Pentagon lobbies for environmental legal relief: environmental managers told to be more attuned to military training needs.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.

An escalating dispute between the Pentagon and environmental advocacy groups is not about to be settled any time soon.

The Defense Department--which brags about being a responsible environmental steward that complies with the laws--has been under fire in recent months from critics who accuse the Pentagon of unfairly trying to circumvent the rules.

Specifically, the Pentagon submitted to Congress a package of legislative reform proposals that would make it more difficult to keep military trainees our of certain ranges when those ranges are deemed "critical habitats" for endangered species.

The changes sought, however, should not be viewed as an attempt by the Defense Department to receive "blanket exemptions" from environmental laws, said John P. Woodley, assistant deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment. He recently was nominated to become assistant secretary of the Army for civil works.

"We want to be able to manage the military lands in ways that allow us to continue realistic military training," he said in an interview. Repeated entreaties for regulatory relief have been "mischaracterized" as a desire to overturn laws, which is nor the case, said Woodley. The Pentagon primarily is concerned about environmental laws being "interpreted in ways that are making it increasingly difficult to conduct realistic training in some of our installations." A number of judicial rulings, Woodley said, "are having a disproportionate impact on our ability to use our facilities for what they were intended."

Courts throughout the United States, he said, "have been encouraged to adopt interpretations that make it more difficult to manage our property."

He cited an ongoing lawsuit involving Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine bases, in California. The Pentagon argued that a ruling under the Endangered Species Act was unduly restricting the Marines' ability to conduct amphibious landings along the coast.

The plaintiff, the Natural Resources Defense Council, is seeking to have more than half of the land on both bases designated as "critical habitats," which would curtail the training severely, said Woodley. The NRDC claims that training activities are imperiling endangered species such as the California gnatcatcher, a local songbird.

"Critical habitat designation is the most restrictive form of remedy under the Endangered Species Act," said Woodley.

The Pentagon would like to workout a compromise that would address conservation needs...