BASE CLOSURE: Pease Ruling

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

BASE CLOSURE: LONG-TERM LEASE EQUALS TRANSFER

 In August, 1994, the U.S. District Court for the District of New
Hampshire handed down a complicated ruling in lawsuits initiated by the
Conservation Law Foundation and the Town of Newington against the U.S.
Air Force, the Pease Development Authority, and other defendants. The case
challenged the closure and conversion of Pease Air Force Base under the
Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and CERCLA (the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act).

 One aspect of the court's ruling is likely to have far-reaching
implications for base closure, unless overturned by a higher court: In applying
environmental laws, long-term leases should be treated as the equivalent of
deed transfers. The Town of Newington, in which Pease is located, charged
that the Air Force was attempting to circumvent its obligation, under CERCLA
Section 120 (h), to initiate cleanup before transferring the former base to the
control of the Pease Development Authority.

 The judge agreed, but it declined to void the leases. Instead, it
ordered the Air Force, within one year, to prepare a supplemental Final
Environmental Impact Statement, including the delineation of a remedial
design.