Adirondack Council's
Statement on Senator Schumer's Effort to
Restore Acid Rain Funding
"We are very pleased that
Senator Schumer has appealed to the Senate's leadership to restore
this crucial funding," Adirondack Council Executive Director
Brian L. Houseal said in response to the news. "The Senator
has been a staunch supporter of acid rain research and emissions
cuts throughout his carrer in state and federal government. Without
his support today, these programs would have no hope of survival.
"The data generated by these
programs has been the proof we needed to refute the claims of
Midwestern officials who said their smokestacks weren't harming
the Adirondacks and Catskills. This rock-solid sceintific data
was the moving force behind the federal Clean Air Act Amendments
of 1990 and the current federal acid rain program.
"In 2003, we used this data
again to gain approval for the Clean Air Interstate Rule. CAIR
mandates 70-percent cuts in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides
-- the two main components of acid rain and smog -- above and
beyond the cuts required in the federal Acid Rain Program.
"The first deadline for
meeting those emissions cuts is 2010. The round 2 deadline is
2015. We must continue testing the air and water to ensure that
those emissions reductions have the desired effect: improved
air quality and a healthier environment. Thanks to Senator Schumer's
actions today, we are confident that these programs will be saved."
See Senator Schumer's
Press Release Below
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AS ACID RAIN CONTINUES TO THREATEN
THE ADIRONDACKS
– DESTROYING FORESTS AND LAKES – SCHUMER FIGHTS TO
RESTORE SLASHED FUNDING FOR VITAL ACID-RAIN MONITORING PROGRAM
Bush Administration
is Slashing Funding for 80 Monitoring Stations in NYS
and Across the Country that Provide Invaluable Information to
Scientists and Legislators Fighting Acid Rain Deposition
With the Bill Slated
for Floor Debate, Schumer Calls on Senate Committee to
Restore Full Funding for Crucial CASTNET Program Which Monitors
Pollution from Coal-Belching Midwest Plants
Schumer: We Have Made
Gains in the Battle Against Acid Rain,
But We Must Have Ongoing Data to Win the War
For more information:
Alex Detrick
202) 224-7433
Released, Thursday, October 18, 2007
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer
today called on a Senate Committee to restore full funding for
a key anti-acid rain monitoring program that the Bush Administration
seeks to cut. The program, the Clean Air Status and Trends Network
(CASTNET), is a critical federal program that works to combat
acid rain across New York State and the country by establishing
monitoring stations that provide scientists and legislators with
detailed information regarding acid rain deposition. While the
program has been historically funded at $3.9 million, it is set
to be slashed by $1 million, or more than a quarter of its funding,
for next year.
Today, Schumer, a longtime crusader
against acid rain – which has already decimated scores of
pristine parks, forests and lakes across the state – called
on the Senate Committee in charge of the program’s budget
to immediately restore its funding levels.
“With acid rain already
decimating so many of New York State’s precious parks, lakes
and rivers, it is inconceivable that we would now slash funding
to a federal program that is vital to combating acid rain,”
said Schumer. “Acid rain is public enemy number one for
the Adirondacks and parks across the state, and it is absolutely
critical that scientists and environmentalists fighting this
environmental scourge have the tools they need. We have made
gains in the battle against acid rain, but we need hard data
to win the war.”
Schumer today sent a letter to
the Senate Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related
Agencies, under the Senate Committee on Appropriations, calling
on it to restore funding at the $3.9 million budget. The bill
is set to move to conference with its House companion bill. Schumer
urged that the funding be restored during conference.
Air quality and ecosystems in
New York and the Northeast have suffered significantly from emissions
from Midwest coal-fired power plants that produce acid rain.
Due, in part, to its ecological makeup, the Adirondacks have
endured the worst damage in the nation from acid rain.
As a result of decades of acid
rain, more than 500 of the Adirondack Park's 2,800 lakes and
ponds are too acidic to support their native life. Thousands
of acres of high-elevation red spruce and fir forests have been
wiped out and mercury contamination exacerbated by acid rain
has been documented in more than 20 Adirondack lakes, making
the fish unfit to eat.
Schumer emphasized that acid
rain is a statewide and national problem, with every region in
New York possessing dangerously acidic rain. Catskill Park's
forests and lakes have also been severely impacted by acid rain,
as have the Great Lakes of Western New York and the Finger Lakes.
The CASTNET program is vital
to fighting acid rain in New York State. The program is designed
to give scientists, legislators and environmentalists the data
and information they need to better combat acid rain. The program
operates 80 monitoring stations throughout the country, including
in New York State, and measures surface air quality. Within CASTNET,
the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) partners with
state and local governments to operate monitoring stations that
measure the amount of “wet acid deposition” –
acid rain. Together, these two programs provide invaluable information
to scientists and legislators.
CASTNET is the EPA’s best
source of information on the effectiveness of the nation’s
endeavors to curb acidity. Without it, scientists and policy-makers
will have no way to gauge the response of the environment to
various policies, and no way to curb the acid rain that will
continue to fall.
The program has historically
been funded at approximately $3.9 million through the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s Science and Technology Account, in the
Air Quality and Toxins program area. But this year, the EPA is
looking to slash the program by $1 million in funding and said
the money will come directly out of CASTNET’s budget.
“This proposed cut in funding
would slash the legs out from under this crucial program,”
added Schumer
Twenty years ago, acid rain was
devastating the Eastern half of the United States. Congress,
the EPA, state and local governments acknowledged the damage
that unregulated emissions of certain acid-rain-producing pollutants
were having on the environment. They took decisive action to
curtail those emissions, and today, acid rain is not as bad as
it once was. However, in certain parts of the country, acid rain
continues to be a major ecological problem. The Northeast is
the region most affected by this problem, with the Adirondacks
in Upstate New York being brutally hit. CASTNET, and its subsidiary
program NADP have been integral to the EPA’s response to
acid rain.
Acid rain has been attributed
to sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx), chemicals that
can be transported in the wind, causing environmental and health
problems hundreds of miles away. Fine particles can pose serious
health risks, especially for people with heart or lung disease
(including asthma) and older adults and children. Ground-level
ozone can irritate the respiratory system, aggravate asthma,
reduce lung capacity and increase people’s susceptibility
to respiratory illnesses like pneumonia and bronchitis.
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