Deq Citations Drop Sharply Stick Traded For Carrot; Conservationists Bristle

The state’s lone environmental watchdog agency is citing fewer and fewer businesses for polluting the air or mishandling hazardous materials.

The state’s Division of Environmental Quality slapped only 13 such citations on businesses in the past two years, compared to 57 in the 24 months before that.

Meanwhile, DEQ demanded only nine businesses enter legally binding agreements to stop polluting in 1995 and 1996, compared with 59 the previous two years.

State officials say the figures reflect a new approach by regulators, who now work in concert with businesses to clean up environmental problems, rather than against them.

That transition is at the heart of a bitter philosophical tug-of-war between industry and conservation groups, which offer opposite interpretations of the same data.

Business leaders applaud the change, arguing they respond better to the carrot than the stick. Some suggest citations are down because companies are operating more cleanly.

But environmentalists howl in protest, pointing to the figures as evidence that the state agency is letting industry break environmental laws with abandon.

While neither side can point to proof that the change has hurt - or helped - the state’s air or water quality, both agree it marks a dramatic about-face for environmental enforcement at DEQ.

“They moved from command and control to educate and participate,” said Brent Olmstead, vice president of the Idaho Association of Industry and Commerce. “Why not work with businesses and prevent them from doing something, rather than just punishing them?”

On the other side is Rick Johnson, executive director of the Idaho Conservation League.

“What it means is people are getting away with more,” Johnson said. “It’s like cops watching people driving down the highway. If you’re not pulling over speeders, more people speed. Things get a little sloppy.”

The turning point, all agree, was the election of Idaho Gov. Phil Batt.

Coeur d’Alene attorney Scott Reed reviewed more than 2,200 pages of DEQ records and discovered dramatic differences in the number of enforcement actions taken during the last two years of Gov. Cecil Andrus’ administration and the first two years of Batt’s. Reed’s findings were reported last week in The Advocate, the official newsletter of the Idaho State Bar.

Reed reported that while 17 air pollution violations were recorded during Andrus’ last two years, only four were recorded during the first half of Batt’s term. Hazardous waste violations were more disparate, with 40 citations under Andrus and nine under Batt.

Reed also reported that, in DEQ’s air quality division under Andrus’ final years, businesses signed 19 “consent orders” - legally binding promises to stop polluting - while only three were signed under Batt. In the agency’s hazardous waste division, the numbers were 39 under Andrus and six under Batt.

While Reed is a self-described environmentalist and a high-profile Democrat, state officials don’t dispute his research.

“There’s no arguing the numbers,” said Dave Pisarski, compliance bureau chief for DEQ in Boise.

They do, however, caution against drawing conclusions from them.

“There is a problem when someone uses the numbers to indicate the success of a program,” said Pisarski, who insists the change is working.

In the past two years, DEQ has “concentrated on building partnerships with business,” said agency spokeswoman Shirley Mix. “We’re focused on remedying the situation rather than hitting them with fines.”

When DEQ learns that someone has broken an environmental law, they first determine how significant the violation is, Pisarski said. If it’s serious, the business would get a “notice of violation,” which can lead to fines and other civil penalties.

If it’s not serious, under the new approach violators are given a warning letter and asked to make arrangements to correct the problem, Pisarski said.

“If they forgot to label a drum of waste or forgot to submit a report, the thinking is ‘Let’s give some leniency’ instead of just saying ‘You screwed up here,”’ Pisarski said.

Consent orders aren’t used unless these voluntary arrangements fail, he said.

Olmstead, for one, says the program is long overdue. He also points out it’s an approach other states are turning to as well.

“I don’t look at this as a negative thing in any way,” Olmstead said. “I think you’re seeing increased compliance and a better-protected environment.”

On that point, environmentalists disagree.

“The Batt administration and the Idaho Legislature place more of an emphasis on doing business than on protecting public health,” said Mark Solomon, executive director of the Inland Empire Public Lands Council.

He points out that Batt made DEQ’s regional administrators political appointees rather than civil servants. Only the Panhandle’s non-appointed administrator, Gwen Burr, remains in her post.

“That way, if the governor does not like the way business is being regulated, he may remove that administrator and put in a more willing one.”

Johnson also suggested that morale is low among state regulators who he says have complained politicians won’t let them do their jobs.

He returned to his speeding analogy.

“The state police are not working hand in hand with me to stop speeding,” he said. “If I break the law, I get a ticket. This should be the same.”

But Pisarski maintains his 16 inspectors are satisfied with the way things are being handled. He also challenged critics to show how any of the changes have harmed the environment.

“I don’t think we’ve compromised the integrity of this agency or the public health by anything we did or did not do,” he said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Environmental enforcement