The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality report speculated the U.S. Army can complete 15 of the 30 requirements by mid-June, but did not speculate when all 30 might be done.

The depot believes it can complete all 30 by mid-July so it can start burning nerve gas that same month, said Army spokeswoman Mary Alice Binder.

Mid-July is significant because Oregon's Environmental Quality Commission meets July 15-16 and is the body that decides whether to allow the beginning of several years of incinerating 3,717 tons of nerve and mustard gas agents at the depot.

For the commission to give its approval, it will need a recommendation to do so from the state DEQ.

And the Army will need to take care of the 30 requirements to the DEQ's satisfaction before the agency can recommend that burning begin, which is why the Army wants to get everything done before then.

Most of the requirements involve submitting reports, making permit-related modifications and addressing state concerns.

The DEQ's report identified the requirements "that pose the most significant challenge." These are:

-- Completing test and modifications on the Brine Reduction Area, otherwise dubbed the BRA.

The complex's four incinerators will send waste gases -- with the nerve agents already burned away -- through pollution scrubbing systems that will pump out brine, or saltwater. The brine will go through the BRA, which is an evaporator that will remove water vapor and leave salts to be hauled away.

-- The state checking results on test burns at one liquid incinerator and the deactivation furnace. Then, the state will decide whether to approve what is in place or to require the Army to make modifications.

The complex has four incinerators. These are the only two that have to be approved before burning nerve gas can begin. One will burn the gas, and the other will burn the cut-apart rockets and shells that held the gas.

-- Several other permit modifications and reports.

Also, the depot has unfulfilled requirements on providing paperwork to the state that covers standard operating procedures on moving the gas-filled munitions, the training of the workers handling those munitions and ensures the appropriate roads are adequate to transport those munitions.

Paperwork must be submitted to the state at least 60 days prior to moving any munitions. That means if the paperwork is not in by mid-May, the depot will likely miss its mid-July incineration target.

Binder said the depot expects to submit that paperwork within the next few days.