Defense Environment Alert
an exclusive biweekly report on defense policies
for cleanup, compliance and pollution prevention
Vol. 12, No. 10--May 18, 2004
HOUSE CONCERNED ABOUT CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION PROGRAM
The House Armed Services Committee is raising concerns over the administration's
fiscal year 2005 budget request for the chemical demilitarization program,
although the committee last week approved the $1.372 billion request as part
of the overall defense authorization bill.
The committee in a May 13 statement said it is concerned that although a
total of six domestic chemical demilitarization sites are expected to be
operational in 2005, the administration's FY05 budget request is $166.2 million
lower than for FY04. This lower budget request "could undermine continued
progress in this area," the committee said.
One area of particular concern has been the budget for destroying the chemical
weapons stockpile at Pueblo, CO. DOD and the Army decided to drop research
and development (R&D) funding for the Pueblo facility in FY05 to $4.9
million, nearly $150 million below the level the Army had projected for the
site a year ago (Defense Environment Alert, Feb. 10, p4). As a pilot facility,
most of the Pueblo plant's funding comes from the R&D budget line.
The House Armed Services Committee is directing the secretary of defense
to report by July I on the plan and FY05 funding requirements for the construction
of the Pueblo facility. Relevant documents are available on InsideEPA. com.
Seepage 2 for details.
Colorado and Kentucky's senators have derided the budget cut, and Sen. Wayne
Allard (R-CO) included language in the Senate version of the FY05 defense
authorization bill to restore the funding (see related story). The Senate
bill provides $1.5 billion for chemical demilitarization, reflecting a $147
million add-on for Pueblo.
The House committee is also weighing in on another controversial aspect of
the chemical demilitarization program - the Army's desire to send secondary
waste from VX neutralization of the Newport, IN, stockpile to a commercial
wastewater treatment plant in New Jersey. Elected state officials in New
Jersey and Delaware have expressed concerns and opposition over the Army's
desire to have secondary waste from VX neutralization trucked to a commercial
treatment facility in New Jersey (Defense Environment Alert, April 20, pl2).
The committee directs the Army to provide for an independent review of the
process for destroying VX nerve agent stored at Newport, IN. And the committee
prohibits the Army from proceeding with the off-site waste treatment 11 until
the review is completed, the findings are made available for public review,
and required disposal permits have been granted."
The committee also recommends transferring oversight of the Assembled Chemical
Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) program to the Secretary of the Army. The move,
over which citizen activists have previously raised concerns, would reverse
a congressionally-directed separation of ACWA from the rest of the chemical
weapons destruction program. The Senate markup also expresses concerns over
ACWA's oversight and management and calls for a joint Army-DOD strategic
plan for future activities of the entire chemical demilitarization program.
The Pentagon last month asked Congress to combine oversight of ACWA and the
other chemical demilitarization activities under the Army, saying it was
one of the military's top priorities for the weapons disposal program in
FY05 (Defense Environment Alert, April 6, p9). DOD and Army officials say
combining the two programs will create additional efficiencies. The House
committee says it strongly believes that the United States must proceed as
quickly as possible in destroying the stockpile to ensure the maximum safety
of our citizens and meet international treaty commitments.
Under the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program, the House committee
approved the administration's request for $409.2 million to dismantle, secure,
and eliminate weapons of mass destruction and related facilities - including
$158.4 million for chemical weapons disposal - in the former Soviet Union.
The Senate bill also authorizes $158 million for Russian chemical weapons
disposal.
The House committee in its statement notes the positive steps taken by DOD
in overseeing the program, as the House directed in the FY04 defense authorization
bill. But the committee says it "continues to be alarmed by Russia's weak
commitment to the goals of CTR." These include questions about the completeness
and accuracy of Russia's declarations regarding the size of its chemical
weapons stockpile and the country's lack of a credible plan to destroy its
nerve agent stockpile.
Both the House and Senate bills extend the president's authority to waive
preconditions on providing this funding to Russia.