Elizabeth Furse: “Mr. Chairman, just to respond to the previous speech, I was a bit puzzled to hear that the nuclear Navy is subject to…”

“Mr. Chairman, just to respond to the previous speech, I was a bit puzzled to hear that the nuclear Navy is subject to the EPA and NRC. If that were true, then there would be and there would never have been any need to include them in this bill. They are exempt from the Clean Water Act, they are exempt from the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency, and they self-regulate. Unlike any other polluter in America, the nuclear Navy tells us they have adopted standards, they are meeting their standards and we should not worry about it. Well, if that is good enough for the nuclear Navy, perhaps we should look at that approach for private interests or municipal interests. I resent the fact that my municipal government has to be monitored by the EPA for its sewer system. It costs money. But at some point we do not allow self-regulation. I realize that of course the Navy is certainly holding itself to higher standards and certainly meeting its own conditions, and if that is true, then it will cost them nothing to comply.”