young woman told me she was tired of reading in the paper that [as a federal worker] she is a stupid bureaucrat." She also warned that the cuts and funding uncertainty are having a major impact on privatesector contractors in several programs, such as Superfund. Under the president's proposed budget, EPA had planned to conduct site assessments at 2000 potential Superfund sites this year, Browner said, but that number has shrunk to 800. A further complication is the $400 million cut in EPA's $1.5 billion cleanup program, which, an EPA budget staffer said, is parceled out on a daily basis over the 45 days the resolution is in effect. Also under the temporary resolution, EPA cannot supplement its Superfund budget by tapping the Superfund Trust Fund, according to EPA staff. Tim Fields, EPA deputy assistant administrator of the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, said long-term implications of the Superfund shutdown include curtailed or halted cleanups at "a minimum of 25% of our projects" with payments to contractors delayed.
"I'm not the tooth fairy. I must deal with what it takes to balance the budget." — Sen. Kit Bond "We will not be able to initiate construction at a minimum of 50 new construction projects that are ready to go with all permits approved," Fields told ES&T. "We will curtail the level of activities in our Emergency Response Program by at least half." That effect, he said, will be to make more brownfields at some sites because EPA will only be able to "stabilize, put up a fence, and delay the ultimate cleanup." Browner also complained that the shutdowns and the uncertainty of permanent funding had stymied agency efforts to streamline its regulations to help businesses and to give states more authority to find solutions suitable to their problems. State wa-
"The lifeblood of the agency is being drained," EPA Administrator Carol Browner told the Senate.
ter regulators at the hearing said reduced federal support for state revolving funds and water program management has jeopardized state programs. These trickle-down cuts have hurt watersheds, stormwater, and a host of other programs, including the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System, according to ASIWPCA officials. In other areas, Browner said enforcement inspections will drop from a planned 9000 to 7000 in 1996, and development of a host of regulations has been stalled. For instance, she said, an agency goal of developing standards for 42 air pollutants will be delayed because of the shutdown and funding cuts. Also, federalstate partnerships will be reduced, blocking progress on many projects, such as the Florida Everglades, the San Francisco Bay, as well as the Chesapeake Bay Program—which Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), a subcommittee member and former chair, called a "model for the nation." However, Mikulski told Browner that a $240 million increase offered late last year by Bond was about the most that could come out of the subcommittee, despite her support for EPA. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (DN.J.), another long-time EPA supporter, predicted long-term problems, based on his experience in 1985, when the Superfund program was in jeopardy. "I've been here long enough to see what happened when we told people throughout 1985 that we didn't know whether we would be operating [Superfund]," he said
during the hearing. "We apologized because we didn't have the funding." But, he warned, when Superfund started up again, the skilled contractors had left for other work. The budget impasse between President Clinton and Congress appears to be far from resolvable, according to congressional staff. A staff member with Rep. Sherwood L. Boehlert (R-N.Y), a leader of moderate Republicans and environmental supporters, noted that although Boehlert's stance has become increasingly popular in the House, there are many variables other than the environment affecting this issue. "EPA's situation is tough, but remember it's not just EPA. There are a half-dozen agencies out there without funding that are caught in this complex debate." —JEFF JOHNSON, VIKI REATH
Enforcement cuts hit by corporate attorney The need for strong federal enforcement of environmental laws found an unusual ally at a recent legal symposium in Washington on the budget's impact on federal enforcement. Judson Starr, a corporate environmental attorney whose clients include some of the largest companies in America, warned that low EPA funding levels in congressional appropriations for enforcement will undermine corporate willingness to comply with environmental laws. In particular, he said, the cutbacks will diminish the authority of a company's environmental health and safety officer. Speaking at a Jan. 23 symposium of the Environmental Law Institute, Starr emphasized the growing importance of corporate environmental health and safety officials and their ability to avoid environmental problems and minimize harm to the environment and the company. Without the threat of a strong federal hand in enforcement, Starr said, the official's role would return to a lowly part of the corporate hierarchy and be staffed by a person "close to retirement, with no real power base in the organization, and no staff—just
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window dressing." However, Starr also took the opportunity to criticize EPA enforcement for being "uncoordinated, unfair, inconsistent, and focused on small issues at the expense of larger ones." Defending proposed cuts to EPA enforcement of 25% or more, Keith Cole, a counsel to Sen. Christopher (Kit) Bond (R-Mo.), chair of the Senate appropriations subcommittee that controls EPA funding, said EPAs role has increasingly been taken over by states, a trend Congress would like to continue. He said 83% of enforcement actions are currently done by states, and he noted that environmentally related spending by states has grown from zero 25 years ago to $9.3 billion in 1991. With states running more and more environmental programs, Cole asked, "Why should EPAs enforcement budget keep rising?" He predicted that in the years ahead, Congress will increasingly shift more environmental responsibility to states. Starr countered that front-line state prosecutors frequently have difficulty bringing enforcement actions against politically connected environmental offenders. "The states need EPA," he said. —JEFF JOHNSON
Clinton releases "thematic" budget The Clinton administration issued a "thematic overview" of its fiscal year 1997 budget priorities on Feb. 5. The quietly released overview stood in sharp contrast to the 2000-page document that normally is released each year to much fanfare and discussion. The 20-page overview held few environmental details, other than a priority for enforcement and Superfund, more funds for EPAs operating program, establishment of a tax incentive program for brownfield cleanups, more authority for state-run water programs, and increases for research on global climate change and ozone depletion. Noting "uncertainty over 1996 appropriations," the president said he anticipated transmitting a detailed budget by March 18.
NEWS SCIENCE Atrazine not an ecological risk, study says Despite its widespread presence in U.S. surface waters, atrazine, one of the most widely used agricultural herbicides, does not pose a risk to the aquatic environment, according to a recently published ecological risk assessment. The assessment, funded by the principal atrazine manufacturer, CibaGeigy, followed current best-practice recommendations and is being widely praised as a model assessment. But despite the rigor of the new study, some researchers believe it does not completely clear atrazine of possible ecological harm. "This new risk assessment is well done," said Anthony Maciorowski, chief of the ecological effects branch in EPAs Office of Pesticides. "But ecological risk assessment is still evolving. Other people would come to other conclusions." Although ecological risk assessment is an emerging field, EPA is backing it as the best means of integrating scientific information with decision making. The atrazine study is one of the first examples of an ecological risk assessment intended to influence such decision making. Recent research on the ecological effects of atrazine and the other triazine herbicides has been stimulated by an EPA "special review" started in 1994 and scheduled to produce findings at the end of this year. The review is EPAs procedure for determining whether a chemical may pose unreasonable risks to people or the environment. The determination is based on a risk-benefit analysis
and can result in a decision to cancel, restrict, or continue chemical uses. Human health issues triggered the review, but ecological effects also concern the agency, according to EPA review manager Joe Bailey. "When we initiated the review, we felt that there might be an ecological effect, but at the time we could make a stronger case for human health concerns," he said. The review process will attempt to weigh and balance human and ecological risks. The atrazine risk assessment was performed by a panel of scientists established by the Institute of Wildlife Toxicology, Clemson University (North Carolina) and headed by Keith Solomon, director of the Centre for Toxicology, University of Guelph, Ontario {Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 1996, 15, 31). Atrazine kills weeds in corn fields by inhibiting photosynthesis. In surface water, the herbicide also affects aquatic plants. Determining the scope and significance of this effect is the bottom line for the risk assessment. The risk assessment tested three hypotheses: (1) Atrazine may cause temporary, reversible reductions in plant productivity, and long, repeated exposure could reduce total biomass. (2) The herbicide could damage the ecosystem community structure and reduce the ability of the habitat to sustain other organisms such as fish. (3) Direct effects of the herbicide on aquatic plants may result in adverse indirect ef-
Each year, 80 million pounds of atrazine are spread on U.S. crops, particularly corn.
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