Monday 3/31/2008 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

Birmingham News – Residents of Alabama’s Black Belt among those hit hardest by rising gasoline prices.

Birmingham News – DHR to implement system of evaluation, monitoring of mental health professionals providing services.

Birmingham News – The Birmingham News says that state should be seeking ways to expand services to vulnerable adults, not slash programs due to budget constraints.

Mobile Press-Register – Musically-talented legislators perform weekly at local Montgomery nightspot.

Mobile Press-Register – Mobile area agencies provide permanent homes to 69 homeless individuals.

Mobile Press-Register – Press-Register endorses proposed measure that would establish minimum experiential requirements for judges.

Mobile Press-Register – Press-Register views action of legislative committee rejecting proposed changes to state’s severance tax as “wrong.”

Montgomery Advertiser – April 1 marks midpoint of state’s fiscal year, legislative session.

Montgomery Advertiser – The Montgomery Advertiser contends that legislature should let voters decide whether they want electronic gambling to help fill Medicaid funding shortfall.

Gadsden Times – Legislators may look to gambling as revenue source for ailing General Fund.

Decatur Daily – The Decatur Daily says that voters should demand legislators to give proposal to ban all public employment by legislators “a fair look.”

FROM TODAY’S ANNISTON STAR:

Dam bill not flowing: Inspection legislation stalls in committee

MONTGOMERY — A bill that would give the state the authority to establish an inventory of its dams has stalled in the House Commerce Committee.

Rep. Randy Wood, R-Anniston, introduced legislation this session that would establish the Alabama Dam Inventory and Classification Act, which would allow the state to not only determine how many dams exist, but also their potential for killing people and destroying property.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs’ Office of Water Resources estimates that there could be as many as 6,000 dams in the state.

But the OWR can only give estimates because the state does not keep track of the number of dams in the state, nor does it monitor the safety of those dams.

A series of Anniston Star articles highlighted Alabama’s lack of a dam-inspection program.

Alabama is the only state in the country without a dam safety program.

That lack handicaps the state’s ability to ensure the safety of Alabamians and draw millions in federal money for dam maintenance and replacement.

While Wood’s legislation stops shy of regulation, the bill gives the OWR the authority to inventory and classify the hazard potential of any artificial barrier that is 25 feet high or that stores at least 50 acre-feet of water at maximum capacity, or that poses a hazard to people or infrastructure regardless of height or storage capacity.

The bill’s definition of a dam is causing some concern for industries that use artificial barriers as part of their operations.

Dennis Lathem, spokesman for the Coalbed Methane Association of Alabama, said members of the trade association were concerned that the bill subjects them to more regulation.

“We are already regulated for structure and safety by ADEM,” he said. “We don’t want to be regulated for the same thing by two different state agencies. No one would want that.”

The bill exempts from inspection those dams operated by the U.S. government or under the authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Wood said he believes the concerns can be addressed in time to get the bill through committee and to the full House before the session is over.

But if they aren’t worked out, he said, he’ll bring the legislation back next year.

Brian Atkins, OWR director, said efforts to create an inventory and determine the hazard status of the state’s dams won’t die.

The OWR, along with the Natural Resource Conservation Service in Montgomery, has begun working to identify dams that should be in the state’s inventory using aerial imagery and computer mapping programs, and that will continue.

“We will proceed with what we wanted to do and go ahead with the inventory process,” he said. “The process will take a little bit longer.”

Atkins said the legislation would have given OWR a better basis for asking the Legislature for the money it needs to establish a dam safety program.

However, anticipated shortfalls in the General Fund budget make it unlikely that OWR could get additional money for the endeavor, he said.

Jim Miller, chairman of the Alabama Water Resource Commission, said he’s disappointed that concerns over increased regulation could derail legislation that might save lives.

“This is about public safety,” he said. “At this point, we just want to see what’s out there. If there is no danger, then we certainly don’t want to put any unnecessary regulation in place.

“But if there is a threat, we don’t need to bury our heads in the sand — that would be a terrible mistake.”