The Environmental Board defends some of its aversion to change by pointing out that appeals are just as common among applicants as they are among opponents. We believe that both parties miss the real issue. The price for overturning the occasional weak decision is that far too many appeals are filed. Numbers and percentages are not important, the board's backlog is the critical measure. The timeframe from the filing of an appeal to its disposition measures the success or failure of the system.
Time is both money and opportunity lost.
On H. 51 We largely concur with the Environmental board in its assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of H. 51 which is the rebirth of a pre-1995 bill that fails to take into account much of what has occurred since. We applaud many of the actions taken by the E-Board in recent years, but recognize that there is still a great deal of room for improvement. Current makeup of the board is not the issue. Where necessary standards should be raised, not the required vote. This is long overdue.