[CPEO-MEF] Draft GAO Report on Encraochment

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@cpeo.org>]

Last year the House Government Reform Committee ordered a GAO report 
addressing the impact of environmental regulations on military 
readiness.  The Draft Report was released yesterday and comes to the 
conclusion that the military has not made its case.

For months DOD has argued that environmental regulations significantly 
limit the military's ability to train and prepare for battle.  DOD has been 
so committed to this argument that it sent a legislative package requesting 
exemptions from specific components of 6 major environmental laws. The 
House passed two of these exemptions--for the Endangered Species Act and 
the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.  With the other four--Superfund, RCRA, Clean 
Air Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act--the military failed to makes its 
case.

The Senate Defense Authorization bill (awaiting introduction on the Senate 
Floor) currently contains none of the 6 exemptions requested by DOD.

To it's credit DOD also requested legislation making it easier to purchase 
conservation easements for buffer zones around military lands and giving 
the military authority to transfer surplus property to non-governmental 
conservations organizations.  These provisions currently appear in the 
House and Senate Defense Authorization bills.

According to an article that appeared yesterday in Inside Washington, 
"DOD's own data showed the military's state of readiness was high and 
failed to demonstrate any negative impacts environmental laws had on 
readiness."

Additionally it was reported that DOD failed to provide or document whether 
the problem was installation specific or systemic, costs associated with 
environmental regulatory impacts and what the costs were.

This report comes at a particularly crucial time as the Senate moves its 
bill toward a vote on the floor and conference committee looms in the future.

Aimee



Please note new phone number and address below.
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Aimee R. Houghton
Associate Director, CPEO
1101 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC  20036
tel: 202-452-8039; fax: 202-452-8095
Email: aimeeh@cpeo.org
www.cpeo.org
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