If you have been using the What Grows On in Rhode Island Calendar, you have certainly noticed that since January 2009 it has included the local and state public meetings and hearings that concern our environment. They're mixed in with the hikes and walks, cleanups, Farmers' Markets, and all kinds of classes, conferences, celebrations, plant sales, and everything else Rhode Islanders do with our land, water, and air. Most of the activities have to do with land and water, but this month two critically important issues are before the legislature that seriously affect air quality: diesel fumes and trash incineration.
I went looking for a photo of air pollution, but I don't really have one. Who wants to take photos of our beautiful Narragansett Bay in smog? Who even wants to be outside trying to breathe when the air LOOKS dirty? But even when the air LOOKS clear, there are harmful particulates in the air that shorten our lives and make some of us very sick. It can become worse, or we can keep improving on the Clean Air Act.
Some Rhode Islanders who are not dropping the ball on air pollution are active in Clean Water Action, Audubon Society of Rhode Island, People's Power & Light, Sierra Club RI Chapter, Toxics Action Center, Bluewater Wind, and Environment Council of Rhode Island. Join with these people and others to let your representatives know you care about what you breathe.
DIESEL POLLUTION HAS A SOLUTION! The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act is before the legislature, and next Thursday, May 28, from 2pm to 3pm, join the bill's sponsors occupational health experts, and community leaders to show your support for this bill. Further info is on the RI Diesel Pollution Initiatve pages on Environment Rhode Island, Clean Water Action, and in this Status Report flyer.
TRASH INCINERATION keeps turning up in the legislature, even though it's been turned down before. A House Committee on Finance Hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 1pm in the Trainor Hearing Room (Room 35) at the State House on H6053, the name of which obscures its purpose: "An Act Related to Health and Safety -- Energy." It doesn't talk about incineration, but rather "waste to energy." Clever.
We average citizens would never know what it was really doing without the alert from the Environment Council of Rhode Island and other vigilant folks.
H6053 REMOVES this line from the current law:
(7) The plan shall not include incineration of solid waste.
It also REMOVES this line from our current law:
(8) Waste-to-energy combustion of any sort or manner shall in no instance be considered eligible except for fuels identified in section 39-26-2(6).
And replaces it with this text:
Waste-to-energy technology at a facility approved by the Rhode Island resource recovery corporation, subject to the permitting, regulatory, and monitoring authority of the department of health and the department of environmental management granted pursuant to section 23-19-12 and any other applicable section of the general laws and; provided, such facility may only be sited at the central landfill as defined in section 23-19-5 and subject to licensing as required in the Energy Facility Siting Act, and; provided further, that in no case shall any facility be permitted unless the operation of such facility shall meet all applicable standards established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to sections 111 and 129 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C sections 7411, 7429.
Earlier in this legislative session, environmental groups stated their strong opposition to this idea. (See Clean Water Action's press release about H6053 of March 31, 2009). But within the past week, a companion bill has been introduced in the Senate (S933). Take a couple of minutes to read the objections to trash burning in the May 15 press release from a wide range of environmental groups that watch out for our health. Then take a deep breath, think about that deep breath, and let your representatives know what you think!
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