2019 CPEO Military List Archive

From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2019 23:14:30 -0800 (PST)
Reply: cpeo-military
Subject: [CPEO-MEF] PFAS, OPEN BURNING, LEAD, CLIMATE: Provisions in Defense Authorization Bill
 
This Year’s Defense Bill Has Important Public Health Protections 

By Erik D. Olson and Katie Hobbs 
Natural Resources Defense Council
December 10, 2019 


Congress has reached an agreement on the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2020 (NDAA), after a tense year of negotiation. The final bill will, we believe, deliver substantial public health benefits. It does not include every measure we will ultimately need and several key policies were not included (listing PFAS under Superfund and the Clean Water Act, for example); the bill is not a silver bullet that will solve the whole PFAS crisis. Still, we can’t name another bill with an immediate chance of passing that delivers greater benefits across such a broad range of issues. Unfortunately, these significant accomplishments haven’t yet garnered the attention they deserve, as reports on the bill tend to focus on what isn’t included. To help balance the discussion, we have inventoried some of the bill’s helpful provisions on PFAS, lead poisoning, climate resilience and toxic air emissions. This blog is not yet an exhaustive list and will be updated as we spend more time reviewing the bill.

Much of this year’s news coverage about the NDAA’s environmental provisions centered on PFAS contamination for good reason.  These highly toxic “forever chemicals” are found in common items - everything from waterproof clothing to nonstick cookware and upholstery coatings. The Department of Defense (DoD) is a very significant source of industrial scale contamination because it uses firefighting foams that contain PFAS. Once released, these chemicals move quickly through waterways and drinking water supplies. PFAS chemicals don’t break down in the environment - giving rise to their “forever chemicals” moniker - and are linked to a number of adverse health outcomes like cancer, developmental and reproductive harm, hormone disruption and immune system problems. The NDAA contains important provisions addressing PFAS contamination within the boundaries of its jurisdiction and additional items that were agreed to by other committees of jurisdiction….


For the entire blog, see
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/erik-d-olson/years-defense-bill-has-important-public-health-protections

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org





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