Environmental groups including Audubon, the Sierra Club, the American
Bird
Conservancy and the Endangered Species Coalition, said in a joint
statement: "Our existing laws already provide for the achievement of
military readiness while maintaining environmental protections."

                     Copyright 2002 The Washington Post
                            The Washington Post
                 October 23, 2002, Wednesday, Final Edition

 HEADLINE: Bird Nests and Bomb Ranges; Hill Nears Pact to Exempt
Pentagon
 from Law Protecting Species
 BYLINE: Eric Pianin, Washington Post Staff Writer
 BODY:
 House and Senate negotiators have tentatively agreed to exempt the
Defense
 Department from an international law designed to protect more than 850
 species of migratory birds, in response to Bush administration
complaints
 that such treaties seriously hamper military training and bombing
 exercises.

 The decision, disclosed yesterday by lawmakers and environmental
groups,
 could effectively allow the incidental bombing of habitats of hundreds
of
 thousands of migratory birds, including a number of endangered species,

 that fly over 25 million acres of military-controlled land.

 The administration earlier this year sought exemptions from numerous
 environmental laws dealing with endangered species, marine mammals,
 migratory birds, clean air and hazardous waste cleanup. The
restrictions,
 officials said, were impeding military readiness and training in the
wake
 of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Critics, including
environmental
 groups, some governors and state attorneys general, said the
 administration was using the terrorist attacks as an excuse to
undermine
 important environmental protections. As a compromise, Senate and House
 conferees drafted a version of the fiscal 2003 defense authorization
bill
 granting the military an exemption from the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty
 Act, which sets forth U.S. obligations under four treaties to protect
 birds and guide conservation management with the governments of Canada,

 Mexico, Japan and Russia. While the exemption would be permanent, the
 Defense Department would be given a year to identify ways to minimize
the
 adverse impact of military training activities on migratory birds.

 Some lawmakers and environmentalists said Congress was bowing to
 administration pressure to undermine the nation's oldest conservation
law.
 "Exempting our military from the MBTA drops a bomb domestically and
 internationally as it endangers our wildlife heritage and compromises
our
 international treaty obligations," said Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (W.Va.),

 the ranking Democrat on the House Resources Committee, which oversees
the
 Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

 But the conference report draft says the proposed military exemption is

 "entirely consistent with the underlying terms of all treaty
obligations
 of the United States."

 Raymond F. DuBois, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations
and
 environment, said the exemption was made necessary last April after a
 federal judge halted bombing exercises on Farallon de Medinilla, a
western
 Pacific island where migratory birds were being killed.

 "Solely a military training range for the past 26 years, FDM provides
 vital training for frontline units involved in Operation Enduring
 Freedom," DuBois said. "The provision has no effect on our obligation
to
 assess the environmental impact of our actions or our obligation under
the
 Endangered Species Act not to jeopardize endangered species."

 Environmental groups including Audubon, the Sierra Club, the American
Bird
 Conservancy and the Endangered Species Coalition, said in a joint
 statement: "Our existing laws already provide for the achievement of
 military readiness while maintaining environmental protections."

 Senate Armed Services Committee aides cautioned yesterday that
lawmakers
 were still working on portions of the conference report and the final
 version may change. Moreover, congressional leaders have yet to decide
 whether to seek final action on the defense authorization bill when
 Congress returns for a postelection session.

David Willett
Associate Press Secretary
Sierra Club
(202) 675-6698
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