Re: BASE CLOSURE: Pease Ruling

[Bill Skubi <coho%islander@islander.whidbey.net>]

Lenny, could we have this in plain English? What's the bottom line here?
Bill Skubi

On Fri, 9 Dec 1994, Pacific Studies Center wrote:

> 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.