Document 9pDQoq1bx9GzYkLmE2qwo6gV

Environment committee* Disputes overwhelm By Kai Stack News*Tlmes public affairs editor / HARTPORD - A dlssenslon-torn environment committee had no trouble meeting Its deadline for reporting bills yesterday, but bitter disputes between members existed whM the session ended, During the (toy, Iho )otnt committee split into ita separate Houae and Senate contingent, when San. Harold Hannon. D-Shtrmnn, tnaieted an achedullng a vote on a biU to boo oonretumable b&tUoe la lb* elate - an ieeaa the committee failed to approve for floor 'debate lo e tie vote two veoke ago. Still aurroundad by controvoray, the bill me committee memben and a welfare lobbyist who wore waltlnf for a committee vote on a bill to ban oao of decompression chambers to kill unwanted dogs. Because of strenuous objections, Clampl eventually agreed to take a vote on the attempt to adjourn and the vote was recorded ai < M tie. A new vote, with Rep. John Anderson, IVNewtown, switching to join Hansen and Mrs. Osleckl In support of the chairman's adjournment call was recorded as 114 in favor of ending the session and members left without discussion of the decompression chamber bill. When last seen, women lobbying for paasage of tha bill on humane ground* eventually eant to tha Senate by a were uttertni threata of political dlaputad SI vote, but it la given littlu ralallatloo particularly at Clampl. "He chance for enactment thla year. bin(Clampl) killed the and hc'e going Rap. Clarice Oalackl, R-Danbury, the right out of office," one women waa ranking minority member of the committee, charged teat an 11-10 vote to kill MU aaUMUhlng a farmlands preservation program showed the com- angrily telling sympathetic committee memhere. Hansen, Mrs. Osleckl and Andersen said later they supported the call for mlttaa'i lack of commitment to the adjournment because a vote on the concept. Hansen vigorously denied the meaiura would have been futile alnce it charge saying n substitute hill ha did aol have tha supportforpassageand offered to contlnna studios on Iho would merely hive served to further proposal was tha bast the legislature inflame committee tampan, could ho azpoctod to approve this year. To top off the deadline session, Rep. Francis Clampl, D-Waterimry, House chairman, abruptly adjoaraad the meotlng at 1:90 p.m., an hour and a half About the closest thing to unanimity came te committee members Joined together to attack Gov. Ella Grasao for her handling of amendments to the Connecticut Environmental Protection before the daadllna. Hla announcement Act and than went on to reject the not off an uproar from tavoral proposal by a vote of 1M. ' Clampl began the attack on the governor before her perionel representative, aide Jeffrey Daniels, ' even had a chance to attempt to expUin Uw now proposal designed to set up a , procedure for handling environmental Impact statement for state projects. Committee members still were obviously angry over a last-minute proposal last year to delay implementation of the bill which the governor persuaded Iho House to adopt - only to see Hanson load a successful effort in the Senate to kill the attempt on the last day of the session. Committee members, particularly Democratic House members who fait they had been burned in the maneuvering over the bill last year, were obviously In no mood lo consider the issueagain this year as they insisted that tha currant Uw should be given a chance to operate before any attempts tt changes are made. Daniels insisted that the idmintetration needs ths revised version to assure adequate reguUUons are deviled to execute the UgUUtlvc Intent of the act and to establish as agency to oversee u, but committee S- session DANBURY, CONN. news-times D. 30,000 MAR 1 6 1976 .iVix. HONS 037140 members mU e requirement for regulations would men a hidden delay In implementation. Daniels said without the revision* some projects may get away without environmental scrutiny while others which don't need it could be delayed. . The committee resoundingly rejected his arguments on behalf of the governor after Hansen said he thoroughly reviewed the bill end found several features objectionable. Although the attempt was defeated by the committee, no one was ready to rule out the possibility that the governor's insistence on a revision might lead to an attempt to secure her goal through an amendment offered on the floor as she attempted last year. The day was a mixed success for organizations which had been lobbying for animal welfare btlla this year. Before adjourning without considering the decompression chamber measure, the committee approved a one-year extension of the time to Implement a pilot program to demonstrate use of spaying and neutering clinics in the State, but failed to take any action on a proposal to restrict use of steel-jaw leg bold traps. The committee had conslsteritly refused to honor requests to consider legislation banning uae of the leg-hold traps, but had agreed to take up a proposal which would have Ilconaed use of the traps and established new restrictions on their use. However, when the time to discuss the proposal arrived, committee members were Informed there were problems with the bill and it would not be considered this year. During its day-long deliberations, the committee approved for floor debate measures to allow falconry In the state, to extend the hours for snowmoblUng on state land, to require the annual motor vehicle pollution inspections and to give legislative becking to an attempt to dray the request by public utilities to geln environmental protection department authority to exceed the current limit of .Ob per cent sulfur in the oil they bum. Under the inspection system, which would take effect by 1179, any gasoline- powered vehicle made after 1967 would have to past an annual pollution inspection before it could be registered. Inspections would be made at official stations run by a private contractor selected by competitive bidding. An Inspection fee of not more than 910 would fund tbs program. The committee also amended and then approved a revised version of a bill designed to ban the use, manufacture or sale of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in the state. In recent months increasing attention has been given to high concentrations of PCB which has been linked to various Illnesses and is considered a possible cancer-causing agent in riverbeds and fish. Although a flat ban on PCB's in the state beginning Jan. 1,1900 was initially proposed, the amended version includes an exemption similar to one granted by the federal government for closed circuit electrical systems. However, the state bill will require cautionary labelling Identifying products which Include PCB and will regulate disposal methods for the products. Details of disposal requirements are still not ironed out, but the bill wtll definitely ben landfill dumping of products with PCB. The compound is virtually indestructible and does not break down into its components and can eventually leach out of landfill operations into waterways. The committee approved and sent to the appropriations committee e bill to appropriate funding for algae control on state lakes -- a program eliminated from the governor's recommended budget -- and sent to the finance committee to relse the milk dealers' license fee from 0& to 115. Defeated during the day were proposals to allow access to state lands from private lands fra snowmobilers now required to use check-in points, require the posting of agricultural lends due to be sprayed with pesticides, allow municipalities to charge fees for dumping at solid waste disposal sites and to establish a state program of coastal zone management.