[CPEO-MEF] Analysis of munitions response legislation

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Sections 311-313 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2002, awaiting imminent final approval, make it clear that Congress
cares about the risks posed by discarded munitions and unexploded
ordnance. (The actual language is on pp. 57-64 of the Defense Act, which
may be found at http://www.house.gov/hasc/.) The language is a victory
for Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) and Bob Riley (R-Alabama),
whose Ordnance and Explosive Risk Management Act" (HR2605) included some
of the proposals included in the bill, as well as a bipartisan group of
Senate staffers who have been monitoring the Defense Department
munitions response program.

Sections 311 and 312 reinforce progress that the Defense Department was
already making in its September, 2001 update of the Defense
Environmental Restoration Program Management Guidance. (See
http://www.cpeo.org/lists/military/2001/msg00542.html for a summary.)
Section 311 establishes a Congressional mandate for the inventory of
unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions, and munitions
constituents at defense sites other than operational ranges, already
underway. The initial inventory must be completed by May 31, 2003, and
it will be updated annually. 

It also builds upon the Defense Department's interim prioritization
scheme, as defined in the guidance, requiring that the Department
consult with states and tribes in developing its prioritization
protocol. It's supposed to prepare a draft protocol for public comment
by November, 2002. Equally important, the legislation clarifies "that
the prioritization of sites does not impair, alter or diminish the
Department's obligations under federal or state law." That is, the
Department cannot use its own prioritization of sites to avoid regulation.

Section 312 establishes program elements, within each existing
environmental restoration account, for funds for the remediation of
unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions, and munitions
constituents. Reinforcing the Management Guidance, this requirement will
give Congress a clear picture of what is being spent on munitions
response, so it can make better informed budgetary decisions in support
of the program.

Section 313 appears to arise from Senatorial frustration over the
Defense Department's incomplete report to Congress, on ordnance cleanup,
 earlier this year. (See
http://www.cpeo.org/lists/military/2001/msg00289.html.) In this section,
Congress requires both an interim and final report, in both of which the
Defense Department is to provide two separate ranges of aggregate
projected costs for the remediation of ordnance, one for operational
ranges, the other for other defense sites, including former ranges and
disposal sites. Those estimates should be supported with explanations of
assumptions on public use of the land as well as the technologies to be
applied in the response effort.

Finally, The legislation clarifies a series of definitions, making it
clear that DOD should have one program for dealing with range UXO,
discarded munitions, and their byproducts. 

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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