Guam - Guam News

Guam - Two weeks ago a team from the USEPA was on island meeting with local and federal officials to address their concerns with the military buildup.

Today the chair of the White House's Council on Environmental Quality is on Guam. Nancy Sutley's visit comes on the heels of a scathing review by the USEPA on DOD's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The USEPA classified the military's plans for the guam buildup as Environmentally Unsatisfactory and now President Obama's chief advisor on the environment is here on Guam.

The White House's Council on Environmental Quality is a division of the Executive Office of the president. Tt was established as a part of the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA. This is the same act that required the Department of Defense to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement for the Guam Military Buildup. The White House's Council on Environmental Quality is in charge of overseeing the Environmental Impact Statement Process and can also act as a sort of referee when agencies disagree over the adequacy of such assessments. Recently the USEPA classified DOD's assement of the military buildup as Environmentally Unsatisfactory giving it the lowest possible rating it could. Today the Council on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Nancy Sutley is on Guam to see for herself the environmental and infrastructural issues Guam faces in light of the proposed military buildup. She said "the reason we're out here as a federal family is to see first hand the concerns about the potential impacts"

 

Sutley says she and the Obama administration are committed to the principal of one Guam. That is a Guam that works for and benefits both those who live on the base and those outside the fences. Sutley says this visit is just part of the work that the Obama administration is doing to ensure that the proposed buildup actions are done in an environmentally sound and sustainable way. She said "the people of guam have always been on the front lines to defend our nation we will not put an unfair burden on them"

 

In the USEPA's assesment of the military buildup the agency noted that it would involve the Whitehouse's Council on Environmental Quality if it were not satisfied with DOD's response to it's concerns. Sutley however did not specify whether or not this was the case. She did however reserve comment on whether or not she agreed with the USEPA's assessment of the DEIS. She said "At the moment because we do have a formal dispute resolution role i will reserve comment as we do have to sort of stay nuetral"

 

Sutley was joined by USEPA regional administrator Jared Bloomingfeld, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Tony Babauta, USDA Deputy Undersecretary Victor Vasquez, General Stadler of the U.S. Navy's Pacific command and Congresswoman Bordallo's Chief of Staff John Witt.

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