Proposed Amendment to Env. Statutes

[DCulp@nrdc.org (David Culp)]

NOTE: The following bill will be marked-up on Wednesday of next week, 
June 11, 1997. If you have comments or concerns, I suggest you contact 
your Congressional Representative before then.

Aimee Houghton
 ****************

The House National Security Committee announced yesterday the 
introduction of legislation that would amend Superfund and the Clean 
Air Act. The Committee will markup the bill next week (the week of 
June 9). Below are excerpts from the Committee news release.

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 HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMITTEE LEADERSHIP INTRODUCE
 H.R. 1778, THE DEFENSE REFORM ACT OF 1997

Reflecting a growing consensus for more aggressive Pentagon reform, 
senior members of the House National Security Committee have 
introduced legislation to compel significant changes to the Department 
of Defense bureaucracy and many of its business practices.

"The imperative for forward-leaning Pentagon reforms has never been 
greater," said committee Chairman Floyd Spence (R-SC) upon 
introduction of H.R. 1778, The Defense Reform Act of 1997. "The 
Department of Defense spends far too much of its shrinking resources 
on burdensome regulations, excessive support staff, and inefficient 
business practices. The `business as usual' approach, where 60 percent 
of the defense budget is spent on infrastructure and support 
functions, is no longer acceptable when we continue to cut combat
forces in order to pay bills."

At the request of committee Democrats, Ranking Member Ronald V. 
Dellums (D-CA) joined Spence in sponsoring the legislation.

Dellums stated that, "Although I do not personally agree with all of 
the provisions contained in the legislation, I do believe that the 
negotiations have proceeded in good faith in an effort to arrive at a 
package that the majority of members can support. I view this as the 
first step in the deliberative legislative process, one that will 
begin the debate which is meant to produce meaningful and necessary 
reform within the Pentagon."

...

The committee is expected to consider the legislation next week.

A summary of the bill's major provisions follows.

[Material deleted.]

 Environmental Reforms

Consideration of Future Land Use: Under current law, the selection of 
a cleanup remedy for a given Superfund site does not take into account 
the site's future use. For example, under current law, a site that 
will be used as a landfill after cleanup must receive the same level 
of treatment as a site that will be used for a child-care center. Such 
"blanket" treatments are often not required nor do they necessarily 
provide tangible environmental benefit. Accordingly, this provision 
requires EPA to at least consider as one variable the likely future 
use of a contaminated site in choosing a cleanup remedy.

EPA's Role in Environmental Cleanup: Current law has allowed states to 
enter into interagency agreements that have afforded states total 
control of the cleanup of contaminated federal facilities and of 
federal funds used for the cleanup activities. This provision would 
reassert the role of EPA in the approval and delegation of federal 
cleanup authority to states.

Cleanup Methods: Current environmental law encourages the permanent 
treatment of a contaminated site, regardless of the different levels 
or types of contamination located at the site. While many such sites 
contain "hot spots" that merit immediate and comprehensive cleanup, 
they may also contain many areas that have little or no contamination. 
Therefore, the provision would allow smarter and more effective 
cleanup solutions at contaminated sites while continuing to ensure 
protection on both human health and the environment.

DOD Cleanup Standards: Unlike either the private sector or any other 
federal agency, current law requires a higher standard of cleanup for 
DOD contaminated sites not on the National Priorities List (NPL). This 
provision would apply the same standard to the cleanup of DOD's 
non-NPL sites as is currently applied to the private sector and to 
other federal agencies.

Clean Air Act Standards: In recognition of DOD's unique mission, 
current law permits DOD with exemptions from the Clean Air Act in 
consideration of military requirements such as live fire exercises or 
off-road training. Based on the Administration's proposal to implement 
more stringent Clean Air Act standards, this provision would ensure 
the preservation of these existing exemptions in the future.

[Material deleted.]

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| David Culp | E-mail: dculp@nrdc.org |
| Plutonium Challenge | Tel. +1 (202) 289-2388 |
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