APPROPRIATORS HIKE DERA

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

CLEANUP APPROPRIATIONS '98

The final figures on active and former base cleanup for fiscal year
1998, as reported by the Defense Appropriations conference committee,
actually show an increase above the administration request!

According to Defense Cleanup (September 26, 1997), the total for Defense
Environmental Restoration Accounts ended up at the Senate-recommended
figure of $1,296.7 million. The House had approved the administration
request of $1,263.7 million.

The final component breakdowns illustrate the power of Senate Defense
Appropriations Chair Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Stevens has shown a strong
interest in formerly used defense sites (FUDS), of which there are many
in Alaska. The final bill assigns $242.3 million to FUDS, $40 million
above the administration request. That it, the FUDS account not only
absorbed the entire increase. It drew funds from the other components.

(I support Stevens' focus on FUDS. There are properties where civilians
already live, work, and study, but the program has historically been
underfunded and thus has lagged far behind active bases in the
identification of potential hazards.)

The conference committee also boosted funding for the restoration of
Hawaii's Kaho'olawe Island, from the $10 million requested by the
administration and approved by both houses, to $35 million. This
demonstrates the power of the ranking minority member of the Senate
Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii). The
Kaho'olawe trust fund is independent of all other cleanup accounts.

Cleanup funds for base realignment and closure (BRAC) are included in a
separate Appropriations bill for Military Construction. As far as I
know, the fiscal year 1998 environmental ceiling ($857.3) requested by
the administration is being approved.

The 1998 DERA fund total is slightly below the fiscal year 1997 total of
$1,314.4, but the BRAC account went up from $724.0, increasing the total
cleanup budget by nearly $112 million. The shift from DERA to BRAC may
be a result of the 1995 decision to close some of the country's most
contaminated bases, such as McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento,
California. McClellan and the other BRAC 1995 bases moved from DERA to
BRAC.

Lenny Siegel
Director, SFSU CAREER/PRO (and Pacific Studies Center)
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/968-1126
lsiegel@igc.org