[CPEO-MEF] NAAG resolution opposing DOD amendments

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

 The following is the final resolution that the National Association of
Attorneys General (NAAG) adopted at its spring meeting this year
opposing DOD's proposed amendments to RCRA, CERCLA and the Clean Air
Act.

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Adopted

Spring Meeting
March 17 - 20, 2003
Washington, DC

 RESOLUTION

SUPPORTING THE PRINCIPLE THAT FEDERAL FACILITIES BE SUBJECT TO THE SAME
ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS AS PRIVATE INDUSTRY AND OPPOSING AMENDMENTS TO
WEAKEN STATE AND EPA AUTHORITY OVER THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE


WHEREAS, our nation has long made the protection of human health and the
environment a priority through enactment of several environmental laws,
including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Air Act,
the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund); and

WHEREAS, Congress recognized in each of these laws that the states have
a fundamental right to protect their citizens and the environment within
their borders and therefore included in each law a waiver of the federal
government's sovereign immunity; and

WHEREAS, the Attorneys General play a primary role in protecting human
health and the environment through their enforcement of state laws
authorized under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean
Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act, and
through representation of their states in cases brought under Superfund,
and

WHEREAS, despite Congress' long-standing adherence to the principle that
federal agencies should be subject to the same environmental standards
and enforcement as private industry, the states have experienced
significant difficulty in bringing federal agencies into compliance with
federal and state environmental laws because federal agencies continue
to dispute the extent of waivers of immunity in the environmental laws;
and

WHEREAS, federal agencies have long been recognized as the nation's
largest polluters with thousands of contaminated sites across the
nation, which will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to remediate;
and

WHEREAS, consideration and adoption of proposed legislation through
regular order, with full and open hearings before the Congressional
committees of jurisdiction, is one of the fundamental procedural
safeguards of the legislative process, because it allows an opportunity
for interested parties to present their views, allows for construction
of a record upon which the need for legislation can be judged, and
allows for debate on the merits of any proposed legislative language;
and

WHEREAS, the Department of Defense has proposed legislation amending
RCRA, CERCLA and the Clean Air Act that would provide broad exemptions
from these laws, notwithstanding the lack of any demonstration that any
of these laws has adversely impacted military readiness, and
notwithstanding the existence of waiver mechanisms in each of these
laws; and

 WHEREAS, these proposed amendments to RCRA and CERCLA would preempt
state and EPA authority over munitions-related and explosives-related
wastes at a broad range of sites, including Department of Energy
facilities, defense contractor sites, current military bases, and up to
16 million acres of former ranges that may be contaminated with
unexploded ordnance; and


NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
ATTORNEYS GENERAL:


1. Urges the Congress to consider legislation affecting federal agency
compliance with environmental requirements only through regular order,
and to solicit and consider the views of affected states in considering
any such legislation;

1. Urges Congress to strengthen and clarify existing waivers of immunity
in Superfund and the Clean Water Act, and in the other environmental
laws, as appropriate, and to reject any proposed amendments that would
impair states' authority to protect the health of their citizens, such
as DOD's proposed amendments to RCRA, CERCLA and the Clean Air Act;

1. Re-establishes the Federal Facilities Working Group, composed of
representatives of the offices of interested Attorneys General, under
the auspices of the NAAG Environment Committee to serve as a resource to
the Attorneys General/ NAAG regarding federal agency compliance with
state and federal environmental laws; to monitor proposed legislation
and regulatory actions in this area; and to assist the Attorneys General
in formulating such responses to such proposed legislation and
regulatory actions as may be timely and appropriate; and

4. Authorizes the Executive Director to transmit this resolution to
Congress, the Administration, and other interested organizations and
individuals; and to monitor and report back on proposed legislation that
might impair state authority over federal facilities.

Dissent: Attorneys General Bill Pryor (AL), and Greg Renkes (AK)

Abstain: Attorney General Paul G. Summers

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