Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a series of five articles about Dartmouth and the environment.New Hampshire's environmental regulations are not as stringent as those of neighboring states. This year, New Hampshire will try to tighten some of that legislation while continuing progress on some successful policies that have already been enacted.
Issues of water quality and land conservation will be the top environmental priorities for the state of New Hampshire this year, according to State Senate Environment Committee Chairman Carl Johnson.
According to the Vice-Chairman, Representative David Babson of Ossipee, the House Environment and Agriculture Committee is currently considering legislation that would regulate the recycling of computer monitors, industrial production of hemp, the use of pesticides and of land.
Legislators will attempt to tighten existing regulations on water quality and crack down on the disposal of certain types of solid waste, while public and private interests will attempt to secure adequate funding for open space preservation.
Water issues are among the most important the state faces. Levels of the methyl tertiary-butyl ether -- a compound found in gasoline and other fuels which contaminates many water systems -- and disposal of hazardous solid waste will be addressed this session.
During Jeanne Shaheen's tenure as Governor, she signed an executive order to limit the level of MTBE in the water system to five parts per billion, below the Environmental Protection Agency's mandate of 15 parts per billion.
"We think it should now be done by statute, not by executive order," said Johnson, whose committee is finalizing a new bill to make Shaheen's order, which could be changed under a new administration, permanent as state law.
MTBE is a compound found in gasoline and other fuels which contaminates many water systems through the use of personal watercrafts on New Hampshire's more than 900 bodies of water. Until recently, the majority of the watercraft used two-stroke engines that would allow gasoline-containing MTBE to be deposited into the water.
Although no laws have been passed restricting the use of such engines, many individuals have switched to four-stroke engines that are comparatively clean-burning and less polluting.
According to Johnson, this is likely the result of a campaign conducted by the state's marinas and the Department of Environmental Services to educate the public about the benefits of four-stroke engines.
Compared with neighboring states, New Hampshire's water regulations are less stringent, Johnson said. He noted that Maine and Vermont already have laws in place to deal with these issues.
Another important concern is the conservation of land and preservation of open space.
The Governor's budget may decide the fate of popular land conservation programs, but local efforts, including those of the Hanover Conservation Commission, will continue to be active in town.
The state supports these efforts through the popular Land and Community Heritage Investment Program. Currently funded at $12 million, LCHIP preserves open space and historical structures.
"We're concerned about the availability of funding for the future, especially under the new administration and with the budget constraints the state is facing," said Steve Fowler '65, who works extensively on local conservation efforts.
Johnson, who is also a member of the LCHIP Board of Directors, said it is still too early to tell where funding stands as the state budget will not be released for several weeks.
"It is a program that has been very productive, and I think it's something that the general public is in support of. We're going to make a good pitch that it should continue," Johnson said.
The State House Environment and Agriculture Committee addresses open space and solid waste concerns, but not air and water issues, which are delegated to other committees.
Solid waste disposal issues will also be considered this year.
Because Massachusetts has much stricter laws in place for the disposal of computer monitors, which each contain five pounds of lead, many have ended up in New Hampshire warehouses, Babson said.
"It's certainly a health threat if it gets put in the ground and not properly landfilled," Babson said.
As a result, the committee is working on legislation to require that these monitors be properly recycled, so that they do not contaminate the water system.
The Environment and Agriculture Committee also deals with open space. One of the major state open space initiatives, made law in the 1970s, is the current use bill.
"I know that other states have tried to copy our current use bill because it's such a good one," Babson said.
Under this program, property owners receive tax incentives to keep their land open and pay a land use change fee to the town if they decide to develop it. Upon development, taxes return to their normal level.
Several towns, including Hanover, have used portions of the land use change taxes to fund Conservation Commissions under state law.
Conservation Commissions officially assess the environmental impact of all issues coming before the town board, including new development, wetlands complaints and the preservation of open space.
"They have a large responsibility," Babson said.
Although more and more towns are forming Conservation Commissions, many still do not have them as a way to save money for other town initiatives.
"It is certainly not uniformly done, because it's money that would just otherwise go into the town coffers," Fowler said.
In Hanover, residents are active in a variety of public and private environmental organizations, Fowler said.
Fowler has served on the town zoning board, where the preservation of wetlands is always an important concern when land is being developed.
The town recently expanded and toughened those zoning ordinances that regulate wetland protection, Fowler said.
Private organizations and individual efforts also flourish in Hanover, including the Hanover Conservation Council, in which Fowler is active, and the Hanover Improvement Society, which uses profits from businesses in town to maintain Storrs Pond and the surrounding campgrounds.
"We have an extremely active conservation and environmental group of very aware people in town," Fowler said.
