October 22, 2002
   Senators Jeffords, Lieberman, and Leahy Oppose Exemptions for Defense

                     Department from Environmental Laws
  - Call on DOD Authorization Conferees to Reject House Actions to
Weaken
                        Environmental Protections -


 WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Sens. Jim Jeffords, I - Vt., Joseph Lieberman, D -

 Conn., and Patrick Leahy, D - Vt., today voiced strong opposition to a
 series of exemptions from environmental laws in the Department of
Defense
 (DOD) Authorization bill for FY 2003. The legislation is currently in a

 House/Senate Conference Committee.


 The House version of the bill (H.R. 4546) includes broad exemptions
from
 the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. These
 exemptions were requested by the Department of Defense as part of the
 Range Readiness and Preservation Initiative. The Senate version does
not
 contain any of those exemptions.


 Jeffords, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public
Works
 said, "Blanket legislative exemptions, such as those found in the House

 authorization bill, are simply not needed. Both the Endangered Species
Act
 and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act already grant the military special
 flexibility to meet training needs. The American people understand the
 military's need to train, but government agencies are not above the
law."


 Lieberman said, "Chairman Levin has worked diligently to mitigate any
 weakening of our environmental laws through these provisions, and I
 applaud his leadership. But it remains my position that, when profound
 changes to our environmental protection regime are at stake, we should
not
 go through the legislative backdoor or side door. We owe it to the
 American people to go through the front door-and that should have
entailed
 full consideration of the proposals in the Environment and Public Works

 committee."


 Leahy said, "The House is trying to create a big loophole in our
 environmental laws for a problem that just doesn't exist. For years the

 Interior and Defense Departments have been successfully cooperating in
 meeting military readiness needs without this loophole."


 Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act provides an exemption for any
 agency action for reasons of national security. According to the Fish
and
 Wildlife Service, the Secretary of Defense has never sought a Section 7

 exemption. In the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Secretary of the
Interior
 currently has wide discretion under Section 3 of the Act to determine
when
 the incidental "taking" or killing of migratory birds is permissible
for
 the armed forces and to develop permit regulations within the law's
 conservation context. In fact, the Fish and Wildlife Service and
 Department of Defense are close to finalizing a Memorandum of Agreement

 that would establish an administrative process to resolve future
migratory
 bird disputes.

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