The state's new Attorney General, Bill Lockyer, ran for that office as a friend of the environment, and early indications are that he intends to have a high profile on environmental issues. Lockyer mentioned protection of natural resources in his inaugural speech, and, in one of his first official acts, announced greater involvement by his department in a lawsuit to ban personal watercraft, such as Jet Skis, from Lake Tahoe. Since then, the Democrat from Alameda County has requested more money to beef up environmental enforcement efforts. Environmentalists also hope he'll make enforcement of the California Environmental Quality Act a high priority. Early indicators show that he's planning to do so. The new attorney general met with environmental groups early in his administration, and in mid-February he addressed a lunch meeting for attorneys sponsored by the natural resources subsection of the State Bar of California. Lockyer's aides were quick to emphasize that the office will see a shift towards more environmental litigation. "He will be looking for bigger cases and more independent actions," than former Attorney General Dan Lungren, said Special Assistant Attorney General Patricia Wynne. "He's told deputies to come to him with cases to protect the environment." Some environmental groups have suggested that the new attorney general direct his office to reinstitute review of negative declarations and notices filed by local and state lead agencies, as was done under Attorney General John Van de Kamp, said Tara Mueller, an environmental attorney in Oakland. Under Van de Kamp, the AG's office often commented on the adequacy of local CEQA reviews, Mueller said. But the practice stopped when Lungren was in charge. "The office did essentially no CEQA enforcement under Lungren," said Cliff Rechtschaffen, an attorney and law professor who worked in the Environmental Section of the Attorney General's office under both Van de Kamp and Lungren. "It still got the complaints, but did nothing." The additional money sought for the department will provide a more stable funding source for the environmental prosecution unit, said Lockyer press secretary Hilary McLean. The requested $778,000 will fund six staff members, including 4 1/2 lawyers. In the past, attorneys were borrowed from other sections of the AG's office, but the new money will allow the department to fill vacant positions in the environmental law section. The environmental unit "will feel somewhat liberated, I hope," Lockyer said during his Sacramento speech to the bar members. Lockyer was asked during the same meeting with attorneys whether his office's revocation of an Attorney General's opinion issued under Lungren on reproductive rights might extend to other AG opinions, such as a 1995 opinion defining the scope of "take" under the California Endangered Species Act. Lockyer, after an initial discussion with his staff on the "take" opinion, reported that it was fairly reasoned, and he said opponents might want to go the Legislature for recourse instead of his office. Still, Lockyer said he welcomes comments on the opinion. The "take" opinion, number 94-605, involved whether habitat removal is prohibited under CESA, since the definition of "take" under California's Endangered Species Act is not as all encompassing as the definition under the Federal ESA. The attorney general told the bar group that he wants his office to play a bigger role in land use planning and water issues. He said that his office primarily does defense-type work, but both antitrust and the environment are two areas where the AG has the power to initiate actions. Lockyer's predecessor, Dan Lungren, emphasized crime-fighting during his eight- year term, but he did settle several large environmental lawsuits with such companies as Southern Pacific and Unocal. Lockyer in interviews and his inaugural address has said that he still intends to fight crime vigorously. In his inaugural speech, he said, "Whether children are injured by predators or injured by pollution of the water they drink or the air they breathe, we must and will choose justice." In the Lake Tahoe lawsuit, Lockyer filed papers one day after taking office, asking to intervene in a federal lawsuit brought by personal watercraft manufacturers. They challenged an ordinance banning Jet Skis and other small boats that is scheduled to take effect this spring. The ban is designed to prevent pollution from MTBE and other contaminants that the engines of small watercraft can spew into the water. Prior to Lockyer's taking office, the Attorney General's office had filed a friend of the court brief in support of the ban, but Lockyer said he wanted "more substantial involvement in the lawsuit." Contacts: Tara Mueller, Environmental Law Foundation, (510) 208-4555. Cliff Rechtschaffen, Golden Gate University School of Law, (415) 442-6674. Patricia Wynne, Special Assistant Attorney General, (916) 323-8271.