MINNESOTA A.G. LETTER RE 1778

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

LETTER FROM MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL
HUBERT H. HUMPREY III

 June 16, 1997

 The Honorable Floyd Spence, Chairman
The Honorable Ronald V. Dellums, Ranking Member
House Committee on National Security
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Re: HR 1778, The Defense Reform Act of 1997

Dear Messrs. Spence and Dellums:

 I am writing to express my concern with certain provisions of 
H.R. 1778, the Defense Authorization Act of 1997. I understand that 
the bill is scheduled for a hearing before your committee on Tuesday, 
June 17, 1997. The specific subject of my concern is Title III of the 
bill, which seeks to amend the remedy selection provisions of the 
federal Superfund law and certain other provisions of federal 
environmental law to address issues affecting the activities and 
budgets of the Department of Defense and the military services.

 I urge that you delete Title III from the bill and that you 
encourage all parties who are interested in reform or improvement of 
the federal Superfund law to seek those improvements through the 
ongoing Congressional Superfund reauthorization process (in which the 
House Committees on Commerce and on Transportation and Infrastructure 
have taken the lead).

 The federal Superfund law is a very complex and far-reaching 
piece of legislation. Amendments to one major aspect, such as remedy 
selection, have important implications for other aspects, such as the 
program implementation role of the States and the responsibilities of 
facility owners and operators to pay for cleanup. Successful Superfund 
reform must address all major areas of concern and be based upon a 
broad consensus of a large group of affected "stakeholders." 
Successful reform will not be furthered by piecemeal amendments that 
attempt to solve one part of a multi-faceted problem.

 The cleanup of federal facilities, including military 
facilities, is recognized as one of the key issues in Superfund 
reauthorization. State attorneys general have consistently expressed 
very strong views on this subject. We believe that a strong role for 
the states is critical to assure that cleanups of federal facilities 
meet the same standards as private facilities. The Department of 
Defense and the military services have been and continue to be active 
participants in the process of comprehensive Superfund 
reauthorization. While we recognize that the Department of Defense and 
the military services do not always agree with our views, they are at 
the table in the appropriate forum with the other stakeholders, where 
they can vigorously and appropriately assert their positions on 
Superfund reform, including their concerns about the cost of cleanup. 
That is the forum in which the difficult and complex issues of 
Superfund reform must be resolved in order to assure that the resulting 
legislation strikes the proper balance among diverse views and that it 
achieves its ultimate goal of protecting the environment and public health.

 Therefore, I urge the committee to delete Title III from H.R. 
1778 and to oppose any efforts to attach amendments of this type to the 
Defense Authorization bill in the future. Because of the extremely 
short time my office has had to review the proposed amendments in Title 
III, I am not prepared to make substantive comments on those amendments 
at this time. However, based on long-standing positions of the 
National Association of Attorneys General, I can say with assurance 
that any amendments that weaken or limit the authority of the States to 
apply their environmental laws as fully to federal facilities as to 
private ones will meet with a very negative reaction among the State 
Attorneys General.

Best regards,

HUBERT H. HUMPHREY III
Attorney General
State of Minnesota