Environmentalists accused the Bush administration yesterday of underminingthe progress the country has made to protect air, water and land since Earth Day was first celebrated 34 years ago.

Their 55-page report says President Bush's decisions are undercutting New Hampshire's efforts for a cleaner, healthier environment. "He is putting corporate welfare ahead of children's welfare,"said Catherine Corkery, spokeswoman for the state chapter of the Sierra Club.

Environmentalists gave better marks to New Hampshire's congressional delegation.

Sens. John Sununu and Judd Gregg were praised for opposing measures that would allow more mercury emissions from power plants and for pledging to stop a federal energy bill that would have protected manufacturers of the gasoline additive MtBE from paying cleanup costs.

But on other key issues the twosenators have voted with the president and against the environment, according to conservationists, including opposing the reinstatement of a fund to clean up toxic waste sites.

The Superfund, which was supported by Presidents George H.W. Bush, Reagan and Clinton, made polluters pay for cleanup.

The fund expired in 1995.

The current President Bush did not support reauthorization of the fees and simultaneously increased the portion funded by taxpayers.

Alexander Lee, the state's representative of the National Environmental Trust, said he received a letter from Sununu yesterday in which the senator said he was against Superfund because it would hurt small businesses. Lee said that's not so.

"I am really, really tired of hearing this line of thinking from these guys, which is that Superfund needs to be fixed and the little guy who ran a gas station is going to go bankrupt," he said. "The idea that small businesses bear this enormous burden is simply not true."

Jan Pendlebury, director of the state's chapter of the National Environmental Trust, said Sununu should be credited for recognizing that air pollution is a problem and signing a letter to the federal Environmental Protection Agency that called for quick action on cleaning up mercury. On the other hand, Sununu is not convinced that global warming is occurring, she said.

Sununu has said he opposes curbs on carbon dioxide emissions, which environmentalists say contribute to global warming. Rep. Charlie Bass, Rep. Jeb Bradley and Gregg all support carbon dioxide limits.

Sununu could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Meanwhile, Gregg supports a proposal that would reduce emissions for carbon dioxide, mercury and chemicals that create smog and acid rain, a move that deviates from the Bush administration's proposal to relax clean air rules for outdated power plants.

Corkery said Gregg's proposal is a "baby step." The bill is better than Bush's Clear Skies Initiative, she said, but not as aggressive in imposing emissions limits as a bill proposed by Vermont Sen. James Jeffords.

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