SENATE BILL REPORT

SJM 8010

BYSenators Hansen and Barr

Requesting department of defense not expand the Yakima Firing Center.

Senate Committee on Agriculture

Senate Hearing Date(s):March 3, 1987

Majority Report:  Do pass.

      Signed by Senators Hansen, Chairman; Bauer, Vice Chairman; Anderson, Bailey, Barr, Gaspard.

Senate Staff:Tom McDonald (786-7404)

                  March 5, 1987

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, MARCH 3, 1987

BACKGROUND:

The Yakima Firing Center is a part of the Fort Lewis military installation.  The Center is located in central Washington and is used by the Department of the Army for military training, maneuvers and artillery firing.  The Army wishes to expand the Center from approximately 263,000 acres to 326,000 acres.  The Center encompasses land in Yakima and Kittitas Counties.  The majority of the proposed expansion will be in Kittitas County.  The Army also proposes to expand the Center to the east bank of the Columbia River, affecting Grant and Benton Counties.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers has been requested by the Army to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).  In response to the expansion and the Corps' solicitation for comments for the EIS, several parties have responded negatively, and asked that the Center not be expanded into the proposed site.  Those who have responded against the expansion include affected ranchers, oil companies who lease approximately 68 percent of the land for oil and gas exploration, and the Washington State Departments of Natural Resources, Game, and Fisheries.

SUMMARY:

The President of the United States and the United States Congress are requested, through a memorial, to reject the proposed expansion site of the Yakima Firing Center.  The federally-owned land comprising the buffer zone for the Hanford nuclear sites is suggested as a viable alternative.

Fiscal Note:      none requested

Senate Committee - Testified: No one