03/14/05 No P.M.A. money; Try to dredge again

The notion that federal Power Marketing Administrations will change the way they charge rates to customers is one step closer to defeat for this year. And it all comes down to the simple principal that you can't do a thing if you don't have the cash. The Senate Budget Committee, in considering its fiscal year 2006 federal budget resolution, didn't include funding to a proposal by the Bush Administration to convert P.M.A.'s like Bonneville Power Administration from a wholesale rate to a market rate based system. And while the full Senate still has to consider the framework for federal spending, the exclusion of funds for the P.M.A. proposal basically means the measure has been rejected. And it led to statements of celebration and relief among all six Northwest Senators, all of whom opposed the P.M.A. proposal. The Army Corps of Engineers will try once again to get a plan in place to dredge part of the lower Snake River for improved barging conditions. A new draft plan is out that would result in dredging to a Congressional mandated depth of fourteen feet. Corps officials say currently the turning basin at the Port of Lewiston Idaho is almost eleven feet, and some berthing areas, like at the Port of Clarkston Washington, are as shallow as over eight feet. The Corps has spent the last five years attempting to dredge, only to be halted by court challenges by environmentalists, who say dredging will threaten habitat for endangered and threatened fish species. In addition, federal agencies have requested more information on impacts to steelhead and salmon before giving the o.k. to dredge. Now with today's "Food Forethought", here's Susan Allen. ALLEN: In the U.S., any Joe Blow can waltz into a home and garden store and purchase pesticides and apply them however he's sees fit? Contrast the farmer who must constantly keep up with the latest application techniques while facing a barrage of ever changing rules and regulations and I wonder if there is a contradiction of sorts? In Canada it is a different ballgame, at least 60 municipalities have banned the use of what they term "cosmetic" pesticides, but one that has managed to escape the hatchet is the popular 2, 4-D. Despite an outcry from the environmental community that 2,4-D is dangerous for humans, Canada`s Pest Management Regulatory Agency did not find any evidence that it could cause cancer after prolonged testing on animals. Companies that manufacture the mixture like Syngenta, Monsanto, Bayer, Dupont and Dow Agroscience are applauding Canada's recent actions while consumer groups like The Canadian coalition for heath and the Environment say they will continue the fight for 2-4D's demise. I'm Susan Allen and this is Food Forethought.