posted 09-21-2002 04:10 AM            

WASHINGTON, DC, September 19, 2002 (ENS) - President George W. Bush has suspended certain waste reporting requirements at the Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada due to security concerns.
Noting that the base is the subject of two ongoing environmental lawsuits that could force the release of sensitive information, Bush said, "I find that it is in the paramount interest of the United States to exempt the United States Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada … from any applicable requirement for the disclosure to unauthorized persons of classified information concerning that operating location."

The order, made in a memorandum to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Secretary of the Air Force, exempts the Air Force base "from any federal, state, interstate or local provision respecting control and abatement of solid waste or hazardous waste disposal that would require the disclosure of classified information concerning the operating location to any unauthorized person."

The exemption is effective for one year.

The Bush order notes that existing environmental laws are not intended to require the disclosure of classified information, specifically citing the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Under RCRA, the EPA regulates hazardous waste from its creation to its safe disposal, and waste generators must report on their wastes to the EPA.

posted 09-21-2002 04:21 AM            

It just makes us MORE mad Georgie poo.

posted 09-21-2002 04:59 PM            

Ecological waivers for military questioned by state officials
By Ray Rivera
Seattle Times staff reporter

State ecology officials and Attorney General Christine Gregoire say they're troubled by environmental exemptions Congress is considering granting the military in the name of national security, including waivers from clean-air and hazardous-waste regulations on firing ranges.
The exemptions also would allow the armed forces to unintentionally kill birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act while on training missions and would ease critical-habitat rules required by the federal Endangered Species Act.
The bird and habitat measures are in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2003, which overwhelmingly passed the House Armed Services Committee 57-1 last week. The bill goes before the full House today.
"The ability of the Department of Defense to fulfill its primary mission to safeguard national security has been dramatically challenged — and in some instances diminished — due to its obligations to satisfy several important federal environmental laws," said U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo, who sponsored the language.
Of more concern to Washington state officials are amendments to the bill proposed by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., which include a variety of exemptions from clean-air and hazardous-waste regulations on active and inactive munitions ranges. His amendment must pass through the House Rules Committee before reaching the floor.
State ecology officials believe the proposals could have a significant impact in a state bristling with military installations.
"If you're a citizen of Washington state, the level of health-and-environmental protections you get shouldn't depend on whether you live next to a military installation," said David Mears, head of the Attorney General Office's ecology division.
The measures appear to enjoy strong support from Republicans, and some Democrats are withholding comment until they see the completed language.
"The Defense Department has a lot of support around here right now," said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, who is backing a motion to strike the exemptions.
"I think they're totally unnecessary," said Dicks, who has traditionally been a strong military supporter. "First of all, the secretary of defense can ask for a waiver any time there's a national emergency, and there has never been a time when he has chosen to do it."
Said Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, whose district includes the Bangor and Bremerton naval bases: "Our environmental laws already allow for our national security."
Hefley, the representative from Colorado, contends that stringent environmental protections have hampered military readiness.
He cites the $2.4 million the Navy spends each year and its forced closure of a bombardment range off the California coast at San Clemente Island four days each week during breeding season of an endangered bird called the loggerhead shrike.
Other examples include Fort Hood, Texas, one of the Army's premier training installations, where about a third of 200,000 training acres is committed to protect the habitat of two endangered species.
In California's Mojave Desert, Marines can train only during the day to avoid hurting tortoises, and live and simulated fire is restricted.
But Dicks, citing similar concerns with the western gray squirrel at Fort Lewis and the western sage grouse at the Army's Yakima Training Center, says "we've worked our way through these things.
"The Bangor base was built so chum salmon could migrate along the shores of the canal. I think the federal government should be a model of compliance, it shouldn't be creating ways to get around the law by letting certain agencies out."
State officials say the amendments would curtail state and Environmental Protection Agency regulations over cleanup of munitions-related contamination at active, inactive and closed ranges, including Superfund sites.
"I fully support ensuring that the men and women of our armed forces have the support they need to protect our citizens from the threats of terrorism and international aggression," Gregoire said in a May 8 letter to congressional leaders. "However, Defense has failed to provide any examples in which these state-implemented laws have impeded military readiness."
State officials say they've been given little time to evaluate the proposed amendments and are pushing for full hearings before Congress decides.
Barry Rogowski, federal facilities coordinator for the state Ecology Department, says limiting state authority could pose other dangers, such as people encountering unexploded ordinance at any of the state's more than 40 closed military firing ranges.
"From what I can see of the (measures)," Rogowski said, "is they would preclude us from ensuring that these ranges are safe or that access is restricted so people can't get to them."
Rogowski said the Ecology Department recently sent a letter to the Navy citing inadequate signs and fencing at the defunct Lake Hancock bombing range on Whidbey Island and has hired an ordnance expert to inspect other ranges.