regulations.

4) Strengthening environmental enforcement.

5) Relying on the ``Sportsmen for Gilmore'' coalition to advise

him on hunting and fishing issues and depend on its members to help

safeguard the environment.

6) Dealing with pfiesteria:

Work with congressional delegation to seek federal funds for

long-term research of pfiesteria.

Develop an ``early warning'' system with communities and

environmental volunteers to monitor the Chesapeake Bay for

pfiesteria.

Continue Gov. George Allen's commitment to a multistate

partnership to study pfiesteria and its effects on aquatic life and

people.

7) Adopting a volunteer goal of ``zero discharges'' of pollutants

from businesses and industries. Hire seven employees to help

businesses prevent pollution.

8) Stopping the decline of wetlands lost to construction and

development activities. Offer unspecified incentives for voluntary

conservation of wetlands. Proposed legislation to exempt wetlands

and waterfront strips of land from real estate taxes. KEYWORDS: ELECTION VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL RACE VIRGINIA

PLATFORMS ENVIRONMENT CANDIDATES

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