[CPEO-MEF] CBO reviews Section8149

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

At the request of Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey), the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has reviewed Section 8149 of the
Defense Appropriations Act. The following four paragraphs, excerpted
from a November 3 letter signed by CBO Director Dan Crippen, constitute
CBO's analysis of the legislation:



Federal agencies, including military facilities, can be fined by state,
local government, or other federal agencies for violations under a host
of state and federal environmental laws, including the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the
Safe Drinking Water Act. States, local government, and federal agencies
often use the threat of these fines as part of the negotiation with
facilities to achieve compliance with environmental laws. Once an
agreement on compliance is reached, DoD [the Department of Defense] has
paid fines using appropriated funds from one of several accounts,
including operation and maintenance accounts. To date, specific
authorization to pay each fine has generally not been required.

Information from DoD indicates that since 1994, military facilities have
paid over $14 million in fines from appropriated accounts. Over the last
two years - the only years for which a breakdown among federal, state,
and local collections exists - most of the fines have been paid to state
and local governments. The Defense Environmental Restoration Fund, which
already is subject to language similar to section 8149, and which is
used to pay certain fines under the Federal Facilities Compliance Act,
was not used to pay those particular fines.

While the agency is still working out how to implement section 8149,
information from DoD suggests it will continue to negotiate with
regulators to achieve compliance and pay fines. Once agreement is
reached, however, the department will likely request an authorization to
pay the fines as part of the annual President's budget submission. Fines
will be paid after an authorization to pay is enacted.

Based on information from DoD an on conversations with representatives
of state governments, CBO believes that by requiring DoD to seek
specific authorization from the Congress before paying each fine,
section 8149 will likely delay the payment of some fines. To the extent
the Congress fails to authorize fines in the future, it is possible that
the section would make it more difficult for state and local governments
to negotiate for compliance with environmental laws.

-- 


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
http://www.cpeo.org



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