SERDP Funding Update

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

SERDP FUNDING TO BE RESOLVED IN CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

The House Defense Authorization bill zeroed out funding for the
Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP), while
the Senate sent it through at its fully funded level. Apparently, the
House National Security Committee staff took its action, not because it
had problems with the program, but because it didn't really know much
about it.

The difference will be resolved in conference committee. Unless members
of Congress and Senators hear from their constituents that this small
program is indeed important, it is likely that SERDP's final
authorization will be half the requested level. Unfortunately, that
means that numerous important research projects will not be supported in
fiscal year 1999.

As the topics of the SERDP co-sponsored Technical Symposium and Workshop
show, SERDP (brochure posted separately) and its companion
development/demonstration program, the Environmental Security Technology
Certification Program, are focusing their efforts on the same cleanup,
compliance, conservation, and pollution prevention challenges that
public stakeholders have recognized all across the country.

A few years back, when the Pentagon undertook its strategic planning
initiative for environmental research and development, I privately
criticized the effort because there was no serious consultation with
regulatory agencies or public stakeholders. I muted my criticism,
however, when I saw the results. The Department of Defense, through
SERDP, ESTCP, and the armed services, is addressing key environmental
problems that are both unique to the military (such as finding
unexploded ordnance) and which have broader significance (such as
recovering dense non-aqueous phase liquids, or DNAPLs, such as TCE).

THOUGH THERE ARE MANY "ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT" PROGRAMS
WITHIN THE MILITARY, SERDP IS THE ONLY REAL SOURCE OF APPLIED
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH (AS OPPOSED TO DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION) IN
THE PENTAGON BUDGET. IT IS THE MAJOR SPONSOR OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY
RESEARCH FOR UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE REMEDIATION.

Perhaps, as a successful, non-controversial program, it's too "quiet."
Unless it gets louder, it will get smaller.

Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/968-1126
lsiegel@cpeo.org