Defense Environment Alert
March 26, 2002

COLORADO GOVERNOR SIGNS INTO LAW FEE ASSESSMENT LEGISLATION

Colorado Gov. Bill Owens (R) March 22 signed into law a bill that expands local governments' authority to assess fees and require permits for any type of chemical weapons destruction facility the Army builds to demolish its stockpile in Pueblo. The Army, however, opposed the bill as it was moving to final consideration in the state House last week.

Previously, the law was limited to fee assessments on hazardous waste incinerators. Now, it will apply to any hazardous waste processor of acute hazardous waste, except for existing processors. Without the expansion in the existing law, taxpayers could be penalized -- by not receiving the fees -- for supporting an alternative to incineration at the Pueblo site, according to an environmentalist who has closely tracked the bill.

The law comes as DOD is close to making a final decision on which destruction technology to employ at the Pueblo Chemical Depot, where 2,611 tons of mustard agent-filled munitions are stored (see related story). There is strong public support for using a non-incineration destruction technology, specifically neutralization followed by biotreatment. But it is unclear what technology the Pentagon will choose, as the Army's chemical demilitarization program manager is recommending a modified version of the Army's traditional incineration method, and the DOD program manager who has overseen testing of non-incineration technologies is recommending the neutralization/ biotreatment technology.

The House passed the bill, SB02-041, March 21, 64-0, while the Senate passed it in February. Under the act, hazardous waste processors would be required to apply to the local government for a certificate of designation, paying a fee of up to $100,000. The local government can then approve the application, if it meets several criteria, according to the act. Annual fees, or in some cases a lump sum payment, would also be imposed to help defray direct costs caused by the incinerator or processor.

But last week, prior to the bill's final passage, the Army said it didn't support the legislation. Some amendments the Army sought were approved in the final version, while others were not, the environmentalist says. For instance, lawmakers revised a section on inspections of facilities, limiting how much freedom inspectors had to inspect facilities.

An Army lawyer in testimony before a House committee March 18 indicated that the Army believes the bill is discriminatory, according to an Army Environmental Center (AEC) spokesman. Dianne Connolly, legal counsel for AEC's western regional environmental office, contended that it is discriminatory because it applies only to the Army, and not to the broad commercial base, the spokesman says. The Army had wanted lawmakers to make the bill applicable to the processing of hazardous waste in general, not just "acute" hazardous waste, according to the environmentalist.

The Army has also warned that the bill could cause additional delay in destroying the stockpile, the AEC spokesman says. The spokesman would not elaborate on this argument. When pressed at the hearing to speculate on what effect the bill would have, Connolly said the Army could possibly take legal action if it passed, the spokesman says. But the spokesman adds that the Army has no plans for legal action on the new law, and it was not the Army's intent to hint at legal action at the hearing.