AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERS, Hon. JOHN BRADEMAS, Chairman, Select Subcommittee on Education, DEAR CONGRESSMAN BRADEMAS: The American Academy of Environmental Engineers deeply appreciates your request for comments on the proposed Environmental Quality Education Act, H.R. 14753, which we received from Miss Orth on March 26, 1970. This proposal recognizes the need for public participation in environmental quality by all citizens. Environmental problems affect all of us and their solution will involve public commitments through tax dollars, through essential expenditures such as food and shelter, and through optional expenses such as transportation and recreation. The average citizen must be made aware of his personal involvement as a contributor to pollution and of the need for his continuing support in order to arrive at optimum solutions. Although the bill infers as much, I particularly wish to emphasize the broad dependence upon general education as a basis for educating the public in the environmental area. Courses in history should give more emphasis to the association between the development of Rome and its capacity to establish adequate water and waste disposal systems. These systems made urbanization possible 2,000 years ago, whereas smaller cities without essential sanitation were troubled by plagues 1,500 years later. Water-borne disease was not effectively controlled in the advanced countries until the field of bacteriology was developed in the late 19th century and engineers translated this knowledge into workable systems which produce sufficient potable water for large populations. The adequacy of these systems is now properly being questioned for a number of reasons. Expanding population provides little space and time between discharges from one community to the water supply of the next. While bacterial contamination is now under control, there are still legitimate questions about viruses, chemical wastes, pesticides, and the interactions of all of these agents in the human body and in the biosphere generally. However, legitimate scientific questions should not be immediately projected into disaster. Rather, the citizens must consider the environment as a matrix of sources and exposures, each with its own benefit/risk, equation and with inter-related benefit/risk factors. A properly trained interdisciplinary group of professionals can assist by quantifying many of the variables, but the basic decisions must be made by the individual and through group action of non-professionals. Let me give some examples. As an individual, the citizen can choose a disposable or returnable bottle; can select a more specific and less persistent pesticide; can buy an automobile with minimum power for its basic purpose, can operate his car, radio and television set to produce a minimum of noise; and can select electronic equipment such as microwave ovens and television sets with proper radiation controls. As a citizen the individual must also participate in group decisions which balance industrial sources and environmental quality. He must know that other sources can both improve and threaten the environment, depending upon their use, concentration, and disseminating characteristics. For example: phosphates can improve plant growth but may create an overgrowth of plant life in water supply sources; poorly designed solid waste systems may result in a small cost for trash services but can be unsightly, harbor rats, and can be a major local source of polluted air; a cheap source of electric power can contribute to air pollution and adversely affect aquatic life; and in the application of pesticides the individual must apply the materials to produce a maximum effect on the target organisms while limiting its dissemination and effects in the environment. The citizen must understand that optimum solutions do not always involve the same administrative techniques. Everything cannot be improved by regulation and standards. In every case, however, the optimum solution involves several steps: (1) Assessment of exposure including monitoring and evaluation; (3) Study of the impact of controls on related public and private interests; and (4) Selection of the optimum system. It may be that two pollutants are considered equally undesirable, such as automotive discharges and household wastes. In the instance of automotive discharges, the proper regulation of automobile design and fuel production can be a major factor in control. The industries exist and can be regulated. In the instance of household wastes, some type of effective public utility must be created so that a system will exist which can be affected by regulation or other administrative means. Often this requires new legislation providing for the establishment of new authorities which cross political boundaries. An example of this thinking is the proposed Maryland State Waste Disposal Act. Before commenting on the specific provisions of the bill, I wish to congratulate you for recognizing the importance of mass media in the motivation of people. It could well be the most effective means for influencing proper environmental decisions in the future. In addition, such materials would help mothers to explain the need for children to improve their immediate environment from the viewpoint of food, sanitation, radiation, and pesticide usage. Although your bill may provide by implication for the broad educational effort suggested by the statement of purpose, I would suggest that certain changes be made to increase its effectiveness. 1. Implementation of the legislation would be enhanced by placing the statutory authority for its execution in the Secretary of HEW, instead of the Commissioner of Education. This provision would enable the several environmental and health programs of the Department to better contribute their expertise towards implementing the legislation. 2. The legislation does not seem to provide for education of the specific professional disciplines which are essential for environmental assessment and for the development of alternative solutions. One way of strengthening this aspect of education is to place authority for the legislation in the Secretary of HEW, who could then establish a professional manpower program within HEW to review grant applications in the professional and scientific areas. The intent of the bill would be further clarified if provisions were made for financial support of students pursuing a curriculum in the field of environmental education. 3. The language should be clarified to give emphasis to incorporating environmentally related teaching materials into all science courses and related courses such as economics, history, geography and law, as well as an environmental science curriculum per se. It should be the intention to weave concern for and understanding of the environment through the entire fabric of the elementary, secondary, and college educational experience using adequately trained teachers backed by the findings of professional practice and research. 4. It is respectfully urged that provision be made to have at least one member of the Advisory Committee be an environmental professional with an actual problem-solving background. This will help to insure an affirmative approach to solving, as well as recognizing, problems. 5. The intent of the Congress would be clarified by providing for appropriations in specific amounts. This would be useful to the public, the Congress and the Executive Branch. It is respectfully suggested that this appropriation be in the form of a limitation of at least $5,000,000 for any one fiscal year up to F.Y. 1975 On behalf of the membership of the Academy, I wish to thank you again for the opportunity to comment on this important legislation. Sincerely yours, JAMES G. TERRILL, JR., P.E., ARKANSAS POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE, Mr. JACK DUNCAN, Counsel, House of Representatives, Committee on Education and Labor, Select Subcommittee on Education, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. DUNCAN: The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) has a vital interest in improved environmental education and therefore an interest in the approval by Congress and the President of HR 14753. The Association comprises the fastest growing segment of American higher education at the bachelor degree level. The 273 member institutions enroll 25% of the national total, grant over 30% of the bachelor's degrees and prepare 50% of the nation's teachers. The latter fact is especially important to our interest in environmental education. The AASCU Committee on Environment, of which I am Chairman, plans to actively promote and encourage improvement and expansion of environmental education service in our member institutions. A list of the members of this committee is attached. As an overall objective we hope to assist in a national goal of changing contemporary societal behavior toward more ecologically sound behavior. We see several ways in which the curricula of our member institutions can be improved toward the goal of a better national understanding of environmentally and ecologically sound behavior. 1. General education.-Regular courses in environmental issues should be available to virtually every student pursuing a bachelor's degree in an AASCU institution. 2. Teacher education.-Curriculum development in this area should include work for both pre-service and in-service teacher education. The fact that AASCU institutions train 50% of the teachers is a major reason for the emphasis on this type of curriculum development. A great multiplier effect occurs through the development of an understanding of environmental problems by teachers which can be transmitted to their many, many students. 3. Community service.-One of the hallmarks of AASCU institutions is Community Service. The field of environmental education is especially appropiate for this because environmental problems affect virtually every community. 4. Research. Although AASCU institutions are not major basic research resources, AASCU institutions do have a capability in some basic research, and a great deal of applied research for the solution of community, regional, and national environmental problems. 5. Specific curricula for "environment” majors.-There is a budding employment market for persons with a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary programs including environmental education as distinguished from biologists, chemists, recreation specialists, etc., who have a more disciplinary approach. There is also a need for a supplementary bachelor's degree program as a sequal to the junior college associate degree for Environmental Manpower Technicians. The Association also supports all possible inclusions of the population issue as an element in legislation related to environment. All hopes for an improved environment will be lost by serious overpopulation of this nation and the world. Member institutions of AASCU are already heavily involved in activities in the environmental field. A summary of these activities is attached. The AASCU Committee on Environment and the Association as a whole, strongly support H.R. 14753. We stand ready to provide additional information and testimony as needed and requested. Sincerely, GEORGE L. B. PRATT, AASCU COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT George L. B. Pratt, President, Chairman, Arkansas Polytechnic College, Russellville, Arkansas 72802. James E. Boyd, President, West Georgia College, Carrollton, Georgia 30117. Lyman Brooks, President, Norfolk State College, Norfolk, Virginia 23504. Vernon F. Galliano, President, Francis T. Nicholls State College, Thibodaux, Louisiana 70301. A. Sanford Limouze, President, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts 02532. E. A. Rodgers, Admiral, Superintendent, Maine Maritime Academy, Castine, Maine 04421. Kenneth J. Shouldice, Chancellor, Lake Superior State College, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan 49783. Cornelius H. Siemens, President, Humboldt State College, Arcata, California 95521. Kenneth R. Williams, President, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida 33432. Board Liaison: James E. Perdue, President, State University College, Oswego, New York 13126. AASCU Staff: Frank Farner, Director of Program Development. Sheran Hartwell, Program Associate. A SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES IN AASCU INSTITUTIONS, JUNE 11, 1970 (Compiled by the AASCU Office of Program Development for the Committee on Environment) The AASCU Committee on Environment is advancing a rigorous effort to stimulate environmental and ecological programs in member institutions. A part of this program is informing all institutions of successful activities in other member institutions. Listed below are 33 activities in 29 AASCU institutions. North Texas State University One of the Southwest's leading limnologists, or fresh water experts, Dr. J. K. Ğ. Silvey, will study the ecology of the three lakes supplying Oklahoma City this summer, continuing the research into that city's reservoirs that he has conducted for several weeks each year since 1951. Dr. Silvey's research has been concerned with the elimination of bad tastes and odors in the water and reduction of evaporation from the lakes. Eastern Illinois University has received an $18,960 grant from the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration to conduct a biological survey of streams in Coles County, to make a current record of organisms in the streams for comparison with conditions after construction of the Lincoln Reservoir. San Jose State College The Environmental Science Institute at San Jose State College is planning its second in a series of conferences on man and his environment. The first conference emphasized physical and biological aspects of the environment; the second will look to socio-economic and socio-psychological aspects, as well as food, agricultural production of forestry. ESI was established in September 1968 by the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at San Jose State to become a major center for research and education in matters relating principally to integrated biological and physical aspects of man's environment. So far, the Institute has over 200 members and 50 organizational participants, including Federal, state and local government agencies, colleges and uuiversities, nonprofit institutions and science-based industry. In addition to conferences, ESI has initiated activities in graduate and undergraduate education, the provision of advisory services, preparation of research proposals, and development of a repository of data and publications. Western Washington State College is working out programs designed primarily to bring comprehensive information about their increasingly threatened environment to school children and their teachers, by establishing a Northwest Outdoor Education Center. The Center will serve primary and secondary schools with an interdisciplinary approach to the sciences, arts and humanities, in order to give school children a sound appreciation of the study of earth and life sciences within a natural environment. First step in building this center is underway at the college's 586-acre Whidbey Island site. Twenty school districts are sharing the planning for this project, now known as the Northwest Outdoor Education Laboratory. When the overall Northwest Environmental Education Center is complete, it will ultimately include other similar laboratories throughout the state. Western Washington will also soon open its second cluster college, devoted entirely to environmental sciences. This upper-division institution, called Huxley College, will offer only interdisciplinary study of man and his environment. Huxley, itself, will be a part of the planned Northwest Environmental Studies Center. Washington's Western Washington will share direction of the Center with Washington's three other state colleges and two neighboring colleges. Gene W. Miller, former professor of Botany and director of the Center for Pollution Research at Utah State University, was named dean of the new college. The department of continuing studies at WWSC will offer a series of television programs next fall on Northwestern Washington ecology and the future of the Puget · Sound region. The series will be broadcast at prime viewing time and encourage public comment and feedback. California State College at Fullerton just started an institute designed to share with secondary school teachers new scientific information about human ecology and to develop new methods of teaching this to students. Begun last September, and offered to 30 science teachers in neighboring counties, the institute ran until May 1970, airing the issues of water and air pollution, over-crowded population centers, the need for flood control and the overriding need for man to understand the limitations and potentials of his environment. Said an institute spokesman: “Our objective is to make teachers aware of the critical balance of nature that man must preserve as he continues to expand his living, working and recreational demands upon his environment." Chico State College held a major conference on air pollution aimed at stimulating action to safeguard air resources. The two-day conference demonstrated today's real air pollution dangers and reviewed economic, sociological and political problems which entrench factors causing pollution. The conference was sponsored by the college, its extension service and its Political Science Institute on Local Government. Frostburg State College (Md.) is managing a two-year pilot project in the Potomac River Basin. Problems surveyed under the pilot umbrella: Polluted water, poor mining practices which destroy and erode land, unsafe and insufficient roads, inadequate information and education for citizens and community leaders who would like to help solve these problems. Florida Technological University has received a research grant from the Florida Department of Air and Water Pollution Control to help establish an Institute of Fresh Water Ecology at the university. The mission of the new Institute at Florida Tech is to assist state authorities to control pollution and weed growth, protect sport fisheries and other recreational facilities, and ensure water conservation within the fresh water natural resources of the state. The Institute will promote research and teaching in all areas of fresh water ecology and will serve as a center for conferences and a clearing house for information. In addition to state funds expected to total $93,000, FTU itself has budgeted about $47,000 for the program. Cleveland State University's Institute of Urban Studies is offering a new undergraduate course on Environmental Problems and Planning designed for urban studies students and industrial and government workers. The course which is taught by instructors in chemical engineering, biology, and geology, centers around water and air pollution, solid waste disposal, and traffic problems related to new highway construction. Cleveland State was the location of a conference sponsored by nine universities in Ohio and Michigan on May 13 and 14 to provide industry and municipalities with the latest information on the means and cost of pollution controls. The twoday meeting was expected to place 300 participants in direct contact with environmental control experts and displays of anti-pollution equipment. State University of New York at Albany is the location of an organization of the SUNYA Chapter of the P. Y.E. (Preserve Your Environment) Club, which began at the Thomas School in Rowayton, Connecticut and is seeking to form chapters through-out the country, particularly in schools and colleges. Interest in the club at SUNYA is an outgrowth of a three-credit, interdisciplinary environmental forum course initiated last semester and developed over a two-year period by members of the College of Arts and Sciences. State University College at Potsdam (N.Y.) has inaugurated a new seminar in local and national environmental problems. Thirty faculty members, additional faculty from Clarkson College of Technology, students, and local officials are expected to take part. Bemidji State College (Minn.) has three active programs and others in the planning stage. Geographic location provides natural unspoiled ecological resources for astronomic, atmospheric, and earth science investigations. Undergraduate and graduate programs stress conservation of natural resources and investigation of special problems dealing with environment and conservation. A group of scientists recently formed the BSC Center for Environmental Studies to answer some of the questions currently raised about the nation's natural resources, especially those of Northern Minnesota. Northeast Louisiana State College A Committee on Environmental Research and Information will study problems related to the quality of the environment and ways to apply scientific technology to their solution. California State Polytechnic College, San Luis Obispo President Robert E. Kennedy has formed a college-wide Ad Hoc Committee to Promote Elimination of Environmental Pollution by acting as a clearing house for ideas and a catalyst for effective action. The president called for appointment of up to two faculty members and up to two students from each of Cal Poly's academic schools plus representatives of the Student Personnel and Business Affairs Divisions and the Cal Poly Foundation. East Central State College (Okla.) has been authorized by the Board of Regents to establish a School of Environmental Sciences beginning in September 1970. The new ECSC program will be one of three in the U.S. offering such a program for undergraduates. |