NRDC H.R. 1778 Sign-On Letter (URGENT)

[SBuccino@nrdc.org (Sharon Buccino)]

 Here is the letter we are circulating for sign-on. We are trying to
 get CEO (chief executive officer) sign-on. To sign-on, folks 
should call Sharon 
 Buccino (NRDC) at 202-289-2406 by Mon at 4:00 pm EDT Monday, June 16.

 Thanks for your help.

 June 16, 1997

 The Honorable Floyd Spence The Honorable Ronald Dellums
 Chairman Ranking Member
 House National Security Committee House National Security Committee
 U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives
 Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515

 Dear Representatives:

 On behalf of the thousands of members we represent, we write to urge
 you to strike Title III, the inappropriate and destructive
 environmental riders from H.R. 1778, the Defense Reform Act of 1997.
 This bill rolls back critical hazardous waste and clean
 air protections and undermines recent efforts to ensure that the
 federal government does its part to keep America's clean and healthy.

 Title III circumvents the Superfund reauthorization process
 currently underway. Congressional leaders from both parties, as well
 as numerous stakeholders, have invested significant time and thought
 into the ongoing Superfund discussions in both the House and Senate.
 We do not feel that Title III is a constructive contribution to the
 ongoing discussions. Instead it places a barrier in the middle of an
 ongoing process.

 Title III severely weakens existing environmental standards.
 Subtitle A (Sections 301-304) would roll back the hazardous waste
 clean-up standards and remedy selection process now in place,
 affecting both federal and non-federal facilities. These provisions
 take us back to the bad old days when all waste was contained rather
 than cleaned up, imposing the costs of hazardous waste on our kids and
 communities rather than the companies and agencies that created the
 problem. Specifically, rather than simply considering cost in the
 selection of the best remedy to achieve clean-up goals, the bill
 allows costs to lower clean-up standards. The bill also mistakenly
 places excessive faith in institutional controls to predict and limit
 future land uses, but fails to provide mechanisms to assure that those
 predictions and controls place binding, enforceable restrictions on
 future landowners.

 Title III lets the federal government off the hook for cleaning up
 its waste and the nation's air. Subtitle B (Sections 311-315)
 specifically exempts the Departments of Defense and Energy from
 various Superfund clean-up and other environmental standards, excusing
 federal facilities from the level of public health protection imposed
 on private companies and local governments. Many of the most
 contaminated hazardous waste sites in the country were created by the
 federal government, and these sites should be subject to the same laws
 and standards that apply to those owned by non-federal parties.
 Likewise, H.R. 1778 is not the place to issue blanket exemptions from
 important steps now being considered by the Environmental Protection
 Agency to clean the air. The responsibility of maintaining a healthy
 environment should be shouldered by the government and citizens alike.

 Please strip H.R. 1778 of this attack on our environmental and public
 health protections. We urge you to respect the process and the hard
 work that many community and environmental activists, as well as
 industry and federal representatives, have put into working with the
 committees of jurisdiction to develop responsible changes to the
 Superfund program.

 Sincerely,

 John Adams
 Executive Director
 Natural Resources Defense Council

 Robert K. Musil, Ph.D.
 Executive Director
 Physicians for Social Responsibility

 Fred Krupp
 Executive Director
 Environmental Defense Fund

 Susan Gordon
 Executive Director
 Military Production Network