The nation’s governors are committed to protecting public health and conserving the environment for the American people. Governors strongly support and are committed to achieving the national environmental goals outlined by Congress in recent decades. The successful implementation of many environmental programs at the state level demonstrates governors’ significant contribution to environmental protection.  Our commitment to environmental protection includes the oversight, cleanup and management of hazardous waste and federal facilities.

Federal Facilities
The nation’s federal, state and local environmental laws have been enacted to protect human health and the environment. In the same way that private-sector facilities are required to comply with these laws, it is National Governors Association policy that federal facilities must comply with and be held to these same standards. There can be no justification for any lower standard of protection of public health and the environment from federal facilities than from any other facility. This policy addresses federal facilities, with particular focus on sites owned and/or operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

• Importantly, the Defense State Memorandum of Agreement (DSMOA) was established as a mechanism to facilitate and fund state oversight at DoD contaminated sites. The DoD’s recent interpretation of that agreement has strained a number of state enforcement budgets, which has resulted in reduced state oversight at these sites. Governors support changes to 10 USC 2701 that clearly prohibit DoD from withholding DSMOA funds when states exercise their enforcement authority on military property.  Governors also urge a statutory change that specifically authorizes DSMOA funds to be used for state activities related to property transfers under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) and BRAC cleanup activities. The change also should allow expenditure of DSMOA funds for staff training and work on policy and guidance related to DoD environmental cleanup activities.

Committee Letters

• NGA Letter Regarding Security at Chemical Facilities
  March 22, 2007 letter (from Governor Huntsman and Governor Richardson) to Senate and House Appropriations Committee Leadership urging them to take immediate action to preserve states' ability to protect their citizens from the threat and consequences of terrorism at chemical facilities.

• NGA Letter Regarding Security at Chemical Facilities
  September 19, 2006 letter (from Governor Huntsman and Governor Richardson) to the House and Senate leadership requesting that any chemical security provisions that Congress considers clearly affirm states’ ability to enact and maintain stronger protections.