Copyright 2000 The Tribune Co. Publishes The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Tribune
February 11, 2000, Friday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: FLORIDA/METRO, Pg. 4
LENGTH: 464 words
HEADLINE:
Politician gets backing on clean-air concept;
BYLINE: SUSAN M. GREEN, of The Tampa Tribune;
BODY:
ST. PETERSBURG - Bay area
environmental watchdogs say it's time to burn cleaner fuels. New state
laws may be proposed.
A Manatee County commissioner's campaign for
tougher clean-air standards picked up steam Thursday, fueling his hopes of
seeing a bill in the Legislature this session. An Agency on Bay Management
committee endorsed the concept of Commissioner Joe McClash's proposal
calling for power plants and cars to burn cleaner fuels. The committee stopped
short of embracing all the proposal's details.
McClash has been
pressing for a statewide clean-air policy since last year, when Manatee
officials balked at a suggestion that residents should test their car
emissions annually as is done in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
McClash said he is working with state lawmakers to introduce a policy.
The legislative session starts March 7.
He blames a 1998 spurt of
heavy smog in Manatee primarily on old power plants north of the county,
particularly Tampa Electric Co. The plants puff pollutants into the air that
threaten Manatee when the wind blows south, he said.
"We're
helpless in Manatee County to some of the worst polluters in the state of
Florida," McClash said Thursday in a phone interview, noting that local
governments have little authority over power plants.
The federal
government is suing TECO over pollution. Late last year, the company announced a
$ 1 billion plan to cut emissions of nitrogen oxide and
sulfur dioxide by 2010. McClash said the plan meets his
proposed standards, but he would like to see new limits in force by 2003.
The Agency on Bay Management's natural resources committee voted to
recommend to its full board revising the state's clean-air policies to
"deal more equitably with all contributors" to smog, consider the
environment along with economic issues in setting energy policies and promote
renewable energy sources such as solar power. The agency is an arm of the
Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.
"I think it's a good step in
the right direction," McClash said.
Roger Stewart, the executive
director of Hillsborough's Environmental Protection Commission, said the
Tampa Bay area is meeting federal clean-air standards but "precariously so."
Karen Collins-Fleming, Manatee's environmental-management director, said
she was encouraged to learn that state Sen. James Hargrett, D-Tampa, is
sponsoring a bill promoting low-sulfur gasoline usage.
Hargrett's staff confirmed that Thursday, but details were not available.
Hillsborough's EPC recently voted to support mandates for
low-sulfur fuel sales and more stringent standards for
power plants, said Jerry Campbell, EPC's air-management director. Susan M.
Green can be reached at (813) 657-4529.
NOTES: LOCAL
FOCUS
LOAD-DATE: February 12, 2000
