The Department of Defense went to Congress this year with requests for major exemptions from five environmental acts, and though the administration had some valid concerns about the acts, their remedies were too drastic. With vigorous work by Sen. Susan Collins, the Defense Department left the Armed Services Committee with just one of the exemptions intact, a serious one, affecting critical habitat protected by the Endangered Species Act. This week, with an effective amendment, the threat to that act fell too, and again, Sen. Collins played a vital role.

The four other exemptions sought by Defense would have weakened laws pertaining to air pollution, solid waste disposal for explosives, liability protections for leaving explosives or other ordnance in an operational range and harassment of marine mammals, as with new sonar devices. The exemptions were requested because, Defense said, lawsuits made it difficult for the military to get the environmental exemptions it needed to remain fully ready for combat. The General Accounting Office, however, looked at the issue not long ago and concluded, “Our analysis of readiness reports from active duty units in fiscal year 2001 showed that very few units reported being unable to achieve combat-ready status due to inadequate training areas.”

Even the occasional use of the courts as an enforcement arm of the Endangered Species Act, however, is not an efficient way to protect species, and the solution in an amendment that passed 51-48 Wednesday – supported by both Sens. Collins and Olympia Snowe – offers an interesting compromise. Moreover, the amendment, sponsored by Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Jim Jeffords, was drafted with the help of Sen. Collins, who quietly ensured that environmental laws were protected.

The amendment requires a written determination by the secretary of the Department of the Interior that endangered species and their critical habitat would be conserved under military range activity. It adds the hurdle of a formal inquiry by Interior but does not have to drag on for years. In supporting the measure, Sen. Collins said, “The Department of Defense should not be exempt from our environmental laws. We must, however, ensure the sensible application of environmental standards so that the ability of our troops to train effectively is not compromised. The Lautenberg amendment struck the right balance.”

It was a win that could serve both the military and the environment.