OMB Defers To EPA In Lengthy Dispute Over Army's Perchlorate Cleanup

摘要

The White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) has deferred to EPA in a high-level dispute between EPA and the Army over what cleanup standards to apply to perchlorate in groundwater at a Texas site and the extent of EPA's authority to assess stipulated penalties against the military for insufficient documents under an agreement governing the site's cleanup. EPA and the Army had been locked in a battle over the perchlorate cleanup level and stipulated penalties for nearly five years at the Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant, located near Caddo Lake in Kamack, TX. The dispute was formally initiated in October 2011, and fell under the dispute-resolution process in Longhorn's Federal Facility Agreement (FFA) among EPA, the state of Texas and the Army. The FFA governs the cleanup, following the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act (CERCLA).