Re: News from Washington.

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

The DSMOA figure that Gawain mentioned is funding to state regulators
through the Defense State Memorandum of Agreement. Historically, the
Defense Department has transferred about 1% of its cleanup expenses for
DERA bases in a state to the state regulators. and 1.5% for BRAC (closing bases).
A cut of 75% in this program would seriously compromise state agencies ability
to oversee Federal cleanup, and for most bases - non-Superfund, non-closing
bases - state oversight is all that there is.

It's ironic that Congress is all for giving more power to the states in
social areas - medical, welfare - but is concerned about state authority and
regulatory capacity when it comes to enforcing environmental laws at
Federal facilities.

LS