[CPEO-MEF] Section 2701 Update

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Reportedly, elements within the Defense Department sought to include the
changes in Section 2701 - the Defense Environmental Restoration Program
- in an anti-terrorism bill, but that strategy was rejected by the White
House. It is likely, however, that there will be an attempt to insert
them into the pending Defense Authorization Act. That bill is expected
to move quickly, with little open discussion of "minor" issues such as
the environment.

Our latest information is that the language directly addresses, but is
not limited to unexploded ordnance sites. And at least one knowledgeable
source says that the provision giving regulators 30 days "to take action
pursuant to their authorities" would force states or the EPA (through
the Superfund) to pay for the cleanup of military contamination if they
exercise that authority.

Lenny
-- 


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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