DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ATTEMPTS TO EXEMPT ITSELF FROM ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS:

April 10, 2006, Fact Sheet on DOD Exemptions from RCRA and CERCLA
(Prepared by Committee on Energy and Commerce Democratic staff)

March 15, 2005, letter from Reps. Dingell and Solis to EPA Acting Administrator Johnson requesting updated information with respect to DOD facilities where constituents of military munitions have been detected or discovered

April 7, 2004 News Release: "DOD Again Seeks Environmental Exemptions Despite Its Historic Record of Contamination"

March 12, 2004 Letter to EPA Administrator Leavitt expressing concern that the DOD is not aggressively investigating the existence of perchlorate and other contamination from munitions constituents at its facilities

February 5, 2004 Letter to EPA Administrator Leavitt from Reps. Dingell and Solis questioning why EPA regional staff were instructed not to speak with or provide information to Committee staff about perchlorate contamination at Department of Defense facilities

January 15, 2004 News Release:  "DOD Failing to Clean Up Contamination From Unexploded Ordnance and Military Munitions"

May 1, 2003 News Release:  "Dingell Calls on the DOD to Immediately Halt its Campaign to Exempt Itself from Environmental Laws"

Excerpts regarding DOD Exemptions from Environmental laws from the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works February 26, 2003, hearing on the President's 2004 Budget for the EPA -- EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman Testifying

A memorandum from Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz encouraging military service chiefs to provide examples in which the Administration could cite national security and exempt defense facilities from certain environmental laws

A document prepared by Committee on Energy and Commerce Democratic Staff with attached document from the Environmental Protection Agency citing potential effects of contaminants DOD is seeking to exempt from the hazardous waste management law and the Superfund cleanup law

A list prepared by Committee on Energy and Commerce Democratic Staff of Superfund sites by state

April 30, 2003, Letter to EPA Administrator Whitman urging the EPA to issue orders as necessary to obtain comprehensive information from the DOD concerning the occurrence of perchlorate in groundwater or surfacewater in its facilities

May 13, 2003, Letter to Comptroller General Walker asking the GAO to investigate and examine cleanup issues resulting from contamination from unexploded ordinance and munitions-related constituents at DOD "operational ranges"

May 16, 2003, Letter to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld asking the DOD to submit information regarding a survey of potential perchlorate contamination at all active and closed DOD facilities

June 23, 2003, Letter to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld requesting a response to a May 16, 2003, letter from Reps. Dingell and Solis on perchlorate contamination at DOD facilities

Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO), May 2, 2003, Letter

Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies; American Water Works Association; National Association of Water Companies; Association of California Water Agencies, April 25, 2003, Letter to Representatives Tauzin
and Dingell

National Association of Attorneys General, April 29, 2003, Memorandum

National Association of Counties, May 6, 2003, Letter

National League of Cities, Statement of Ingrid Lindemann, Councilmember, Aurora, Colorado before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, April 2, 2003

The Environmental Council of the States, April 28, 2003, Letter to Representative Ike Skelton

March 26, 2003, Letter from a list of organizations, such as the American Lung Association and American Rivers

Western Growers, May 6, 2003, Letter

Zogby International, April 29, 2003, News Release