A push by environmental groups to wean Americans from their water bottles is gaining momentum in statehouses.

In Maine, Poland Spring, the nation’s No. 3-selling bottled water brand, is fighting a proposal by lawmakers to impose a 1-cent-per-gallon tax, saying it’s unfair because out-of-state competitors wouldn’t have to pay the fee.

In New York, legislators recently expanded the state’s 20-year-old bottle deposit law to include water. And on Tuesday, Gov. David Paterson told state agencies to cut spending and help the environment by switching from bottled to tap water.

New York becomes the third state, after Virginia and Illinois, to cut spending on bottled water. Last June, the U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a resolution calling on city governments to stop buying bottled water, and at least 60 cities have done so.

Paterson signed an executive order Tuesday phasing out the spending of state funds for single-serve and cooler-sized bottles of water. Agencies will have to provide tap water fountains and dispensers instead.

“Governor Paterson’s announcement acknowledges that states send the wrong message when they promote and fund public tap water on the one hand and purchase bottled water on the other,” Kelle Louaillier, executive director of Boston-based Corporate Accountability International, said in a statement.

The corporate watchdog group’s “Think Outside the Bottle” campaign has asked the nation’s governors _ as well as mayors, restaurateurs, universities and individuals _ to turn away from bottled water and support public drinking water supplies.

The New York City Council called for an end to bottled water purchases for city offices and city-sponsored events last June, and numerous restaurants and cultural venues have followed suit.

“Bottled water is wasteful and requires large amounts of energy to bottle and transport,” Paterson said. More than 450 million gallons of oil per year are used to transport water from bottling plants to stores, and plastic water bottle manufacturing uses 17 million barrels of oil, he said.

Four billion pounds of water bottles end up in landfills or incinerators in New York annually, Paterson said. That number should decline when the state’s new 5-cent deposit on water bottles takes effect June 1.

“Taxpayers have spent billions of dollars to ensure that we have clean drinking water supplies,” Paterson said. “If we are going to make such significant investments, we should reap the benefits and use that water.”

Critics of bottled water say that, in addition to the environmental impact, the industry is essentially taking a public resource and selling it back to the public.

Lawmakers in Maine are considering a bill that would require large bottlers to pay a 1-cent-per-gallon tax on water they pump from springs or other sources in the state. Revenue would go to water quality protection, tax relief for Maine residents and to municipalities where the water was extracted.

Rep. Jon Hinck, the bill’s sponsor, said the proposed levy “reflects the true value of natural resources and supports efforts to protect and preserve them.”

Bottler Poland Spring said the proposed tax would cost the company $7 million per year, nearly 20 percent of its annual payroll.

Water is the second-largest category in the bottled soft drink market behind carbonated drinks. Nelson Co., which tracks consumer trends, said U.S. bottled water sales fell 3.3 percent last year. France’s Groupe Danone says its 2008 profits shrank 69 percent in part because of declining sales of Evian water.

Source: AP