FEDERATION OF WESTERN OUTDOOR CLUBS

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OPPOSE EXEMPTING THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FROM ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS

The Pentagon, which manages more than twenty million acres of public land in more than 400 communities nationwide, has asked Congress for broad, permanent exemptions from the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Superfund law.

The Pentagon is justifying its request on the grounds that enforcing these laws is interfering with military readiness--even though an investigation conducted last year by the General Accounting Office found that there was no evidence to support this claim.

These laws already allow the Pentagon to receive limited, case-by-case exemptions if there are legitimate conflicts between enforcing the law and protecting national security. To date, however, the Pentagon has never used these exemption options and has generally been a good steward of its lands and a good neighbor to the communities in which it operates.

The Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs believes the Pentagon should follow existing laws which provide for case-by-case exceptions when needed for national defense, rather than receive across-the-board permission to pollute and ignore the needs of America's national heritage. The Federation opposes new exemptions from environmental laws for the Department of Defense.


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