[CPEO-MEF] 03 Appropriations Summary

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The funds for Department of Defense cleanup in the fiscal year '03
Appropriations bills, as reported by the Conference Committee this week,
generally match the President's request, with the expected increases for
Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) and Kaho'olawe. Funds for key
environmental research and development programs were cut, but not so
much as some feared.

In the Defense Appropriations Act:

Environmental Restoration, Army     $395,900,000
Environmental Restoration, Navy     $256,948,000
Environmental Restoration, Air Force     $389,773,000
Environmental Restoration, Defense-Wide     $23,498,000
Environmental Restoration, Formerly Used Defense Sites     $246,102,000
Kaho'olawe Island Conveyance, Remediation, and Environmental Restoration
Fund     $75,000,000

The President requested $212,102,000 for FUDS, and the Senate originally
raised the amount to $252,102,000. The House initially proposed $25
million for Kaho'olawe, and the Senate proposed $80 million.

The President requested $28,334,000 for the Environmental Security
Technology Certification Program, but the Conference committee approved
the Senate-proposed cuts to $21,334,000.

The President requested $60,468,000 for the Strategic Environmental
Research and Development Program. The House added $3,000,000 for the
National Environmental Education and Training Center (NEETC) and
$5,000,000 for Toxic Chemical Cleanup Criteria, while the Senate cut
$11,000,000. The Conference committee ended up with $54,568,000, with
$2,600,000 for NEETC and $2,500,000 for Toxic Criteria.

In the Military Construction Appropriations Act (MilCon), the Senate
proposed increasing Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) environmental
cleanup funding by $100,000,000, but the Conferees settled on
$20,000,000 for the Environmental Cleanup Acceleration Initiative. Since
the actual bill totals cover all BRAC spending, not just cleanup, I
assume that the plus-ups will be added to the numbers the Defense
Department supplied earlier this year for BRAC cleanup.

Army BRAC cleanup was increased by $3 million to $150 million
Navy BRAC cleanup was increased by $11 million to $260 million.
Air Force BRAC cleanup was increased by $6 million to $125 million.
Agencies BRAC cleanup remained at $5 million.

To complicate matters, the Conferees reduced the total BRAC account by
$4 million to reflect "savings that result from the re-estimation of
inflation." Such cuts were made throughout the Military Construction
budget. I do not know how they will be distributed among the BRAC accounts.

In addition, Section 131 of the final bill "directs the Department of
Defense to accurately reflect the cost of environmental remediation
activities in its future budget submissions" for BRAC. It's not clear
what, if any, impact this will have on future budgets.

Finally, there was a MilCon earmark to counter encroachment at Luke Air
Force Base in Arizona: "The conferees agree to provide $13,000,000 to be
used for a land acquisition to preserve access to the Barry M. Goldwater
Range (BMGR), to prevent incompatible land uses and encroachment, and to
increase the margin of safety in the Live Ordnance Departure Area (LODA)
southwest of Luke Air Force Base."

Lenny



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Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope 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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