PRESS RELEASE *** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February, 8, 2011

UTAHNS WILL PACK HOUSE HEARING WEDNESDAY AT 4 PM TO DECRY ANTI-HEALTH, ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURE

SB21 is a pro-pollution bill. It is not a pro-citizen bill.

A wide range of Utahns determined to stand up for public health and the environment will pack a House committee hearing on Wednesday to urge Representatives to reject SB21, the Department of Environmental Quality Amendments bill.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Margaret Dayton, will dramatically transform the five citizen advisory boards within the Department of Environmental Quality. It would remove their role in the process of hearing appeals of agency permitting decisions, among other so-called “reforms.”

Among the concerns about Senator Dayton’s bill are that it grants the DEQ Executive Director – currently Amanda Smith – an extraordinary amount of power. If a group or individual appeals a permit decision made by her agency, Smith herself would have the final say as to whether a coal mine can open, or a new waste can get dumped in the desert, or a refinery can expand.

“It puts too much power in one person’s hands,” says Cherise Udell, the founder of Utah Moms for Clean Air. “No one person should have that much power over critical public health and environmental decisions.”

The five citizen advisory panels – the Air Quality, Drinking Water, Radiation Control, Solid and Hazardous Waste Control and Water Quality boards – are comprised of public health professionals, experts and others who are charged with enacting rules, airing controversies and offering policy guidance.

What many suspect is that Sen. Dayton’s bill – the brainchild of the Utah Manufacturers Association, the voice for big industry in the state – is designed to limit the power of boards like the Radiation Control Board. In December, the DEQ announced it would allow EnergySolutions to begin dumping blended nuclear waste in Utah, despite opposition from the Radiation Control Board.

“The Herbert administration is pushing a dangerous and dirty nuclear agenda,” says Christopher Thomas, executive director of HEAL Utah. “This bill consolidates the power to pollute in the Executive branch and muzzles the citizen boards who might stand in the Governor’s way.”

If Gov. Herbert’s is serious about his newfound push for clean air – he announced a voluntary program last week called the Utah Clean Air Partnership (U-CAIR) – he’d better speak out now or be prepared to veto this bill if it moves forward, says Dr. Brian Moench, the president of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. “This bill further stacks the deck even more heavily in favor of industry in the permitting process,” he says. “It will make our air quality worse, regardless of the Governor’s recent initiative.”

If Gov. Herbert’s is serious about his newfound push for clean air – he announced a voluntary program last week called the Utah Clean Air Partnership – he’d better speak out now or be prepared to veto this bill if it moves forward, says Dr. Brian Moench, the president of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. “This bill further stacks the deck even more heavily in favor of industry in the permitting process,” he says. “It will make our air quality worse, regardless of the Governor’s recent initiative.”

Wednesday’s hearing of the House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee will take place at 4 pm in Room 445 of the State Capitol. SB21 is scheduled as the fifth bill on the agenda, although those are often shuffled when the hearings start.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Brian Moench
President, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment
drmoench@yahoo.com
801 243 9089

Cherise Udell
Utah Moms for Clean Air
nomadicmuse@yahoo.com
510-306-6963

Christopher Thomas
Executive Director, HEAL Utah
Christopher@healutah.org
801-560-1915