BRAC CLEANUP FLOOR TO BE CEILING

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

BRAC CLEANUP FLOOR TURNED INTO CEILING

The House is about to consider - perhaps as soon as Friday, June 16 
- the Military Construction bill, which includes funding for cleanup 
at closing and realigning military bases. As I read the report 
language, the House National Security Committee wants to make the 
$457.1 million proposed by the Pentagon for BRAC (Base 
Realignment And Closure) environmental restoration a ceiling, 
instead of a floor, which is what the BRAC cleanup numbers have 
represented in previous years.

Here's the language:

Since the start of the current process for Base Realignment And 
Closure, Military Construction Appropriations Acts have 
appropriated a total of $9,745,306,000 for the entire program for 
fiscal years 1990 through 1995. Within this total, statutory language 
has provided that not less than $1,965,700,000 has been available for 
activities associated with environmental restoration. Against this 
"floor," the Department has allocated $2,330,000,000 for 
environmental restoration.

The Committee is concerned that the design and cost of 
environmental restoration efforts should be tailored to match the 
proposed re-use of an installation in order to assure that costs are 
reasonable and affordable. Therefore, for funds provided for fiscal 
year 1996, the Committee recommends statutory language to 
establish a ceiling on thelevel of funding for environmental 
restoration, as follows:

Account Total Program Ceiling on Environmental 
Restoration Costs

BRAC I NA NA
BRAC II $964,843,000 $224,800,000
BRAC III $2,148,480,000 $232,300,000
BRAC IV $784,569,000 NA

The statutory ceiling established by the Committee is equal to the 
Department's execution plan for fiscal year 1996.