Roger Gipple, a poet and naturalist who recently spearheaded an effort to create a wildlife refuge in Adair County(http://www.inhf.org/gipple.htm), has endowed monies for Iowa students to dialog about the regeneration of wildness in the state. His is a substantial investment in a needed re-VISION of Iowa. He is looking for a Sierra Club educator/member willing to serve on a committee overseeing this fund. He has talked with Patrick Bosold over in Fairfield during the BIONEERS conference. With the Loess Hills containing the most native and wildest prairies in the state and with the bicentennial commemoration of the Lewis and Clark journey, I would like us to join Roger as he initiates this dialog among the students of this state. Please call me if you would like to serve on this seven person committee I could most succinctly call: The Wild Iowa Essay Committee. (I know it will have another name.) Jim Redmond Briar Cliff University [log in to unmask] 3303 Rebecca St. Sioux City IA 51104 712-279-5544 712-258-8303 home -----Original Message----- From: Jane Clark [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Sunday, January 11, 2004 7:02 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Jumping Ship at the EPA Thanks, Laura--here are three more articles on resignations at EPA Enforcement Office... Jane Clark January 6, 2004 3 Top Enforcement Officials Say They Will Leave E.P.A. By JENNIFER 8. LEE , New York Times ASHINGTON, Jan. 5 - Three top enforcement officials at the Environmental Protection Agency have resigned or retired in the last two weeks, including two lawyers who were architects of the agency's litigation strategy against coal-burning power plants. The timing of the departures and comments by at least one of the officials who is leaving suggest that some have left out of frustration with the Bush administration's policy toward enforcement of the Clean Air Act. "The rug was pulled out from under us," said Rich Biondi, who is retiring as associate director of the air enforcement division of the agency. "You look around and say, `What contribution can I continue to make here?' and it was limited." Cynthia Bergman, a spokeswoman for the agency, said of the departures, "This is an office of several hundred employees - and to have one political appointee and two career employees leave is not indicative of unrest or departmentwide frustration." In August, the administration changed air pollution rules to give utility companies more leeway to modernize their power plants without having to upgrade their pollution control equipment. That change prompted the agency's enforcement division to drop investigations into about 50 power plants for suspected violations of the Clean Air Act. Last month, however, a federal appeals court temporarily blocked the administration from enforcing the new air pollution rules. The head of the agency's enforcement division, J. P. Suarez, announced his resignation on Monday to take a job as general counsel at a division of Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, in Arkansas. Mr. Suarez has been at the agency for 18 months. The E.P.A. announced in November that it was going to suspend investigations into utilities after the administration loosened the sections of the Clean Air Act that govern aging coal-burning power plants. In the last two weeks, Bruce Buckheit, the head of air enforcement division, and Mr. Biondi, his deputy, who had worked at the agency since 1971, retired. The two, who took a buyout offered to senior agency employees, join other top enforcement lawyers who have resigned or retired. Eric Schaeffer, the former head of civil enforcement, resigned in spring 2002 with a scathing letter criticizing the administration's enforcement of the Clean Air Act. Sylvia K. Lowrance, the acting assistant administrator for enforcement and a career enforcement official, retired in August 2002. "We will see more resignations in the future as the administration fails to enforce environmental laws," Ms. Lowrance said. Mr. Suarez said on Monday in an interview, "While Bruce and Rich bring tremendous experience to their job, we are blessed with talent that will pick up where they left off." Mr. Buckheit is considered a driving force behind the agency's pursuit of utilities that started in the Clinton administration. "It is a huge loss for clean air enforcement as Bruce was one of the most energetic and passionate Clean Air lawyers in the country," said Peter Lehner, the head of environmental litigation for the New York attorney general's office, which has joined in several of the lawsuits against power plants. The suits used a once-obscure provision of the Clean Air Act, known as new source review, which says that power plants, refineries and other industrial boilers had to install pollution controls if they modernized in ways that increased emissions generally. But "routine maintenance was exempt." The power companies protested the suits, saying the Clinton administration was misinterpreting the law. Nonetheless, Mr. Buckheit had reached agreements with some electric companies, including Virginia Electric Power and Cinergy, by 2000. Many other negotiations stalled, however, after the Bush administration came into office. Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force urged the administration to study industry complaints about federal enforcement actions. Last summer, Virginia Electric Power, now known as Dominion Power, completed an agreement to install $1.2 billion in pollution controls. Mr. Suarez joined the E.P.A. in 2002. Before, he had been director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. Key EPA Official Resigns By Eric Pianin Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, January 6, 2004; Page A15 The Environmental Protection Agency's chief enforcement officer announced yesterday that he will leave office later this month, marking the latest in a series of departures by senior regulatory enforcement officials from the agency. John Peter Suarez, the EPA's assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance, said he is resigning to take a job as general counsel to a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. His departure comes at time of uncertainty and turmoil in the agency's enforcement division. In November, the Bush administration said it would close pending investigations of 70 power plants suspected of violating the Clean Air Act, following the EPA's August decision to ease enforcement rules. Then, late last month, a federal appeals court blocked the administration from implementing the new rules, which would allow aging coal-fired power plants to upgrade their facilities without installing costly anti-pollution equipment. The effort to soften enforcement rules has been controversial within the EPA and was a factor in the resignations of several career senior enforcement officials, including Eric Schaeffer and Sylvia Lowrance. Just last month, Bruce Buckheit and Rich Biondi of the air enforcement division retired from their posts. Suarez, 39, a former New Jersey gaming enforcement official and prosecutor who came in with former EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman, said his resignation was prompted by "a great job opportunity" and had nothing to do with dissatisfaction with administration policies. He said Mike Leavitt, the new EPA administrator, had encouraged him to stay. Suarez also said the agency last year achieved "dramatic increases in environmental and public health benefits" through enforcement efforts. (c) 2004 The Washington Post Company Reuters By Chris Baltimore WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The Environmental Protection Agency's top enforcement official on Monday said he will leave his post later this month to become head counsel for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. <WMT.N>, the world's largest company. In a resignation letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, John Suarez said he will leave the EPA effective January 30. He gave no reason for his action, which came after his involvement in some controversial decisions giving coal-burning power plants more leeway to meet clean air regulations. Suarez was appointed by former EPA Administrator Christine Whitman, who resigned in May after finding herself at odds with some Bush administration officials. EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt, who was confirmed by the Senate in October, has not named Suarez's replacement, the EPA said. "I am extremely proud of the work that we do here in EPA enforcing our nation's laws," Suarez said in a letter to colleagues. The EPA has "been able to provide more compliance assistance to industry than ever before," he added in a letter circulated by the agency. In November, Suarez was involved in an initial decision by the Bush administration not to sue dozens of coal-burning utilities and other industries for past dirty air violations after easing pollution rules, according to EPA sources familiar with the situation. After environmental groups and Democrats criticized the plan, the EPA said it would pursue the cases. A federal court last month halted the administration's plan to allow U.S. utilities and refiners to upgrade aging power plants without installing costly pollution-control devices. Environmentalists said Suarez was carrying out the pro-industry view of the White House. "Suarez was unfortunately the messenger" for the Bush administration, said John Walke, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. "I don't believe he was the culprit." Environmentalists pointed out that Suarez's resignation was the third departure of a high-level air enforcement official in 30 days. Bruce Buckheit, who oversaw EPA's enforcement campaign for power plants, and his deputy, Rich Biondi, recently resigned. "My sense is this is principled officials resigning in disgust, albeit quietly," Walke said. Utility lobbyists cautioned against making any link between Suarez's departure and the agency's recent clean air decisions. "There is no relation between his resignation and recent events dealing with" clean air rules, said Scott Segal, a spokesman for the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, a utility lobbying group. Emissions from coal-fired power plants and refineries can aggravate asthma, chronic bronchitis and pneumonia. ((Reporting by Chris Baltimore, editing by Richard Chang; Reuters messaging: [log in to unmask]; 202 898 8316)) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]