From Deseret News archives:
Toxic Utah: Mending toxic Utah
Environmental laws score hits and misses
Not only that, the water is safer to drink and the lands are less polluted.
And they point to myriad environmental laws, most passed in the mid-1970s over the objections of industry, that established then-unprecedented limits on pollution. Those laws have been tweaked over the years, but they remain hallmarks of a radical shift in policy toward the environment.
"Personally, I believe most of the environmental legislation that passed, though I had concerns at the time, have proven workable," said U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, who participated in those environmental debates as a novice lawmaker in the early 1970s. "The Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act are clear successes, and wilderness, too."
But there have been failures, too.
Superfund, the program designed to clean up the nation's worst environmental disasters, has helped lawyers more than the envi-
"By and large, I think our environmental legislation has been on the plus side," he said.
Conservationists, while unified in their belief Congress hasn't done enough for the environment and has moved too slowly when it has, admit things are better than they were before passage of the 1970s laws.
But many conservationists wonder what the future holds. They are suspicious a new Republican administration may be too sympathetic to industry, and those fears are heightened by conservatives in Congress pledging major revisions to laws that have been hallmarks of environmental protection.
Voluntary compliance
The administration of environmental laws generally falls to state regulators under cooperative "primacy" agreements that allow for local enforcement. Those agreements mandate that states must have laws at least as stringent as the federal laws, but they can have tougher laws if they so choose.
Recent comments
this is great news for utah it ashameabout the rest of the world
mystery | Oct. 8, 2007 at 11:50 a.m.
- Germany celebrates Wall falling 3:53 p.m.
- Iraq electoral law passes 3:39 p.m.
- Memorial at site of Cleveland killings 3:35 p.m.
- Chavez to troops: Prepare for war 3:34 p.m.
- Suspect in Vail shooting faces charge 3:31 p.m.
- TCU moves into 4th place in BCS 3:16 p.m.
- Alcohol suspected in Roy shooting 2:36 p.m.
- Chaplain seeks prayers for meaning 2:36 p.m.
- La. Gov. declares state of emergency 2:34 p.m.
- 'SuperFreakonomics' just as fun 1:42 p.m.
- Gay advocates trek to LDS office
213 - Dirk does dirty work in Dallas
190 - House passes health care bill
184 - Lobo suspended
173 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
147 - Speed has never been BYU's game
136 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
112 - RSL rallies to advance
103 - Thousands protest health bill
102 - Provo company innovating engines
98
Why do so many people live so close to refineries in Utah and elsewhere?
NASA's Stardust probe continues to bring new knowledge about the nature...
Why is it the biggest, baddest insult Cougies can think of is suggesting a...
What are all you Utah haters gona say when Utah beats TCU?...
Nice work Hurricane on the win vs. Morgan. Keep your heads and be confident...
The Tigers played a great game. I wish Morgan would have had their Senior...
are tomorrow's Drs., policemen, legislators, dentists, teachers, nurses,...
Hum, no mention of pres Obama not showing up?
That Logan team could have anyone in the state that year. There isn't any...
I know there was alot of talk about the D1 Recruits, but some players that...
What a master manipulator this guy is.
Most of the comments have been from the point of view that everyone is able...


