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.
NGA Position
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.
Solid Waste Management
During the past three decades, states have made considerable efforts to improve the environmental protection afforded by solid waste management strategies. Many state and local governments developed and implemented long-term solid waste management plans to smooth the transition from unregulated disposal to environmentally sound waste management practices. Communities made substantial investments to comply with the emerging body of federal and state laws and regulations governing solid waste. Several U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating from 1978 have limited state options and overturned state mechanisms for managing waste, further complicating state efforts to establish appropriate rules to govern waste management. Governors reaffirm their goal of ensuring that all wastes are handled in an environmentally sound manner.
Hazardous Waste Cleanup
Congress enacted in 1980 the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), better known as Superfund, America has made considerable progress in remediating thousands of toxic waste sites and in accelerating the return of contaminated property to productive use. Federal and state cleanup programs have matured considerably during this period. It is imperative that Congress recognize that under the current system, most cleanup work underway is occurring under state programs. The 1,300 sites on the National Priority List (NPL) represent only a fraction of the nation’s cleanup sites. Changes to CERCLA will impact both NPL sites and cleanup work moving forward at the state level. Therefore, governors strongly believe that changes to CERCLA must not jeopardize the continued effectiveness of state programs. Governors look forward to participating in this process and to playing a major role in the implementation of the national hazardous waste site cleanup effort.
Low-Level Hazardous Waste
The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act authorized state oversight of the disposal of commercial low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) and allows states to form compacts for LLRW disposal at regional facilities to be located within each compact. Governors have long recognized that states possess the technical and administrative capacity to manage low-level waste. More than two decades after the 1985 amendments to the Act, states and their compacts still require, to varying degrees, the cooperation and technical assistance of the federal government as states seek to carry out their responsibilities under the Act. Therefore, Congress and the President should support prompt ratification of proposed compacts negotiated by states. Additionally, Congress should exercise restraint with respect to imposing its own views on the management of compacts. Finally, Congress should continue to fund the Manifest Information Management System (MIMS), which has proven essential in tracking the nation’s radioactive waste and ensure accuracy of the quantity and location of the nation’s waste.
Official NGA Policy
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.
|
printable version