Unicameral delays
environment action
by STEVE STRASSER
Staff Writer,
Action was delayed Thursday afterrxon on the most
comprehensive environmental protectior bill ever submitted in
the Unicameral.
Public hearings on the 61 -page bill were conducted by the
Legislature's Government and Military Affairs Committee
before a packed house in the Capitol's east chamber.
The massive bill was co-introduced by Omaha Sen. Richard
Proud and Lincoln Sen. Wally Barnett. It calls for the creation
of an executive Department of Environmental Protection.
"If we left pollution control to industry it would be 5,000
years before' anything got done," Proud testified. "Industry is
in business to make money."
Barnett said he had "traveled the state from one end to the
other," and found pollution to be a major concern
of Nebraskans.
The new department would be run by a director appointed
by the Governor with advice and consent from the legislature.
It would take over jurisdiction now held by the Water
Pollution Control Council, the Air Pollution Control Council,
and the Radiation Advisory Council. It would also incorporate
the pollution control functions of the Department of Health.
At the Thursday hearings Proud urged committee approval
of the bill, citing the proposed department's authority to
make "powerful" regulations governing pollution control.
Barnett said both Gov. J. J. Exon and former Gov. Norbert
Tiemann support the bill.
LB879 reflects recommendations of a special study
committee appointed inTiemann's administration, as well as
the 1967 legislature's interim Study Committee on
Environmental Control.
Exon's representative at the hearing, John Sullivan, said the
Governor's office thinks LB 879 is a "sensible, reasonable,
responsible, business-like approach to preserving our heritage.
"We now have about eight different major agencies involved
in pollution control," Sullivan continued. He said
consolidation of these agencies into one department could be
accomplished for about $25,000 more than is being spent on
pollution problems now.
Government and Military Affairs Committee chairman Sen.
Terry Carpenter of Scottsbluff suggested Nebraska's Governor
should be given entire responsibility for the proposed
Department of Environmental Protection instead of an appointed
director.
Exon would be willing to take this responsibility, according
to Sullivan.
The bill's drafter, University associate law professor Silas
Lyman, was also agreeable to Carpenter's suggestion.
Lyman stressed that LB879 would not affect the substance
of Nebraska's pollution laws, but dealt only in consolidating
and reorganizing the structure of the state's pollution control
system.
In all, 23 supporters of the bill testified in its favor, though
several amendments were introduced to the committee for
consideration.
Most of the amendments wanted changes in Section 1 5 of
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FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1971
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA VOL. 94 NO. 80
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17
How well are we doing? . . . Chancellor Durward Varner attempts to explain the
University's position to the Legislature's Appropriations Committee.
Budget hearings. . .
Varner wants super-study
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by JIM PEDERSEN
Staff Writer
University officials pulled no punches
Thursday in the first day of budget hearings
before the Legislature's Appropriations
Committee in fact they threw a few new
ones.
Instead of directly asking the powerful
Appropriations Committee for more money
than recommended by Gov. J. J. Exon,
Chancellor D. B. Vamer submitted a
five-point proposal designed to raise NU
appropriations to the mid-point of Big Eight
Schools.
THE VARNER PROPOSAL included:
-A professional individual or team to
determine money provided for each full-time
student in each of the Big Eight Universities,
excluding colleges of medicine.
-A determination by the same external
individual or group of the mid-point level of
support provided for these universities.
-Multiplication of the mid-point support
per student by the enrollment of the
University of Nebraska Omaha and Lincoln
campuses to provide NU a level of support
equal to the mid-point of other Big Eight
schools.
-Use of the resulting calculations to
determine budget support for the year the
University is now operating. In order to
maintain this level for the year ahead,
Varner suggested that the average increase
recommended by the governors in Big Eight
states be applied to the University of
Nebraska.
--Adjustments of tuition charged
University students, excluding medical
students, to conincide with the mid-point
tuition charged both resident and non
resident students in other Big Eight
universities. VARNER DEFENDED his
proposal saying it is "easy to understand,
obviously fair, and represents a position
which all parties involved can defend with
good conscience."
The NU chancellor prefaced his proposal
with a call for an end to the controversy
which has surrounded the budgets as
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fS ft
East High eager Kent Rock ew ay . . broke two state
tournament scoring records in action agaimt Alliance
High School Thursday.
A zealous Hastings Tiger fan cheers her team in the conquest of Omaha Westside.
Hastings w ill meet Lincoln East in the semi-finals Friday. See tournament results and
schedules, page 7.