Defense Environment Alert
June 3, 2003

CITIZENS HAIL AMENDMENT REQUIRING UPDATED AGENT MONITORING

Citizen activists are praising an amendment to the Senate's fiscal year 2004 defense authorization bill that urges the Army to upgrade the airborne chemical agent monitoring system used at all chemical stockpile disposal sites "in order to achieve the broadest possible protection of the general public, personnel involved in the chemical demilitarization program, and the environment."

The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) and unanimously approved by the Senate May 22, expresses the "sense of the Senate" on the issue and notes that the current chemical agent monitoring systems at the nation's eight disposal sites "are inefficient or outdated compared to newer and advanced technologies on the market." The amendment is available on InsideEPA. com. See page 2 for details.

Craig Williams, director of the Kentucky-based watchdog coalition Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG), said in a May 26 statement, Bunning "has again demonstrated that the safety and protection of the communities, the workers and the general environment remain his top priority for weapons disposal. We are particularly pleased that the amendment includes every storage and disposal site.... His efforts are to be applauded."

CWWG says the National Research Council (NRC) for the past nine years has been recommending the Army make such upgrades. "According to NRC reports, the advanced systems could reduce response time from more than twenty minutes to less than 10 seconds. Additionally, these technologies can provide reliable confirmation of any agent release," CWWG says. Over the past 15 years, the Army's chemical weapons sites have had thousands of agent alarms, with some real and some false but without a reliable way to tell the difference, the group says.

"I look forward to following up on this issue to ensure the Army gets this initiative developed and deployed in a timely manner," Bunning said in a statement. "This is common sense stuff and I am eager to get right at it, with the CWWG's help, to better protect the public, those personnel in the chemical demilitarization program, and our environment."

Although the Army, in the past, rejected outside efforts to change the monitoring systems at stockpile facilities, the military is supporting the Bunning amendment. Michael Parker, director of the Chemical Materials Agency (CMA), said in a statement that Claude Bolton, the Army assistant secretary with responsibility for chemical weapons issues, was briefed on the amendment and is "fully supportive of identifying and deploying improved monitoring systems at all sites." In fact, Bolton has directed CMA to initiate a study to immediately determine which technologies will best achieve the objective and to continue improving the monitoring capability over the life of the program, Parker said.

House increases CSEPP funding

The House in its version of the FY04 defense authorization bill boosted funding for emergency preparedness surrounding chemical weapons stockpile sites, with lawmakers saying an additional $50 million was needed to cover unfunded requirements. In particular, the money for the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) will go toward aiding state and local government capabilities to respond to incidents at chemical stockpile sites in Arkansas, Oregon and Alabama, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) says in its report accompanying the legislation.

At the same time, the report notes, "The resolution of disagreements between the Army, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and local authorities over chemical stockpile emergency preparedness measures in Anniston, AL, could delay the start of chemical agent destruction operations at that site." Local and federal politicians have long pressed the Army and FEMA to provide the funding promised for CSEPP.

Other than the emergency preparedness addition, the House funded the chemical demilitarization program at the president's request: $1.5 billion. The HASC report breaks out funding for major efforts under this program, with some of the top dollar items being $176 million for the non-stockpile chemical materiel destruction program, $166 million for ongoing destruction operations at Tooele, UT, and $144 million going toward completing destruction operations at Newport, Indiana. The Senate also fully funded the administration's budget request for chemical weapons disposal.

The HASC also commended the Army's decision earlier this year to reorganize its top-level management of the chemical weapons storage and demilitarization programs. It put both programs under one official, who reports to both the Army acquisition office and Army Materiel Command. "The committee believes that the new management structure will provide the capability to better integrate the activities of each chemical stockpile storage site and the chemical demilitarization facility located at that site." The new structure will also improve coordination of the stockpile disposal program with the Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment program, the committee says. The former has traditionally relied on incineration as the main method of destruction, while the latter has researched and is now overseeing use of alternative non-incineration destruction methods. Congress has long criticized management of the chemical weapons destruction program.

In addressing U.S. funding for chemical demilitarization in Russia, the committee cut the president's $200 million request by $28.8 million, adding that amount to the elimination of strategic nuclear delivery systems in Russia. The cut brings U.S. funding for chemical weapons destruction at Russia's Shchuch'ye plant in line with the project's initial funding plan of a three-to-one ratio for U.S.-to-Russia funding, the committee says in its report. The committee also restructures the way these funds will be doled out. It allows DOD to immediately obligate $71.5 million toward the demilitarization facility in Shchuch'ye, while earmarking the remaining funds as a two-for-one matching fund. The program matches every dollar provided by Russia or another country with two U.S. dollars, encouraging other countries "to meet their nonproliferation and disarmament promises," the committee says.

The committee also cautiously extends for one year the president's authority to waive certification requirements before obligating funds for Shchuch'ye. "However, the need for such authority continues to raise concerns about Russia's commitment to fully disclosing and dismantling its chemical weapons stockpile and infrastructure," the committee says. "Therefore, the committee urges the Department of Defense to assess Russia's commitment to these goals, and, should it determine that Russia's commitment remains lacking, to restructure the program accordingly."

During floor consideration of the bill, the House also approved an amendment that requires the president to develop a plan in concert with the Russian president that would account for, secure and destroy all chemical and biological weapons and materiel in Russia and the former Soviet Union states.