[CPEO-MEF] Base Closure Cleanup budget slashed

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

I still haven't received complete figures on the Defense Department's
environmental budget request for fiscal year 2002, but it's clear that
funds for cleaning up bases closed under the Base Realignment and
Closure process have been slashed. The Navy reports that unless Congress
plusses up the budget it will be $92 million short for its "must fund"
projects, most of which are in California. Though Senator Dianne
Feinstein (D-California) expressed concern at a recent hearing of her
Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee, few, if any other
members of Congress have raised the issue.

Meanwhile, the Bush Administration's controversial proposal to conduct
another major round of base closing is likely to become even more
unpopular as communities conclude that there won't be enough money to
clean bases in their communities completely and in a timely fashion if
they are closed

Lenny

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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: 650/961-8918
lsiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org

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