Defense Department submits new "RRPI"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Today (April 6, 2004), the Defense Department (DOD) submitted to
Congress its 2004 version of the Readiness and Range Preservation
Initiative (RRPI), proposed legislative changes to the Clean Air Act
(CAA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA, or Superfund law). I have pasted the text of the proposal
below, and I will be posting - without editorial comment - a series of
Defense Department fact sheets in subsequent messages.

Once I have reviewed the documents, I'll write my analysis of the
legislation, but I invite other readers to do the same. Please send them
to my e-mail address <lsiegel@cpeo.org> for posting. This will be an
important debate.

Lenny

***

SEC. ___ . AIR QUALITY PLANS AND RANGE MANAGEMENT.
(a) CONFORMITY WITH CLEAN AIR ACT. - In all cases in which the
requirements of section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act would have applied
to proposed military readiness activities, the Department shall not be
prohibited from engaging in such military readiness activities, but shall:
     (1) estimate for all criteria pollutants for which the area is
designated ?nonattainment' or ?maintenance' the quantity of emissions
that are caused by the military readiness activities;
     (2) notify the state air quality planning agency for the affected
area of such emission estimates prior to engaging in proposed military
readiness activities; and
     (3) ensure that military readiness activities conform with the
requirements of section 176(c) within three years of the date new
activities begin.
(b) EPA APPROVAL. - Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, an
implementation plan or plan revision required under the Clean Air Act
shall be approved by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency if:
     (1) such plan or revision meets all the requirements applicable to
it under the Clean Air Act other than a requirement that such plan or
revision demonstrate attainment and maintenance of the relevant national
ambient air quality standards by the attainment date specified under the
applicable provision of the Act, or in a regulation promulgated under
such provision; and
     (2) the submitting State established to the satisfaction of the
Administrator that the implementation plan of such State would be
adequate to attain and maintain the relevant national ambient air
quality standards by the attainment date specified under the applicable
provision of the Act, or in a regulation promulgated under such
provision, but for emissions emanating from military readiness
activities not otherwise meeting section 176(c) of the Act pursuant to
paragraph (a) of this section.
(c) EFFECT ON STATE COMPLIANCE WITH OZONE STANDARDS. - Notwithstanding
any other provisions of law, any state that establishes to the
satisfaction of the Administrator that, with respect to an ozone
nonattainment area in such State, such State would have attained the
national ambient air quality standard for ozone by the applicable
attainment date, but for emissions emanating from military readiness
activities not otherwise meeting section 176(c) of the Act pursuant to
paragraph (a) of this section, shall not be subject to the provisions of
section 181(b)(2) and (4) or section 185 of the Act.
(d) EFFECT ON STATE COMPLIANCE WITH CARBON MONOXIDE STANDARDS. -
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any State that establishes
to the satisfaction of the Administrator, with respect to a carbon
monoxide nonattainment area in such State, that such State has attained
the national ambient air quality standard for carbon monoxide by the
applicable attainment date, but for emissions emanating from military
readiness activities not otherwise meeting section 176(c) of the Act
pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, shall not be subject to the
provisions of section 186(b)(2) of the Act.
(e) EFFECT ON STATE COMPLIANCE WITH PM-10 STANDARDS. - Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, any State that establishes to the
satisfaction of the Administrator that, with respect to a PM-10
nonattainment area in such State, such State would have attained the
national ambient air quality standard for PM-10 by the applicable
attainment date, but for emission emanating from military readiness
activities not otherwise meeting section 176(c) of the Act pursuant to
paragraph (a) of this section, shall not be subject to the provisions of
section 188(b)(2) of the Act.


SEC. ___ . RANGE MANAGEMENT.
(a) DEFINITION OF SOLID WASTE. -
     (1) The term ?solid waste' as used in the Solid Waste Disposal Act,
as amended (42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq.), does not include military
munitions, including unexploded ordnance, and the constituents thereof,
that are or have been deposited, incident to their normal and expected
use, on an operational range, and remain thereon.
     (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to military munitions, including
unexploded ordnance, or the constituents thereof, that -
          (A) are recovered, collected, and then disposed of by burial
or landfilling;
          (B) have migrated off an operational range;
          (C) are deposited off of an operational range; or
          (D) remain on the range once the range ceases to be an
operational range.
     (3) Nothing in this section affects the authority of federal,
state, interstate, or local regulatory authorities to determine when
military munitions, including unexploded ordnance, or the constituents
thereof, become hazardous waste for purposes of the Solid Waste Disposal
Act, as amended, including, but not limited to, sections 7002 and 7003,
except for military munitions, including unexploded ordnance, or the
constituents thereof, that are excluded from the definition of solid
waste by this subsection.
(b) DEFINITION OF RELEASE. -
     (1) The term ?release' as used in the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (42 U.S.C.
[Section] 9601 et seq.), does not include the deposit or presence on an
operational range of any military munitions, including unexploded
ordnance, and the constituents thereof, that are or have been deposited
thereon incident to their normal and expected use, and remain thereon.
     (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to military munitions, including
unexploded ordnance, and constituents thereof, that -
          (A) migrate off an operational range;
          (B) are deposited off of an operational range; or
          (C) remain on the range once the range ceases to be an
operational range.
     (3) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), the authority
of the President under section 106(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, to take
action because there may be an imminent and substantial endangerment to
the public health or welfare or the environment because of an actual or
threatened release of a hazardous substance includes the authority to
take action because of the deposit or presence on an operational range
of any military munitions, including unexploded ordnance, or the
constituents thereof that are or have been deposited thereon incident to
their normal and expected use and remain thereon.
(c) DEFINITION OF CONSTITUENTS. - For purposes of this section, the term
?constituents' means any materials originating from military munitions,
including unexploded ordnance, explosive and non-explosive materials,
and emission, degradation, or breakdown products of such munitions.
(d) CHANGE IN RANGE STATUS. - Nothing in this section affects the legal
requirements applicable to military munitions, including unexploded
ordnance, and the constituents thereof, that have been deposited on an
operational range, once the range ceases to be an operational range.
(e) Nothing in this section affects the authority of the Department to
protect the environment, safety, and health on operational ranges.


***

Section-by-Section Analysis

These sections address application of the Clean Air Act, the Solid Waste
Disposal Act (also known as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act),
and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act of 1980 to military readiness activities.

Both sections are elements of the Readiness and Range Preservation
Initiative, originally submitted by the Department of Defense in 2002.
The proposed language has been widely reviewed by other interested
Federal agencies, states, and private entities.

--


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