Infrastructure and population boom questioned

Infrastructure and population boom questioned

Posted: Nov 26, 2009 4:58 PM PST

by Michele Catahay

It's clear the increase in population due to the military buildup will cause issues with power, water and wastewater systems. While it has only been several days since the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, officials continue to question costs and whether the hefty population loads could be accommodated.

Consolidated Commission on Utilities Chairperson Simon Sanchez says he's been able to read halfway through portions of the DEIS. His personal reaction is that he's quite alarmed by the population figures, as the Department of Defense has projected an increase of an additional 80,000 people.

"In the last 90 days, our conversations with DoD have been focused on much smaller power loads and wastewater loads that reflect much smaller population figures. I think that's the first battlefield for us, to make sure we understand the projections because we're being told much lower loads, which means less power upgrades, less transmission and distribution upgrades, less water and wastewater upgrades that might be needed," said Sanchez.

He says upgrades should be paid for by DoD. In the EIS, the feds outlined a list of proposed long-term alternatives for power. Such include:

1. New power plant at Cabras/Piti location
2. New power plant at Potts Junction
3. Power supplied by the Guam Power Authority

The chairman continued, "It looks like we might be able to get three to five of our existing generators upgraded and paid for by DoD. And that's a benefit to us existing ratepayers because that's an upgrade we would normally have to pay for but we think the buildup can pay for and that would provide more reliable service and more stable power generation for the community."

Sanchez says it's important that transmission and distribution systems are upgraded from Cabras up until Finegayan, to other parts in Barrigada and Mangilao. The same goes for water and wastewater. "On the wastewater side," he explained, "we believe the final decision would be to become a GWA customer. Andersen Air Force Base is a customer, the Marines will also be a customer. They would use our northern wastewater treatment plant. And our contention is that they need to pay for the upgrades necessary to carry the bigger load."

For wastewater, the long-term alternative would be to add a new DoD only standalone primary/secondary treatment facility on DoD land at Finegayan. While for water, alternatives include the development of Lost River, desalination of brackish water, the dredging of sediment from the Navy reservoir to the increase storage capacity.

"The EIS talks about 33 wells. So clearly, they're looking at more population than more recent conversations we've had. We still think it's going to be closer to 22 wells instead of 33 wells for the buildup. We also have civilian needs for wells. Something like 15 wells," he said.

In the meantime, Sanchez says he will be meeting with officials from GPA and GWA in hopes to collectively file questions in light of conversations on the Draft EIS.

Increased sedimentation threatens ecosystem

Increased sedimentation threatens ecosystem

Posted: Nov 28, 2009 1:36 PM Updated: Nov 28, 2009 5:04 PM

by Heather Hauswirth

Constructing a berthing for a nuclear transient aircraft carrier pier slated for either Apra Harbor or the shipping repair facility near Polaris Point does not come without significant environmental consequences. Dredging and other construction related activities increases sedimentation levels in the water.

Manny Duenas said, "Apra Harbor is a major lagoon for Guam and lagoons are normally good places for breeding grounds for fish and marine life and with the sediment that will be coming from Apra Harbor, I don't know how you can mitigate fine particles and the turbidity issue. It will affect Guam in itself because we know the fish don't just live in one area." The Fisherman's Co-Op president said biologists agree that the most acceptable paradigm for the natural environment is one where sedimentation is kept to a minimum.

Guam EPA Environmental Monitoring and Analytical Services Administrator Jesse Cruz says it is disruptive to the overall marine environment, saying, "During the dredging process, the sedimentation that could result from dredging has an impact on mainly the corals and the coral reef area where the fine sediments that will be released during the dredging process could be distributed through the larger area with the currents and settle down on top of the coral, which could cause a smothering affect of the corals."

A smothering of the corals would diminish their survivor ship in the area as sedimentation shades out the sunlight, which corals need for survival. Despite strict protocol in place for dredging, the Joint Guam Program Office's asst environmental director on Guam, Randel Sablan says there is no way to avoid it, but there may be a way to mitigate the impact.

He said, "On the compensatory side - what do we do with the coral that were impacted? Well, the army corps permit that the navy needs to obtain in order to do the dredging will require compensatory mitigation and in the DEIS there are four types of compensatory mitigation proposed."

These options include building an artificial reef to replace the services and functions lost, doing water shed enhancements to reduce erosion that impacts coral reefs, coastal mitigation proposals such as increasing waste water treatment, and a mitigation banking program where the Navy would outsource mitigation projects to a third-party.

But Cruz pointed out that isolating construction and dredging as much as possible is actually what's key to mitigation, saying, "Silk curtains or silk screens during the operations to minimize the fines from the area of the dredging, keep the dredging area to as minimal space as possible."

The debate continues about the best way to approach mitigation. As time goes on, fishermen like Duenas say they won't pipe down as long as there are fish that are going to be impacted by dirtier water. "Any fish in Apra Harbor part of the reproductive stage or part of the replenishing of this islands resource that will be removed," he said.

Duenas continued, "I saw the map for dredging of Apra Harbor and they are going to come right down the middle. That is a whole reef area that they are going to impact.

"And that's really sad."

Apathy Creeps Into Guam's Buildup-Impact Review Period

Apathy Creeps Into Guam's Buildup-Impact Review Period

Written by Jeff Marchesseault, Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Friday, 27 November 2009 15:55

Library, Mayor's Office Indicate Low Public Interest

Holiday Stupor Could Cut Into 90-Day Deadline

GUAM - As the clock ticks on the 90-day review and public comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), Senator Judi Guthertz is making every effort to give people the chance to review the categorized, thousands-page, multi-volume document. This week she announced the opening of a reading room for the public.

Her office conference room at the Guam Legislature in Hagatna contains a hard copy of the DEIS for public review.

According to Guthertz, local leaders are becoming concerned that there is public apathy about reviewing the DEIS.

Underlying Reasons For Putting Off Impact Review

Elected officials' concern is well founded, owing to the serious nature of the subject matter and the tight window of opportunity to comment.

Causes for procrastination, aloofness or disinterest may be manyfold: (1) the sheer magnitude of the document; (2) the perhaps misguided sense that the voices of everyday citizens won't matter; and (3) the fact that the holiday season has taken hold of our time and attention.

While the island may be winding down the Thanksgiving holiday, Black Friday has us in the clutches of retail sales for a Christmas season that won't let up until after New Year's.

Urging Participation

But local leaders cannot underscore the imperative of public input enough.

As Governor Camacho reminded attendees during his address at a recent forum in the Legislative Hearing Room called The Military Buildup And Beyond: The Guam Perspective, the public is highly encouraged to read the Draft EIS and to make comments so that the US Department of Defense can enter them on record.

Camacho admonished his audience and news watchers not to think they're voices wouldn't register over the din of Defense Department priorities.

Meanwhile, public libraries, mayors' offices, reading rooms and an official Joint Guam Program Office website are dedicated to getting the information into public hands. At the Legislature's buildup conference last week, the Governor even mentioned having it distributed on compact disk.

Neglected In Hagatna

To take the temperature of library patrons in Hagatna, Guam News Factor caught up with an employee of the Nieves M. Flores Public Library as this individual and their coworkers were closing up for the afternoon. When asked whether they've seen much DEIS traffic, this worker replied, "not really." The worker said that whenever they walk by the section in the library where the DEIS hard copy is stored, they don't see anyone there.

While Guthertz tells Guam News Factor that the opening of the DEIS reading room at her office inside the Guam Legislature building in Hagatna "had nothing to do with any perceived sense of apathy," she doesn't deny that there are signs of it out there.

On Wednesday, Guthtertz told the Factor, "The only thing I have seen is the single comment by the Mayor of Dededo in the newspaper about only one person coming into her office to read the document. So, I have not heard anything or seen anything, other than that single story, which would indicate public apathy."

"The 'reading room' has been open to the public since first thing Monday morning when we placed the binders on the table in the conference room," Guthertz said. "That conference room, along with all of the office rooms, are open to the public during regular business hours."

On Wednesday, Guthertz and Senator Rory Respicio, who share the same office, decided they should publicize the fact that the reading room is open for everyone to use -- "from a sense of public service."

"Our approach has always been that this building is the 'peoples' building'," Guthertz said. "We will never permit any meeting here to be closed to the media or the public. So, following that approach, it fell naturally that the paper copy of the DEIS should be available to the public."

No Excuses - Just Do It!

"The fact remains that the public should, indeed, review the document. The executive summary is not that long. This buildup will forever change the way we live. The public needs to review the document and participate by submitting comments no later than February 17."

John Dela Rosa contributed to this report.

Here is recent the news release announcing the opening of the public reading room at Guthertz' office:

November 25, 2009

Another Reading Room For Reviewers Of Guam Military Buildup Environmental Impact Statement

HAGATNA - In an unusual appeal for citizen involvement, a variety of local officials, ranging from the governor to senators and island mayors have been urging their constituents to crack the books and personally review the recently released draft environmental impact statement on the Guam military buildup.

The idea is those who will have to live with the results of the massive buildup should find out what's in it and have a chance to influence its outcome.

In the latest development, a hard copy of the draft EIS is will be available for public reading in the conference room at the Legislative Building in Hagåtña inside the senatorial offices of Senator Judi Guthertz and Senator Rory Respicio.

The document, which runs many thousands of pages, is available at local libraries and mayor's offices as well as at several websites.

Public needs more time to review draft EIS, group says

Public needs more time to review draft EIS, group says

By Bernice Santiago • Pacific Sunday News • November 29, 2009



The Taotaomo'na Native Rights group met yesterday to discuss the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Guam military buildup, citing concerns about the amount of time available to review the 8,000-page document before the public comment deadline on Feb. 18.

"You'd have to quit your job and stay home and read the thing in order to meet the deadline," said Patria Sablan, a member of the group. Sablan said an additional two months past Feb. 18 would be helpful to digest and comprehend the EIS.

Retired Marine Col. John J. Jackson, director of the Joint Guam Program Office, told the Pacific Daily News on Nov. 17 that the draft itself is a little less than 4,000 pages, and the appendices constitute about another 4,000 pages. The EIS document is designed to be an easy read for the "average citizen," Jackson said, while the appendices contain more technical data.

Jackson suggests residents start with volume one to understand why the Marines are relocating to Guam and to find out in which volume their subjects of interest are encompassed.

The draft EIS details how the transfer of 8,000 Marines and 9,000 dependents from Okinawa to Guam will affect the island's infrastructure, environment, community and quality of life. Plans for an Army missile defense facility and facilities for recurring visits of aircraft carriers are also included in the EIS.

Residents were originally given 45 days to review the draft EIS. The period was extended by an additional 45 days, after local government leaders asked the Department of Defense for a longer review period.

In October, Guam officials -- Sens. Judith Guthertz and Rory Respicio, Gov. Felix Camacho and Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo -- had asked military officials to extend the 45-day period assigned for the public review and comment period for the draft, Pacific Sunday News files state.

Responding to their request, U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told Bordallo during a meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 28 that Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn had approved an extension of 45 days, a press release issued from the Joint Guam Program Office stated.

In a letter to Maj. Gen. David Bice of the U.S. Marine Corps, Camacho had asked for an extension of 75 days, but the 45-day extension "balances the need for additional time to review a complex document with the Department's requirement to complete the military buildup on Guam on a tight schedule," the press release stated.

Camacho and members of the Guam Legislature were notified of the extension by acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment Roger Natsuhara, who visited Guam this month.

Sablan was also concerned that the structural changes and installations that come with the buildup would do permanent damage to the island. "We need to get someone to help us out, like an environmental lawyer," Sablan said.

Trini Torres, the Pilong Maga' Haga, or chief leader, for the rights group, said she didn't believe that public comments would be heeded in the final publication of the EIS.

"They don't pay attention," Torres said. "It's a formality."

Despite the activists' concerns, the local and federal environmental protection agencies are part of the review process toward the military expansions on Guam, government officials have said.

Torres plans to submit comments, which she said will be similar to her response to the draft EIS for the Mariana Islands Range Complex, she said. Torres said that the group plans to attend the public hearings on the buildup EIS in January, and that they will be splitting up sections of the EIS among them.

At a press conference on Nov. 21, Jackson said the public comments, especially legitimate concerns, do carry a lot of weight in the final decision-making process.

According to a timeline in the draft EIS, the final statement is scheduled to be available by June 30.

After a 30-day waiting period -- July 6 to Aug. 6, 2010 -- the Record of Decision is scheduled to be issued by July 30, 2010. This allows buildup-related construction to begin.

But those dates are tentative.

Chamorro rights group to talk about DEIS

Chamorro rights group to talk about DEIS

Posted: Nov 26, 2009 9:44 PM PST
by Nick Delgado

The Taotaomona Native Rights Group will hold another meeting tomorrow afternoon to discuss their concerns with the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The group is also expected to discuss the Self-Determination Registry as they attempt to recruit registrants and begin setting up training and registering residents for that vote.

The meeting will be held tomorrow afternoon beginning at 2:30 at the Plasan Maga'lahi Hurao in Anigua across Pigo Cemetery.

Judge stops DHS from implementing interim final rule

Judge stops DHS from implementing interim final rule

Friday, November 27, 2009

Agency told to come up with regs for alien workers to travel in, out of NMI
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter

The federal government's interim final rule on the CNMI transitional worker program will not go into effect tomorrow, Saturday, after the judge handling the CNMI government's lawsuit against federalization issued a preliminary injunction yesterday to prevent the rule from going into effect pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Paul L. Friedman agreed with the CNMI government that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had no reasonable basis for publishing the interim rule without giving the CNMI and other stakeholders time to comment, as required under the Administrative Procedures Act.

To help alien workers leave and re-enter the CNMI or for employers to hire needed off-island workers, Friedman suggested that DHS promulgate a narrowly focused and temporary emergency regulation that addresses these issues.

Labor special counsel Deanne Siemer said this is virtually a command for DHS to come up with an emergency regulation that would allow aliens in the CNMI to travel in and out.

Also, since no U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' regulations on CW status or business permits will come into effect tomorrow, the CNMI will continue to operate under its existing labor system except for entry and exit, Siemer said.

The interim rule defines the types of businesses that will be eligible to receive permits for alien workers. It sets a numerical limit on the number of permits that will be granted between Nov. 28, 2009 and Sept. 30, 2010. It also outlines requirements that must be met by employers seeking to obtain a permit.

The CNMI, through the Block and Jenner law firm, asked the court to bar the implementation of the regulations, citing that DHS violated the APA in promulgating them. The CNMI argued that DHS wrongfully dispensed with the notice-and-comment procedures required by the law.

The federal government countered that DHS' action does not violate the APA because it had “good cause” to dispense with the requirement.

In granting the CNMI's motion, Friedman said DHS first provided public notice of the rule when it published the rule in the Federal Register on Oct. 27, 2009.

“Since the interim rule was already in its final form on that date, it is undisputed that DHS failed to provide the notice and opportunity for comment typically required by the APA,” Friedman said.

The judge concluded that upon consideration of the totality of the circumstances surrounding the issue, the CNMI is likely to succeed on its claim that DHS did not have “good cause” to dispense with the notice-and-comment procedures and thus violated the APA.

The federal government suggested that providing notice and an opportunity to comment prior to promulgating the rule was impracticable because Congress, in passing the Consolidated Natural Resources Act (federalization law), imposed several burdensome administrative duties on DHS and only allowed the agency 18 months in which to fulfill them.

Friedman found this argument unpersuasive. He said the interim rule will dramatically alter the CNMI's current system for admitting guest workers, who constitute two-thirds of the CNMI's private workforce.

In short, the judge said, the rule will enact far-reaching changes that likely will have significant effects on the CNMI labor market, and it will do so despite the fact that it has not “been tested via exposure to diverse public comment.”

Friedman found convincing the CNMI's arguments that residents and government have meaningful concerns about the rule.

Friedman cited that the criteria established by the rule for issuance of permits for new guest workers to employers may be inadequate.

As written, the judge pointed out, the rule requires employers seeking permits to “consider all available U.S. workers for the position” that is to be filled by a new guest worker, but does not require those employers to consider guest workers already present in the Commonwealth for the position.

To ensure that employers have “considered available U.S. workers,” the rule only asks that employers attest that they have done so, Friedman said.

“The CNMI posits that such attestations may 'be prone to fraud and leave qualified U.S. citizens unemployed,' a matter it would have raised and documented if it had been given the opportunity to comment,” he said.

The judge added that if he ultimately decides the merits of the CNMI's APA claim in the Commonwealth's favor, the damage done by DHS' violation of the APA cannot be fully cured by later remedial action.

He noted that once the program structured by the rule has begun operation as scheduled on Nov. 28, 2009, DHS is far less likely to be receptive to comments.

“If the interim permit rule is not enjoined prior to its effective date, the CNMI will never have an equivalent opportunity to influence the rule's contents,” Friedman said.

The federal government has provided no evidence to show how many workers and businesses will be affected by a temporary delay in the implementation of the rule, and the court is aware of none.

Friedman said it is unclear that foreign workers otherwise eligible under the Immigration and Nationality Act will be able to leave the CNMI and re-enter it within the first several weeks after Nov. 28, 2009, even if the rule is in place.

“Similarly, while the interim permit rule creates a mechanism whereby a CNMI employer may arrange to hire foreign workers from outside the Commonwealth, it is difficult to know whether employers will have much need for that mechanism in the weeks immediately following Nov. 28, 2009.”

Friedman said the emergency rules to address the problem of foreign workers seeking to leave and return to the CNMI or employers in need of workers from outside the CNMI may be promulgated without notice and comment, since they fall within the APA's “good cause” exception.

“It is unfortunate that DHS may have to issue such ad hoc emergency rules. The court emphasizes, however, that this is a problem of the agency's own making,” he said.

Had DHS released the rule earlier in the year and provided the public with notice and an opportunity for comment, the current problem would never have arisen, he said.

“DHS should not now expect to excuse its violation of the APA by pointing to the problems created by its own delay,” Friedman said.

By failing to meet even the minimum standards set by the APA, DHS has also failed to comply fully with Congress' intent to secure the meaningful involvement of the Commonwealth in the transformation of the CNMI's immigration law, he said.

Friedman said the transitional work permitting program “is of great importance to the CNMI, since it has the potential to transform the nature of the Commonwealth's workforce.”

“That program also involves an area-the regulation of immigration into the CNMI-about which the Commonwealth has significant expertise, having knowledge of the needs of its own economy and having operated its own immigration program for decades,” he said.

The judge said the public interest will be best served if the rule is temporarily stopped so that it may be revised as necessary by DHS upon receipt of comments and advice from the CNMI and other parties.

Fitial, workers welcome ruling

Fitial, workers welcome ruling

Friday, November 27, 2009

Federal takeover excludes labor-for now
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter

The federal government will only be able to implement border control at the stroke of midnight on Nov. 28, but not the existing CNMI labor program, at least for now.

This is because of a federal judge's order dated Nov. 25 preventing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from implementing in its current form the interim final rule on the CNMI transitional worker program, which takes effect on Saturday.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and the United Workers Movement-NMI separately welcomed yesterday U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Paul L. Friedman's ruling granting the CNMI government's motion for a preliminary injunction preventing DHS from implementing its CNMI transitional worker (CW) classification rule.

“I am very pleased with this favorable decision by Judge Friedman. The interim final rule fails to comply with Public Law 110-229 and will be very damaging to the Commonwealth if it goes into effect in its present form,” Fitial said in a statement yesterday.

Fitial, who turns 64 today, sued the federal government over federalization.

He urged DHS to consider the over 100 comments that have so far been filed on its transitional worker program rule.

In an interview with Saipan Tribune on Wednesday, Fitial reiterated that a federal takeover of local labor is “unnecessary.”

“We don't have any problem having the federal government take over immigration. Let them control our border because we don't have the capabilities to do that, but we have a strong enforcement mechanism to control our labor. Why do they have to remove labor from us? It doesn't make sense and we're the only one. All the other [U.S.] territories, they control their own labor,” he said.

'Green card'

Ronnie Doca and Rabby Syed, leaders of the workers group, hope that latest court ruling will give DHS more time to consider their concerns.

Workers groups in the CNMI want the federal government to grant “green cards” or legal permanent resident status to certain classes of nonresidents in the CNMI, including long-term foreign workers.

“We are happy with the ruling so DHS will have more time to look into our concerns. Among the most important things we are asking [for] is a better immigration for long-time nonresident workers, and a blanket authority for those with valid CNMI permits to re-enter the CNMI after a vacation or emergency exit,” said Doca, board chairman of the group, which comprises thousands of foreign workers in the CNMI.

Worker groups have started a signature campaign asking President Obama and the U.S. Congress to grant “green cards” to certain foreigners in the CNMI, ahead of the May 10, 2010, deadline for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to recommend to Congress whether a grant of permanent immigration status to nonresidents in the CNMI is necessary.

'Exit, entry'

DHS' interim final rule, which is supposed to take effect Saturday, prohibits foreign workers from re-entering the islands using only their valid CNMI work and entry permit.

Friedman said DHS could “promulgate a narrowly focused and temporary emergency regulation” that addresses only the “exit and entry” problems presented in the department's interim final rule.

Regulations by DHS' U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would have required foreign workers to secure a CW-1 visa from a U.S. embassy for them to re-enter the CNMI, but only after they first secure a CNMI-only transitional worker status, which may take up to 60 days to acquire.

This means foreign workers can exit but not re-enter the CNMI up to at least early 2010, in order to secure a CW status and a CW-1 visa to comply with the DHS interim final rule.

DHS, however, repeatedly said that nonresident workers can exit the CNMI any time during the transition period from Nov. 28, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2014, but they cannot re-enter the islands without a CW-1 visa obtained from a U.S. embassy.

There is also a possibility that an applicant may be denied a CW-1 visa and therefore won't be able to re-enter the CNMI and continue working on the islands despite possessing a valid CNMI work and entry permit.

The Form I-29CW is a modified form of the Form I-29, but it is specifically used for the Commonwealth-only Transitional Worker, or CW, program.

A “transitional worker” under P.L. 110-229 is defined as an alien worker who is currently ineligible for another classification under the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Act and who performs services or labor for an employer in the CNMI.

Most of the foreign workers in the CNMI are from the Philippines and China, while others are from Korea, Thailand and Bangladesh.

Florida-based human rights activist and former Rota teacher Wendy Doromal expressed hope that the comments so far submitted on the DHS interim final rule “should now be considered by DHS.”

Many relate to travel restrictions and the requirement for a visa for a foreign worker to return to the CNMI after traveling for personal or medical reasons.

Friedman agreed with the CNMI that DHS had no reasonable basis for publishing the interim final rule without complying with the notice and comment provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act.

The judge also made clear that he was denying any possible effort by the U.S. Department of Justice representing DHS to obtain a stay of his order pending appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.

Border control

The DHS transitional worker rule is supposed to take effect Saturday, when DHS' U.S. Customs and Border Protection takes over border control.

Edward H. Low, public affairs liaison at CBP's San Francisco office, earlier said that between 40 and 50 CBP officers will be on Saipan to take over immigration control at the Saipan International Airport at the stroke of midnight on Nov. 28.

But as of press time yesterday, Low said he's still checking to see what, if any, impact the court ruling will have on CBP operations.

Among other things, the federal takeover of local immigration means U.S. visas will be required of foreigners to enter the CNMI, just like Guam, Hawaii, and the rest of the United States, except for nationals of countries that are included in visa waiver programs.

The CNMI is the last U.S. territory that controls its own borders.

Fingerprinting and eye scan will also become main fixtures at the airport, just like anywhere in the U.S.

P.L. 110-229 or the Consolidated Natural Resources Act, signed by President George Bush in May 2008, not only applies federal immigration control in the CNMI but also gave the CNMI its first non-voting delegate to the U.S. Congress.

As a result of the federalization law, the CNMI held its first delegate election in November 2008, won by Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan, a former executive director of the Commonwealth Election Commission.

'Federalization law is legal'

'Federalization law is legal'

Friday, November 27, 2009

NMI arguments 'unpersuasive, plain wrong'
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Paul L. Friedman has upheld the constitutionality of the law that applies federal immigration laws to the CNMI.

In explaining his order dismissing counts 1 and 2 of the CNMI government's amended lawsuit against federalization, Friedman described the Commonwealth's arguments “unpersuasive, unavailing, and just plain wrong.”

Friedman said that Congress was authorized to enact the Consolidated Natural Resources Act by the plain and unambiguous terms of Section 503 of the Covenant. CNRA, the federalization law, is also known as Public Law 110-229.

The judge also ruled that the challenged provisions of the CNRA comply with the mutual consent provision of Section 105 and the “self-government” guarantee of Section 103 of the Covenant.

“No doubt the CNMI would prefer that federal legislation never affect any matters of local concern, no matter how inextricably intertwined they may be with federal affairs. But it cannot rely on the Covenant to ensure that result,” said Friedman in a 39-page opinion that explained his Tuesday order dismissing two of the CNMI government's three-count lawsuit.

The CNMI, through the Jenner and Block law firm, had asked the court to prevent the federal government from acting in violation of the Covenant and urged the court to issue a permanent ban against the implementation of the federalization law in the Commonwealth.

In Count 1, the CNMI claimed that federalization is in violation of the Covenant in that it infringes on the right of the CNMI to self-government and abrogates that right without the CNMI's consent.

The CNMI argued, among other things, that the federalization of immigration and foreign worker-related labor matters in the CNMI violates sections of the Covenant which call for local control over local matters and require mutual consent for any changes to the Covenant.

The CNMI insists that Congress acted in excess of its authority in passing some provisions of the CNRA, and that those provisions must be stopped.

Friedman disagreed. He concluded that under the express and unambiguous language of Section 503 of the Covenant, Congress was free after Nov. 3, 1986, to apply immigration and naturalization laws of the U.S. to the CNMI.

“As a result, the CNRA is a legitimate exercise of federal congressional authority so long as its challenged provisions qualify as being among 'the immigration and naturalization laws of the United States.'”

Friedman said so long as the CNRA qualifies as an “immigration and naturalization law,” it does not infringe upon the “internal affairs” of the CNMI within the meaning of Section 103.

He said the CNMI's argument that the CNRA cannot be viewed as an “immigration law” is unpersuasive.

The judge said the CNMI is just plain wrong when it asserts that nothing in federal immigration and naturalization law permits an “employer-by-employer, worker-by-worker local labor permitting scheme.”

“The fact that the application of federal immigration laws to the CNMI through the CNRA may have a dramatic impact upon the CNMI's labor force does not convert an immigration law into a labor law,” he said.

Friedman said even if the court were to agree with the CNMI that the CNRA is not an immigration and naturalization law that Congress is specifically authorized by the Covenant to enact, the court will still find the CNRA valid under the Covenant.

The CNMI had argued that the provisions of the CNRA dealing with foreign workers already in the CNMI “have nothing whatever to do with border security” but are internal labor matters.

Friedman rejected this argument, saying this appears to be based on the assumption that “border security” is achieved only at the border and nowhere else.

“That assumption makes little sense here. Thousands of individuals who would have been ineligible to enter the CNMI under federal immigration law already reside in the CNMI,” he said.

Obviously, Friedman said, the U.S. could not simply ignore these individuals and at the same time regard the CNMI's borders as “secure,” because one of the principal ways the U.S. secures its borders is by requiring compliance with its immigration laws.

He said the CNMI wishes to characterize the regulation of foreign workers already admitted to the CNMI as a local matter because the CNMI's economy is dependent on the labor of foreign workers.

“In addition to being circular, that argument fails to recognize that the presence of thousands of foreign workers in the CNMI, few of whom would qualify to enter the CNMI under federal immigration laws, raises legitimate foreign policy and security concerns-concerns solely within the province of the federal government,” Friedman said.

Sea turtles in peril

Sea turtles in peril



Friday, 27 November 2009 04:04 by Jennifer Naylor Gesick | Variety News Staff

THE Navy is still doing a marine resources biological assessment to address the potential affects of the proposed creation of a new wharf at Polaris Point to house an aircraft carrier on threatened and endangered species, according to the draft environmental impact statement.

There are three special status species associated with Apra Harbor. The green sea turtle is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the Hawksbill sea turtle listed as endangered and the Spinner dolphin which is protected under the Endangered Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The Navy expects the potential impacts to sea turtles to be "temporary disruption of normal behavior patterns (swimming, resting or foraging behaviors at Sasa Bay and Big Blue Reef)," states the study.

The temporary activities include dredging for the wharf and turning basin anticipated to last four to 78 months. The entire dredging process is expected to last eight to 18 months, but the Navy does not anticipate work to widen and deepen the existing channels to affect sea turtles.

Pile-driving and wharf construction is expected to last from six to 18 months with a total of 3.5 year duration to be estimated for all in-water construction activities. The draft study does expect the sea turtle nesting activities to be impacted by the lights from the barges used for dredging activities.

The work is expected to go on 24 hours per day for up to 18 months. Sea Turtles have been observed nesting during all months of the year on Guam with peak activity from April to July. Dangkolo, Dikiki and Kilo Wharf are the most active locations. "In general sea turtles nest and hatch at night.

They use natural light cues to orient toward the ocean. However, bright lights from the dredging platforms may confuse nesting turtles and hatchlings and result in them orienting away from the ocean," says the statement. The Navy promises that the final impact study will contain a revised sea turtle impact analysis based on ongoing and recent past studies of potential noise exposures to sea turtles and other marine species from pile driving actions.

GDOE needs $5M for textbooks

GDOE needs $5M for textbooks

Friday, 27 November 2009 03:29 by Therese Hart | Variety News Staff

IT IS a persistent and expensive problem that won’t go away. The Guam Department of Education has yet to take control of its textbook management and expenditures even after former deputy superintendent Dr. Geri James said that the textbook issues have been resolved.

During Wednesday's regular policy board meeting, the issue of textbooks arose, with Dr. Eva San Nicolas, James’ successor, informing the board that GDOE will need supplemental funds of $4.9 million for new textbooks and $500,000 to pay vendors for prior year obligations.

Even with the $2 million appropriated by Public Law 30-55, the department still needs $4.9 million to purchase kindergarten through grade 12 books for content areas in social studies, health, physical education, music and art. Textbook orders for the 25 private schools will need to be addressed as well.

GDOE will also request that the legislature place a moratorium on textbook adoption for two years. As it stands, textbooks are adopted for seven years and are in circulation at all the 40 schools for continued use for the duration of its adoptive lifespan.

If the legislature is unwilling, GDOE will need to adopt new science textbooks by March 2010 and the estimated cost will be $5 million.

This was not included in the supplemental budget request that GDOE will possibly send to the legislature in early December.

Lose some, win some

Lose some, win some

Friday, 27 November 2009 03:33 by Jennifer Naylor Gesick | Variety News Staff

Military activity affect water tourism

THE Navy expects some negative economic impacts on ocean-based tourism as a result of the construction and operation of a new port to berth an aircraft carrier at Polaris Point, according to the environmental impact statement for the military buildup.

“However, these economic impacts on tourism would be somewhat mitigated or compensated for by increased tourism from military personnel,” the study says.

Apra Harbor is the single most popular site for recreational divers and commercial diving operations.

Economic impacts on ocean-based tourism within Apra Harbor correlate to degradation of the environment, according to the impact study.

"Siltation from dredging already affects visibility and has diving business operators concerned about possible permanent coral loss,” the study states.

Even though 25 acres of coral is expected to be completely removed, the impact report states that disturbance from construction activities would be short-term and localized. Long-term operational effects on tourism would include force protection restrictions during carrier arrival and departure, hence restricting diving and tourist operations.

Despite the impact on water tourism, a survey of hoteliers concluded that they welcome the prospect of more carrier operations, because past carrier visits have always contributed positively to their occupancy levels. The study also states that historically there have been positive impacts on ocean based tourism because dive companies fly instructors out to carriers to initiate basic instruction for open-water certifications. Positive effects on ocean-based tourism volume would be countered by the prospect of increased congestion in the Apra Harbor area, the study says.

“Guam’s two major dive companies, as well as many of the smaller ones, launch their boats out of Apra Harbor and dock at Port Authority of Guam small boat basin. Military and tourist operations have conflicted in the past. Increases in military operations may increase this conflict,” states the impact report.

US gears up for CNMI takeover

US gears up for CNMI takeover

Friday, 27 November 2009 03:31 by Gemma Q. Casas | Variety News Staff

(SAIPAN)--An official of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said his office is ready to administer and operate the immigration system of the Northern Marianas, which will be placed under federal control starting tomorrow.

Edward Low, chief CBP officer, said some of the permanently assigned personnel for the Saipan international airport have arrived on island and more will come in the next few days.



Part of the contingent are armed CBP officers.

“CBP officers are armed. That is the function of their duty. That weapon is part of who they are,” said Low who arrived on Saipan on Friday. He is scheduled to leave on Dec. 4.

“We’re scheduled to take over immigration on Nov. 28. With any luck it would be relatively seamless,” he said in an interview on Monday.

According to its Web site, CBP is one of the most complex components of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with a priority mission of keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the country.

It is also responsible for securing and facilitating trade and travel while enforcing hundreds of U.S. regulations, including immigration and drug laws.

Local customs, however, will remain under the jurisdiction of the local government.

Low said CBP will enforce the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Act by screening passengers entering all points of entries in the CNMI.

“As it stands now, when CBP takes over immigration on the 28th, anybody who wants to enter the CNMI must have a U.S. passport, a U.S. permanent card or green card, a U.S. visa or they have to be a member of the visa-waiver country or Chinese or Russian nationals who are seeking to visit the CNMI. But those two countries will be dealt with a little bit differently. But you know I can’t speak about anything else,” he said.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, another agency of DHS, deals with people who have already entered the nation and its territories. It is expected to bring in a contingent as part of the federalization law’s implementation.

The USCIS is in-charge of collecting biometrics and processing the Commonwealth Worker or CW-1 status that will be offered to foreign workers on the islands who are otherwise ineligible for other U.S. employment-based programs.

5 sites studied for ‘contamination’

5 sites studied for ‘contamination’

Friday, 27 November 2009 03:26 by Jude Lizama | Variety News Staff

THE draft environmental impact statement for the Guam military buildup identifies at least five active and inactive military training grounds that are being assessed for potential contamination.

As part of the inventory process, the Department of Defense is coordinating with Guam Environmental Protection Agency to conduct preliminary assessments and site inspections of “areas of concern” on Guam.

Currently identified munitions response areas include Naval Magazine Small Arms Range, Spanish Steps Skeet and Trap Ranges, Orote Point Rifle and Pistol Range, Naval Computer and Telecommunications Main Station Finegayan Skeet Range, and Naval Computer and Telecommunications Main Station Small Arms Range.

The Environmental Data Resources, Inc.’s report used to identify local hazardous substance waste sites was also used to locate munitions response areas.

“Since the EDR database reports did not provide exact addresses of sites, only zip codes, the identification of potential contamination sites heavily relied on the field review” conducted in March and April of 2008 and March of 2009 by Parsons Brinckerhoff, according to the draft impact study.

Field review

The field review was conducted “to verify locations of potential contamination sites identified in previous reports, and to identify other potential contamination sites not included in previous studies,” according to the impact report.

Parsons Brinckerhoff project team surveyed accessible properties to identify potential contamination and possible contamination risks to roadway right-of-way and potential construction activities.

Response team

The draft study made references to the Military Munitions Response Program, established in 2001 under the 1986 Defense Environmental Restoration Program.

The draft environmental impact statement explained processes for its own “Munitions Response Program” for the island’s military buildup.

The impact study cited that the response program was designed to “address hazards associated with munitions and explosives of concern within areas no longer used for operational range activities.”

Inventory

The 2001 National Defense Authorization Act requires DOD to develop a primary inventory of areas not located within operational ranges, regardless if they are active or inactive, known or suspected to contain “munitions or explosives of concern.”

Additionally, potential contamination sites at DOD lands adjacent to the proposed improvements were “observed and documented from the roadway ROW,” and aside from sites within or near DOD lands, “site photographs were obtained from potential petroleum and hazardous material sites that would be adjacent to proposed roadway improvements.”

Diet Considers Allocation For Okinawa-Guam Transfer

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Says Coalition Government May Make 'Temporary Allocation'

Japan's Parliament Still Waiting On Prime Minister To Make Up His Mind On Where To Put U.S. Marines

Written by Jeff Marchesseault, Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Thursday, 26 November 2009 09:56

GUAM - Japan's parliament is currently pondering allocation, now that Japan's Defense Ministry has requested the yen equivalent of $1 billion in FY2010 dollars to help cover the cost of (1) reclaiming land in Nago, Okinawa for a new base there and (2) transferring thousands of U.S. Marines to Guam.

It's a sign that the disagreement between Japan's new coalition government and the Obama Administration on where to relocate the Marines may soon get traction and help ensure the timely transfer of as many as 8,600 American troops and their 9,000 dependents from Okinawa to Guam.

The allocation's serious consideration is off to a running start, as Japan's fiscal year starts in April. But there are no guarantees of funding for the current plan, since Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has yet to offer an alternative to a 2006 bilateral accord to move the functions of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Nago. The accord faces stiff opposition from coalition partners and Okinawans, including pacifists, environmentalists, and those who just plain oppose any new U.S. military footprints across an Okinawa that already hosts the vast majority of American forces in Japan.

According to an Kyodo News service story appearing in today's edition of The Japan Times:

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Wednesday the government will decide whether to allocate funds for the replacement facility, which, under the bilateral accord, would be built in Nago, Okinawa, after deliberating the issue at a ministerial committee consisting of the leaders of the three coalition parties.

"The allocation in the budget for the next fiscal year will be decided after policies are set at the ministerial committee on basic policy among the three parties," Hirano said at a news conference.

Hirano left open the possibility that the government may do the allocation on a temporary basis, given that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has yet to make a final decision on the relocation.

While the Diet mulls funding for the plan spelled out in the original accord, leaders and constituents on Guam are reviewing an 8,000-page Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the military's installation expansion here -- a $15 billion project designed, in part, to reduce the civilian burden of hosting American armed forces in Okinawa.

Budget may cover part of Futenma accord

Budget may cover part of Futenma accord

Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009
Kyodo News

The government may allocate funds for the relocation of a U.S. Marine base in the fiscal 2010 national budget before finalizing its stance on where the base should eventually be relocated, a high-ranking government official said Wednesday.

The possible budgeting for a new facility that would replace the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa reflects Tokyo's concerns that the United States may perceive Japan as having reneged on the bilateral accord stipulating the relocation.

"The budget and the conclusion on a relocation facility are separate issues," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The government plans to compile by year's end the budget for the new fiscal year starting in April.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Wednesday the government will decide whether to allocate funds for the replacement facility, which, under the bilateral accord, would be built in Nago, Okinawa, after deliberating the issue at a ministerial committee consisting of the leaders of the three coalition parties.

"The allocation in the budget for the next fiscal year will be decided after policies are set at the ministerial committee on basic policy among the three parties," Hirano said at a news conference.

Hirano left open the possibility that the government may do the allocation on a temporary basis, given that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has yet to make a final decision on the relocation.

"We have yet to decide what kind of political judgment we should make," Hirano said.

The revisiting of the proposed relocation under the 2006 bilateral accord has strained Japan-U.S. relations, with Hatoyama entertaining the idea of moving the base out of Okinawa or out of the country.

Washington wants Tokyo to stick to the accord, under which the Futenma base in Ginowan will be moved to a new airstrip to be built in Nago by 2014, while moving 8,000 marines to Guam once the new base is operational, as part of the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan at that time.

The Defense Ministry has requested about ¥89 billion for the cost of land reclamation in Nago and transferring marines from Okinawa to Guam in accordance with the accord.

Will review unravel ’06 U.S.-Japan troop relocation pact?

Will review unravel ’06 U.S.-Japan troop relocation pact?


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Will review unravel ’06 U.S.-Japan troop relocation pact?
By David Allen, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, November 27, 2009

RELATED MATERIAL: Futenma Q&A

YOMITAN, Okinawa — Ever since the United States and Japan signed a pact in 2006 to realign U.S. forces in Japan, the plan has been to close Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, located in urban Okinawa, and relocate its air operations to rural Camp Schwab, where a new airfield would be built to accommodate the move.

Now, however, with a new Japanese government in place that promised Okinawans it would review the U.S. military footprint on Okinawa, Japanese officials want to revisit a formerly discarded plan to move the Marine operation to Kadena Air Base. Or move the base operations outside Okinawa altogether.

At stake is the possible unraveling of the overall pact, painstakingly negotiated over 15 years with the former, more military friendly Japanese government. A key element of the pact was the relocation of more than 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam — but only after Futenma is relocated.

A working group of U.S. and Japanese officials began meetings this month to reconsider all options.

According to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman after the first meeting, the U.S. side took the position that the existing plan is the only feasible one. Further, any delay in going forward with the Camp Schwab plan could erode U.S. congressional support for the whole realignment plan, which also includes changes for U.S. troops on the Japanese mainland, the spokesman said.

Japanese officials, however, demanded a full examination of the process in which the Camp Schwab plan was selected. Prior to the meeting, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said he was still looking into why the Marines can’t move to Kadena Air Base. "As for the argument that the Marine Corps and Air Force cannot share the same base," Okada said, "I am not yet fully able to understand it."

In the end, the working group agreed only to set a year-end deadline for some kind of resolution to the fractious dispute.
Realignment in Japan

Here’s what the U.S. and Japan "Roadmap to Realignment" agreement signed in 2006 called for:

* Relocating air operations from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to a new facility at Camp Schwab.
* Relocating the headquarters of the III Marine Expeditionary Force to Guam and realigning remaining Marine units on Okinawa into a Marine Expeditionary Brigade. The move would include the transfer of 8,000 Marines and their dependents to Guam.
* Japan contributing to the cost of the move of the Marines to Guam. U.S. officials have pegged the cost at $10.6 billion and asked Japan to cover 75 percent.
* Marine Corps units remaining on Okinawa would be consolidated into a smaller total land area, enabling the "return of significant land in the densely populated areas south of Kadena Air Base." The returned base properties are to include the U.S. Army’s Naha Military Port, Camp Kinser, MCAS Futenma and parts of Camp Foster.
* Providing facilities at mainland Japan Air and Maritime Self-Defense Force bases for Marine KC-130 refueling aircraft.
* A U.S. Navy carrier air wing would be transferred from Naval Air Facility Atsugi to MCAS Iwakuni.
* Moving elements of the U.S. Army’s I Corps from Fort Lewis, Wash., to Camp Zama, adding about 300 personnel.
* Transferring Japan’s Air Defense Command to Yokota Air Base, west of Tokyo.
* Deploying X-band radar to Japan as part of a joint anti-ballistic missile defense program.
* Relocating some fighter jet training from U.S. air bases to Japan Air Self-Defense Force bases to lessen the impact of training activities on host communities, particularly Kadena Air Base.

Futenma questions and answers

Futenma questions and answers

Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, November 27, 2009

The increasingly knotty issue of the U.S. base presence in Japan has deep roots tangled in history and ongoing changes in the social fabric and political landscape. Stars and Stripes reporter David Allen, who has been covering Okinawa issues since 1994, offers the following answers to frequently asked questions about the debate swirling around Futenma:

What’s the big deal with Futenma? Is this just political maneuvering, or is it a serious threat to the U.S.-Japan military alliance?

Prior to the landslide victory of his Democratic Party of Japan in August, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s platform was to move the Futenma operations outside Okinawa, if not outside Japan. He has since said he just wants to revisit the agreement, and the issue now is seen in Japan as a test of his leadership. His left-center party is part of the ruling coalition with the Social Democratic Party, which is staunchly anti-military and opposed both to the presence of U.S. forces and the existence of the Japanese Self-Defense Force. If he fails in his bid to renegotiate the Futenma relocation plan and move the Marine air operations elsewhere, he could face serious opposition in elections next year.

Why do they have to move the air station at all?

It’s noisy and dangerous, and a symbol of what the Okinawans claim is their "unfair burden."

The rape and abduction of a 12-year-old Okinawa schoolgirl in 1995 by two Marines and a Navy Corpsman sparked massive anti-base demonstrations on the island and renewed calls for reducing the U.S. military footprint. Bowing to those demands, a bilateral U.S.-Japan committee was formed, devising a plan in 1996 to return about 20 percent of the base property to the prefecture and private landowners. A major component of the plan was to close Futenma, located in urban heart of the city of Ginowan, and build a new base in a more remote location.

In 2003, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited Okinawa and flew over the Futenma airfield. He commented that it was amazing there had not been any accidents. A year later, a Marine helicopter crashed on the campus of a university adjacent to the base, and the calls to close MCAS Futenma increased.

Why are the Okinawans upset about the relocation/realignment of U.S. bases on the island?

They don’t trust Tokyo and Washington on the issue. There’s a saying on Okinawa that the U.S. bases are the best deal for Japan and the U.S. and the worst for Okinawa. Japan gets to spend less on defense — one of the reasons why it has the second-largest economy in the world — and have almost half the U.S. troops based on Okinawa, an island far from the other larger, more populated Japanese territories. The U.S. gets bases close to potential trouble spots in the Western Pacific. And Japan picks up a hefty part of the bill. That leaves Okinawa hosting bases that cover a fifth of the island.

Also, there’s always been a strong independent streak on Okinawa. A large segment of the population believes the U.S. took their land at the end of World War II at the point of "bayonets and bulldozers," costing many families their homes and farms. During the 27 years of U.S. military occupation, there was a vibrant movement demanding a "military free" island.

When the prefecture was returned to Japan in 1972, many Okinawans felt betrayed because many U.S. military bases remained, and the Japan Self-Defense Force took other bases given up by the Americans. Some Okinawan critics continue to argue that they bear an unfair burden by hosting 75 percent of the land solely used for U.S. bases in all of Japan.

Supporters of the bases point out that the U.S. military is the second largest source of income on Okinawa, after tourism. Opponents argue that the bases hinder economic development.

Is the new Japanese government’s real agenda to expel all U.S. forces from Japan?

Definitely not. The Hatoyama administration, as well as the majority of the Japanese people, support the present security alliance with the United States, in place to aid in the defense of Japan should the country be attacked.

Hatoyama and his Cabinet members have repeatedly made it clear that the security arrangement is one of the core policies of the country.

Do the Okinawan critics of the realignment offer any alternatives? If so, why are they unacceptable to the U.S.?

During years of negotiations, many alternate sites for Futenma were proposed, including Iwo-to (formerly Iwo Jima), Guam, Hawaii, Japan Self-Defense Force bases on the mainland, Kadena Air Base, and two more remote islands in Okinawa prefecture. They were all rejected. The U.S. contends the Marine flight operations need to remain on Okinawa because of its close proximity to amphibious fleet units in Sasebo, for training on Okinawa and because of its proximity to China and North Korea. Moving the base to more isolated islands would be too costly and there is no room at Kadena Air Base for both Marine and Air Force operations. A plan to build a sea-based Marine air station some two miles off the coast of the Henoko peninsula, on which Camp Schwab is located, was scrapped after intense opposition by anti-base and environmental groups, who used small motorboats and kayaks to disrupt an environmental study of the area.

U.S. officials maintain Okinawa remains the best location, both in terms of cost, with Japan picking up the tab, and its strategic geographical location in the Western Pacific.

Why does the U.S. appear so resistant to any changes in the 2006 agreement?

U.S. officials insist the many years of negotiations leading up to the 2006 "Roadmap to Realignment" resulted in the best deal for both countries. The troop level on Okinawa would be reduced by more than 8,000 Marines plus their families, and Japan agreed to pay most of the tab for building the necessary infrastructure to support them on Guam.

How many U.S. troops are on Okinawa and how much does the Japanese government pay to have them there?

Today there are 43,400 status of forces personnel on Okinawa. They include 22,300 active-duty servicemembers, 2,100 Department of Defense civilians and 19,000 dependents. That number does not include Marines who are temporarily deployed to Okinawa from time to time from U.S. bases for training.

The Japanese government paid more than $5.2 billion for funding the stationing of U.S. troops in Japan in 2009. That includes facilities maintenance and improvements, Japanese support employee salaries, and other needs. Of that funding, $1.6 billion is for military support on Okinawa.

And there is indirect support, which includes waivers of taxes, road tolls and port fees for military operations, and SOFA personnel pay less tax on their cars than Japanese citizens.

What does moving 8,000-plus Marines from Okinawa to Guam have to do with moving a Marine air station on Okinawa?

It is seen as a way to sell the plan to move air operations to Camp Schwab. Sweetening the deal for the Okinawans, besides millions of dollars in subsidies for public projects from Tokyo, was the promise to also shut down Camp Kinser, the Naha Military Port, the rest of Camp Lester, part of Camp Foster and the transfer of major Marine commands to Guam.

While the conservative Liberal Democratic Party ruled, the project seemed inevitable and, except for a small protest group that’s been camped out at the Henoko port for the past five years, most people on Okinawa grudgingly accepted it.

Why can’t the Futenma issue be de-coupled from the Guam issue?

Without the new base development on Camp Schwab, there would be nowhere to put many of the Marines who would remain on the island. U.S officials from the start have said replacing Futenma was the key to the agreement.

Why can’t the U.S. on its own just move the Marines to Guam, where the U.S. territorial government would welcome them and the related economic development?

Under the realignment plan, the Japanese government has pledged to spend $6.1 billion on building up Guam to accommodate the influx of troops. Of that, $2.8 billion is expected in cash. The remaining would come in Japanese investments that the country may recoup over time. But should the realignment plan unravel, the entire cost of building installations, housing and infrastructure — projected at $10.6 billion — might have to be borne by U.S. taxpayers.

Stars and Stripes reporter Chiyomi Sumida contributed to this story.

More Guam Military Personnel May Be Called To Action In Afghanistan

More Guam Military Personnel May Be Called To Action In Afghanistan

Written by Jeff Marchesseault, Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Wednesday, 25 November 2009 14:49

Obama's Move For War Closure Could Cost The Territory Dearly

GUAM - President Obama's resolve to 'finish the job' in Afghanistan is raising red flags on what that means for Guam's Reservists, National Guardsmen, and active-duty personnel. Obama will announce next Tuesday whether he'll send 30,000-plus additional troops to the troubled nation.

The idea is to finally put an end to this costly, bitter war that has claimed many lives and dragged on for eight long years.

But for Guam families, the natural concern stems from the possible likelihood that more local soldiers will be sent into harm's way.

Quoting the Military Times on June 24th of this year, Guam News Factor reported Guam's rates of death among U.S. servicemembers on active duty in Afghanistan and Iraq during the 2001-07 period as 47.3 percent higher than Vermont's. Vermont is the state with the highest rate of service-time death in Iraq and Afghanistan for that period.

While Vermont lost an average of 2.89 per 100,000 of those serving in the combined areas, Guam lost an average of 4.61 per 100,000.

Federal immigration officials arrive in NMI

Federal immigration officials arrive in NMI


Thursday, 26 November 2009 00:00 By Gemma Q. Casas - Reporter

AN official of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection says their office is ready to administer and operate the immigration system of the Northern Marianas on Nov. 28.

Edward Low, chief CBP officer, said some of the permanently assigned personnel for the Saipan international airport have arrived on island and more will come in the next few days.

Part of the contingent are armed CBP officers.

“CBP officers are armed. That is the function of their duty. That weapon is part of who they are,” said Low who arrived on Saipan on Friday. He is scheduled to leave on Dec. 4.

“We’re scheduled to take over immigration on Nov. 28. With any luck it would be relatively seamless,” he said in an interview on Monday.

According to its Web site, CBP is one of the most complex components of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with a priority mission of keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the country.

It is also responsible for securing and facilitating trade and travel while enforcing hundreds of U.S. regulations, including immigration and drug laws.

Local customs, however, will remain under the jurisdiction of the local government.

Low said CBP will enforce the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Act by screening passengers entering all points of entries in the CNMI.

“As it stands now, when CBP takes over immigration on the 28th, anybody who wants to enter the CNMI must have a U.S. passport, a U.S. permanent card or green card, a U.S. visa or they have to be a member of the visa-waiver country or Chinese or Russian nationals who are seeking to visit the CNMI. But those two countries will be dealt with a little bit differently. But you know I can’t speak about anything else,” he said.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, another agency of DHS, deals with people who have already entered the nation and its territories. It is expected to bring in a contingent as part of the federalization law’s implementation.

The USCIS is in-charge of collecting biometrics and processing the Commonwealth Worker or CW-1 status that will be offered to foreign workers on the islands who are otherwise ineligible for other U.S. employment-based programs.

Toxic materials raise concerns

Toxic materials raise concerns


Thursday, 26 November 2009 04:14 by Jude Lizama | Variety News Staff

THE draft environmental impact statement detailed some of the regulatory issues surrounding hazardous material sites for potential U.S. military buildup roadway projects.

The study cited the Environmental Data Resources, Inc.’s report which “identified potential hazardous materials and petroleum contamination sites that are listed in US Environmental Protection Agency databases.

Remaining EDR information was cross-referenced with other potential contamination sites to include available regulatory information of site descriptions.

While this portion of the impact study was tackled environmental and hazardous waste concerns regarding roadway projects, it also concluded that “After field verification, potential contamination sites were eliminated from further consideration if they were not within 0.25-mile of the centerline of the proposed roadway or intersection improvement.”

A memorandum of agreement between the Department of Defense and the government of Guam requires Guam EPA and DOD to work closely to discuss and facilitate environmental restoration and cleanup work on island.

The draft environmental impact statement also provides an update on the ongoing cleanup and restoration of areas formerly used by the military.

In 1986, U.S. Congress created the Defense Environmental Restoration Program that subsequently identified and mandated the cleanup of hazardous substances and military munitions remaining from past activities at DOD lands and formerly used defense sites. This program was later supplemented by the Installation Restoration Program and Military Munitions Response Program.

The Installation Restoration Program is the main DOD environmental restoration program that covers areas within military installations including Orote landfill, Construction Battalion landfill cleanup at Finegayan, and Andersen Air Force Base Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,

Release of federalization suit docs OK'd

Release of federalization suit docs OK'd

Thursday, November 26, 2009
House committee, Sablan press for documents
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter

The Fitial administration has started preparing for the release of copies of contracts, fee agreements and other records connected with the governor's federalization lawsuit.

Rep. Tina Sablan (Ind-Saipan) and House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Ray N. Yumul (R-Saipan) made a follow up request for the release of the documents on Wednesday.

The request came a few days after U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Paul L. Friedman dismissed on Monday two of the three counts of the lawsuit, citing the CNMI's failure to prove its case.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial reiterated yesterday that he wants to read Friedman's opinion first before deciding what to do next, including whether to appeal the decision.

At least 14 sets of documents are still being requested by Sablan and the Ways and Means Committee from the Office of the Attorney General, in addition to the over 30 pages that the OAG released in August.

Sablan identified these additional documents in a Nov. 19 letter to assistant attorney general Anthony Welch.

“I was told last week and again this [Wednesday] morning by Mr. Welch that these documents are now being prepared for release,” Sablan told Saipan Tribune in an interview at her office yesterday.

Welch, in a brief phone interview, confirmed that the OAG is “working on what Sablan asked for.”

He said it takes time for these documents to be sorted and prepared for release.

Sablan said the contract, engagement letter and/or fee agreement, along with change orders, between the CNMI government and its Washington, D.C.-based law firm, Jenner & Block LLC, are among the 14 specific sets of documents that she and the committee have asked from the OAG.

“There are probably a lot more than what was has been spent since the contract was signed early last year,” Sablan told Saipan Tribune.

Jenner & Block LLP billed the CNMI $395,971.81 between Aug. 26, 2008 and Feb. 27, 2009.

But Sablan said the released billing invoices of close to $400,000 covers only six months, and does not include the prior months when the contract was signed and the months after February this year.

The federal judge handling the federalization lawsuit said he will issue an opinion explaining his decision later this week.

Fitial's special legal counsel, Howard Willens, is traveling to Washington, D.C. this Sunday to consult with Jenner & Block on Monday.

This means the CNMI continues to incur billings as the law firm continues its work.

The CNMI filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government over federalization of the CNMI, asking the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C. to prevent the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Labor from taking over the local labor system.

Federalization is set to start on Saturday, Nov. 28.

14 sets of documents

Attorney General Ed Buckingham tasked Welch to handle the release of documents to Sablan and the House committee pursuant to an Open Government Act request.

On Nov. 18, Buckingham, Deputy Attorney General Joe Taijeron, Welch, Sablan and Yumul met to discuss the documents requested by the committee. The OAG asked Sablan to identify the specific documents requested.

On Nov. 19, Sablan wrote a two-page letter addressed to Welch identifying the 14 sets of documents, including a copy of the contract, engagement letter and/or fee agreement between the CNMI government and Willens, including any change orders.

In that letter, Sablan said the OAG indicated that the earliest time the requested documents would be provided would be Nov. 25, which was yesterday. OAG needed more time to prepare and release the documents.

Sablan also asked for a copy of summaries and detailed and unredacted billing invoices from Jenner & Block, as well as from Willens, to the CNMI government, from April 1, 2008, to the present.

The lawmaker also asked for a copy of memoranda issued by Fitial to the Department of Finance authorizing any payments made to Jenner & Block and Willens, from April 1, 2008 to the present.

Also requested are copies of wire transfer authorizations from Finance with respect to payments made to Jenner & Block and Willens from April 1, 2008 to the present.

Sablan, who won an Open Government Act lawsuit against the government, also asked for a copy of complete and unredacted fund status reports of all accounts under the Office of the Governor from April 1, 2008 to the present date.

Also being requested is a copy of a full listing and description of all sources of funding for the CNMI government's contract or agreement with Jenner & Block and Willens.

Lastly, Sablan is asking for a copy of a full listing of the departments, agencies and instrumentalities of the CNMI government from which any public funds have been reprogrammed in order to finance the CNMI lawsuit against the federal government.

After the documents are received, Yumul will be calling for a meeting of the members of the House Ways and Means Committee to review the records.

Navy to dredge 25 acres of coral

Navy to dredge 25 acres of coral

Thursday, 26 November 2009 04:20
by Jennifer Naylor Gesick |
Variety News Staff

THE Navy plans to dredge approximately 25 acres of coral for the construction of a new wharf to accommodate an aircraft carrier at Polaris Point, according to the draft environmental impact statement.

The total area to be dredged is approximately 71 acres and 608,000 cubic yards of dredged material is expected.

The second choice of locations for the carrier is the old ship repair facility. That option would only need a total of 61 acres dredged with a total of 24 acres of coral.

The draft study concluded that 35 percent of the area to be dredged contained some level of coral coverage and 39 percent of the area at the old ship repair facility.

"Polaris Point has approximately 4 percent less coral to be removed,” according to the draft study.

Four large patch reefs will be affected, Jade, Western, Big Blue, and the unnamed reef.

The study also says that dredging is anticipated to last from eight to 18 months working 24 hours a day to complete the entire proposed action. A total of 172 acres will be affected.

“In general 35 percent of proposed dredge area contains some coral coverage and virtually all consists of reefs that were dredged 60 years ago during the creation of Inner Apra Harbor,” states the study.

The draft impact report outlines four dredged material disposal options: 100 percent ocean disposal, 100 percent upland placement, 100 percent beneficial reuse, and a mixture of 20 to 25 percent beneficial reuse and 70 to 80 percent ocean disposal.

The report, however, does not identify the selected option.

Four land areas are being considered as the possible disposal site. They are three unnamed fields on Sumay Drive in Santa Rita and the Public Works Center inside the Navy Base.

The dredging and construction of the new wharf is expected to have little to no effect on cultural resources such as historic sites and archaeological resources, according to the study.

The onshore operations are expected to have no impact, because there are no buildings or sites listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

Offshore, dredging is not likely to indirectly impact submerged resources because the Navy plans to implement best management practices to reduce sedimentation from dredging.

Some info requires security clearance

Some info requires security clearance

Thursday, 26 November 2009 04:13
by Zita Y. Taitano | Variety News Staff

THE draft environmental impact statement is not fully accessible to the community because some components and information in the study require “security clearance.”

The draft study is divided into nine volumes that have cross-references for some information.

In Volume 5 of the Army Air and Missile Defense Task Force, for example, details about the locations of the weapons emplacement sites are redirected to Appendix L of Volume 9.

The weapons emplacement site locations have at least three alternative sites, all of which are located on or very close to North West Field and cover hundreds of acres.

Appendix L, however, indicates that the details about the sites are classified and require security clearance.

This is of concern to Sen. Ben Pangelinan, acting Chairman for the Committee on Military Buildup, who said that it appears the deployment of the task force is the only part of the statement that requires security clearance.

“It really is frustrating when they’re asking us to comment when we don’t even know where they’re going to be put or how they’re going to be situated,” Pangelinan said.

“We need to have that kind of information to make any decision at all. They seem to be telling us what they believe we need to know but not what we should know,” he said.

RP contractors eye part of $15-B Guam project

RP contractors eye part of $15-B Guam project

By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT
November 25, 2009, 5:04pm

Filipino contractors are now vying to partake in the $15 billion U.S. military build-up in Guam, but are urged to undertake more training for workers to ensure there is enough manpower pool for the booming domestic construction industry.

This was revealed at a business forum Wednesday on “Opportunities in Guam for the Philippine Construction Industry” organized by the Philippine Constructors Association Inc. and the Bureau of Export Trade Promotion of the Department of Trade and Industry where Guam government officials have indicated the preference for Filipino skilled workers.

Guam Senator Judith P. Guthertz,, chairperson on Guam military build-up an homeland security, said Guam could hire 15,000 Filipino workers starting 2101 until 2014 when the build-up is supposed to be completed.

In expressing preference for Filipino workers, Guthertz traced the history of Guam and the Philippines revealing that Guam used to be a province of the Philippines during the Spanish colonization. At least 30 percent of Guam’s population is of Filipino ancestry and that Filipinos were in the forefront in the reconstruction of Guam after the World War II.

“We just don’t have enough manpower for massive military build-up,” Guthertz said.

She said the H2 Visa, which restricts the entry of foreign skilled workers, has been lifted by the U.S. government for Guam paving the way for the entry of foreign workers.

Guthertz, an alumna of the University of the Philippines, also doubted the projected 6,000 workers would really possible because these workers have settled already in Hawaii only to uproot their families to work in Guam.

The other sources of manpower for the Guam build-up would come from other neighboring islands in the Pacific but would not still suffice the huge requirement.

Guthertz said that for every $1 billion investments for infrastructure projects, this requires 5,000 workers.

The projected 15,000 jobs that would be created until 2014 do not yet include the projects to be funded by the Japanese government, which agreed to fund the relocation facilities for the U.S. navy that would be transferred from the U.S. naval base in Okinawa.

There would be over 8,600 US marines that would be relocated to Guam plus the US navy for an estimated 28 percent increase in Guam’s 173,000 population.

The military build-up would require new road networks, water and sewerage, power, housing, hospitals and other infrastructure. There will also be build-up off base.

Local Officials Urge PNC :: Island Residents to Read and Comment On The Draft EIS

Local Officials Urge PNC : Island Residents to Read and Comment On The Draft EIS

Wednesday, 25 November 2009

Guam - According to a release from Senator Judi Guthertz, a variety of local officials, ranging from the Governor to Senators and Island Mayors are appealing to residents to read and comment on the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the military buildup.

According to the release, local residents need "to crack the books and personally review the recently released draft environmental impact statement on the Guam military buildup."

The release also states that "those who will have to live with the results of the massive buildup should find out what’s in it and have a chance to influence its outcome."

Senator Guthertz also announced that a hard copy of the draft EIS is will be available for public reading in the conference room at the Legislative Building in Hagåtña inside the Senatorial offices of Senator Guthertz and Senator Rory Respicio.

The document, which runs many thousands of pages, is available at local libraries and mayor’s offices as well as at several websites

Written by : News Release

Military's plans include missile shield

Military's plans include missile shield

Posted: Nov 25, 2009 3:37 PM
Updated: Nov 25, 2009 6:43 PM
by Janjeera Hail

With the planned relocation of thousands of U.S. Marines to our island, Guam will no doubt become a bigger target for America's enemies. But according to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the military's planning on building us a massive missile shield.

So far, much of the attention surrounding the military buildup has focused on the impact of the Marines. But the buildup will also have an Army component, separate from the Reserve, in the form of the Army Air Missile Defense Task Force. According to the Draft EIS, Guam needs to develop a missile defense system to protect us from possible ballistic missile attacks from enemies of the United States.

The proposed action would be comprised of three missile systems:

* The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system is long-range, designed to intercept missiles during late mid-course or final stage flight, protecting population centers, industrial resources, and military forces.

* Patriot missiles use hit-to-kill technology to strike cruise missiles and air breathing threats right before impact. Hit-to-kill technology means patriots can destroy their targets by the sheer force of impact.

* The last type of missile the military plans to have here is the Surface-Launched Advanced Medium Range Air-To-Air Missile, a short-range weapon that can engage targets beyond line-of-sight and defend against unmanned missiles and cruise missiles.

That'll require 630 Army personnel and 126 civilian personnel presumed to be coming from off-island, plus an estimated 950 military dependants, bringing the grand total to 1,706. And that's not including the labor force needed to build everything: a battalion headquarters, company facilities, tactical equipment and maintenance facilities, central vehicle wash facilities, organizational storage, oil storage, parking, and of course additional housing.

While the defense system promises to provide invaluable protection to our island, it will no doubt come at a great cost to our resources.

Land grab

Land grab

Wednesday, 25 November 2009 01:51
by Therese Hart | Variety News Staff

Military planners could still use condemnation to take lands

GENERAL David Bice, executive director of the Joint Guam Program Office, has repeatedly assured the local community that the federal government would not condemn lands for use of the military buildup, but JGPO director Col John Jackson did not back up Bice’s statements during a recent radio interview.

Jackson gave evasive, vague and noncommittal responses when K-57’s Breakfast Show host Ray Gibson asked him if the military intends to condemn Guam lands.

Residents were also assured earlier that the military was not interested in acquiring land in the Sasayjan Valley in the Marbo area in Yigo, but the recently released draft environmental impact statement shows otherwise.

During a recent interview with Variety, Bice said the military would look into the acquisition of lands. “That's how we're going to approach this. It would be a normal acquisition process and that has yet to be determined as we go forward on that,” he told Variety.

Not at any price

Some local landowners said they would be interested in negotiating with the military for their portions of property in the Yigo area, but landowners of the adjacent properties within the footprint of the proposed firing ranges on the northeastern coast of the island are not willing to give up their lands at any price.

Landowner Glenn Nelson said that the draft environmental impact statement should have also taken into consideration other sites that are federally-owned to include off-island properties, and that non-federally owned lands should be the last option.

“I’m not so sure anymore if people actually grasp the concept of the potential negative impacts associated with this buildup other than the dollar signs attached to the various projects. I need help, the island needs help. This project is moving much too quick and impacts are far too great,” said Nelson.

Not theirs yet

Landowners in that area have said Benny Crawford, who leads the Tiyan landowners, are not the only landowners involved. Crawford seems poised to negotiate lands without the authority of other landowners whose lands lie within the footprint. Furthermore, Crawford and the Tiyan landowners don't even own those properties. They are still under the inventory of the Ancestral Lands Commission.

Military eyes more Guam air space

Military eyes more Guam air space

Wednesday, 25 November 2009 01:45
by Zita Y. Taitano | Variety News Staff

THE use of air space and radar operation sites on Guam needed for the proposed military buildup are detailed in the thick draft environmental impact statement still undergoing extensive scrutiny by residents and government officials.

Chapter 7 of volume five in the ten part document outlines the Army Air and Missile Defense Task Force as well as its role and needs. The probable consequences of airspace in relation to alternative sites where the task force will be situated indicates a preference for the northwest area of Guam.

The impact of controlled and uncontrolled airspace was analyzed to determine if the missile defense group would need what is referred to as “special use airspace” or whether temporary flight restrictions should be introduced for the area.

Another aspect explored was the presentation of “an obstruction to air navigation.” That obstruction, however, was not described in detail in the exhaustive report.

It should be noted that in the chapter, however it was clear special use airspace would first have to come into compliance with existing policies and procedures of the Federal Aviation Administration. This would include training and certification periods the FAA would process in order for the utilization of air space at the selected site.

It was further noted in the report that restricted areas would have no impact with the flight patterns or operations at the Guam International Airport or at Andersen Air Force Base.

A location on the northwest shore of Guam, near Ritidian point and Jinapsan Beach, where a number of local families still own property, is the location the impact statement designates as a “preferred site” for special use airspace that would include a high altitude missile system and radar array.

According to the report, this area would also have no impact on GIAA nor Andersen and provide operations that would continue to be subject to air traffic control clearances and instructions.

The impact report further states any hazardous air training activities would be communicated to commercial airlines and general aviation as per regulations published by the FAA.

Landfill project finally gets permit

Landfill project finally gets permit

Wednesday, 25 November 2009 01:44
by Therese Hart | Variety News Staff

FEDERAL receiver Gershman, Brickner & Bratton yesterday announced that the Guam Environmental Protection Agency has issued a permit for the Layon landfill project.

The permit, issued on Nov. 23, allows all activities related to the construction of the landfill to move forward in compliance with the consent decree.

In addition, GEPA issued the air pollution control permit at the same time.

The issuance of these permits is a major milestone in the 23-year-long process of closing the Ordot Dump and building an environmentally compliant waste disposal facility for the island's municipal solid waste.

“The design of the new landfill and the plans for operating it underwent a rigorous review by the Guam Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, passing all of the requirements to assure that Guam's environment is protected,” GBB representative David L. Manning.

“This is the last major step in the approval process for the Layon Landfill and clears the way for a final closure of the Ordot Dump and an end to the environmental damage it has inflicted on Guam for many years,” Manning added.

Construction contracts have been awarded to various local companies. Core Tech International was awarded the contract for the construction of the access road and utilities.

Black Construction Corporation gets the contract for the landfill entrance facilities and landfill systems for Cells 1 & 2.

Construction is anticipated to commence soon and take about 500 days. Preconstruction earthwork has already been underway since February 2009 under a contract awarded to Maeda Pacific Corporation and is nearing completion.

There are 611 days of airspace remaining at the Ordot Dump.

‘Off-base projects not likely to damage soils’

‘Off-base projects not likely to damage soils’

Wednesday, 25 November 2009 01:39
by Jude Lizama | Variety News Staff

OFF-base roadway improvement projects related to the military buildup have possible but less than significant effects on the alteration or disturbance of the island’s topography and soils, according to the draft environmental impact study.

If conducted, road construction activities would most likely consist of new road construction, intersection improvements, road widening, bridge replacements, road relocation and pavement strengthening.

A particular project that could potentially deal with the realignment of Route 15 for the purpose of creating adequate military firing ranges would result in the construction of new asphalt pavement for realignment, creation of an unpaved median to provide for future road widening, bicycle accommodations on the road shoulders, connection to existing roadways and access roads, pavement striping, signing, installation of property fences and guardrails and construction of a new bridge.

Related projects would require more significant effects on soil and topography include possible building removal, utility relocation and realignment into previously undisturbed soils to accommodate roadway design.

While potential impacts to soils and geological resources such as cut and fill operations may occur, the study also cited possible indirect impacts can result after project completion to include increased erosion, geologic hazards, or leaching of contaminants into soils.

While areas of high liquefaction potential and those near karst geological formations closest to sinkholes or caves have been identified by the study as regions that pose heightened vulnerability of geological resource disturbance, they were heavily identified and considered within the EIS.

Additionally, the study indicates that “the potential vulnerability to effects from seismic activity is consistent throughout the island because of the presence of known and inferred earthquake faults that transect Guam.”

Consequences of military building challenged

Consequences of military building challenged

Posted: Nov 24, 2009 5:07 PM
Updated: Nov 24, 2009 6:41 PM
by Heather Hauswirth

The Defense Department's plans to build a deep draft wharf that can support a transient nuclear powered aircraft carrier inside of Apra Harbor may be considered a critical component of the buildup, but the construction of such berthing won't come without some consequences on the island's ecosystem.

"Apra Harbor is unique in the Pacific as being both a commercial port as well as a military port and a recreational port and it has some very high coral cover, pretty diverse habitats and the concern our agency has is the dredging may impact some of the habitats in the harbor in a negative way," explained Brent Tibbatts, Department of Agriculture of biologist.

There's just no getting around it, as Tibbatts says his team is looking at the costs associated with building a pier for an aircraft carrier at Apra Harbor. Both the Ship Repair Facility and Polaris Point are slated as the most suitable options for the wharf. Dredging is noted as an essential method for loosening material from the seafloor to the water surface in order to accommodate the carrier

He said, "The dredging will physically damage them (the coral reef), it will be removing some coral. Also concerns are that sediments stirred up from the dredging can smother coral or smother sponges or smother other organisms and disturb the habitat for those organisms as well as other things that live in them - fish, other animals that live on the reef."

President of the Guam Fisherman's Co-Op Manny Duenas added his concerns over the impact of dredging, but adds his concerns also relate to plans not yet decided by the DoD on how to dispose of the dredge material. "The reef fish go to the ocean and they live off the ocean's nutrients and if you dump a million cubic yards a year, it's 330 daily events that will happen in a given year of having dredge material out there," said Duenas. "Like I said, a million cubic yards that is equivalent to about 50,000 dump trucks to accommodate this new carrier dredge area in Apra Harbor."

Randel Sablan, Assistant Environmental Director for JGPO in Guam, says DoD has looked at both the short- and long-term impacts of dredging. "Those areas where you are doing the dredging will have an affect on those," he said, "taking out those resources, but then there's turbidity and sedimentation concerns and those are indirect and may affect resources nearby."

But Sablan says that strict protocols are in place when it comes to dredging and its impact on sea life. The way dredging proceeds is typically it is going to disturb the environment aside from actually taking the coral, the fish and the turtles and other sea life that can swim in that area will typically move away from the construction zone so you don't really have to anything except watch out for them.

Two counts of federalization suit dismissed

Two counts of federalization suit dismissed

Wednesday, November 25, 2009
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter

The judge handling the lawsuit filed by the CNMI government to block the federal takeover of the local immigration system dismissed yesterday two of the three-count lawsuit, saying the CNMI failed to prove its case.

“After careful consideration of the parties' papers, their exhibits, the relevant case law, the statute and the Covenant, the court concludes that the [CNMI] has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted with respect to Counts I and II of its amended complaint, and that those claims therefore should be dismissed,” said U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Paul L. Friedman in a two-page order.

The judge did not provide any further explanation, saying he will issue an opinion explaining the reasoning underlying his order later this week.

As a result of the dismissal, Friedman said, the CNMI's motion to prevent the implementation of certain provisions of the federalization law, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act, is moot. The Act is also known as Public Law 110-229.

Friedman granted the U.S. government's motion to dismiss the complaint.

Friedman first heard oral arguments on March 12, 2009, on the U.S. government's motion to dismiss the complaint and the CNMI's first motion for a preliminary injunction.

The CNMI then filed an amended complaint, adding a claim that, according to the judge, is not relevant to the motions.

In the CNMI's amended complaint, it named as defendants the U.S.A., U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, DHS, U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, and U.S. Labor.

The CNMI, through the Jenner & Block law firm, asked the court to prevent these defendants from acting in violation of the Covenant and urged the court to issue a permanent ban against the implementation of federalization in the CNMI.

In Count 1, the CNMI claimed that federalization is in violation of sections 103 and 105 of the Covenant.

Section 103 of the Covenant authorizes the Commonwealth to exercise the right to local self-government and to govern itself with respect to its internal affairs in accordance with its Constitution. Section 105 of the Covenant forbids the U.S. from abrogating the Commonwealth's right to local self-government without its consent.

The CNMI argued that one aspect of the right to local self-government is the right to regulate internal labor and economic affairs and to secure the economic prosperity of local residents.

Jenner & Block said the some provisions of Public Law 110-229 abrogate the Commonwealth's right to local self-government by denying the Commonwealth the right to regulate its local workforce and economy.

The Commonwealth has not consented to this abrogation of its rights under the Covenant, the law firm said.

In Count 2, the CNMI alleged that federalization is in violation of Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution.

Under the fundamental structural principle of limited powers that animates the U.S. Constitution, Jenner & Block said, Congress could not enact a law that imposes such a “burdensome, discriminatory and onerous federal regulatory regime” upon a state where the law was passed in a defective political process.

The law firm said the CNRA exceeds Congress' Article 1 powers to enact legislation with respect to the Commonwealth.

The CNMI asked the court to stop the implementation of CNRA provisions that “impose a burdensome, discriminatory and onerous federal regulatory regime on the Commonwealth.”

Count 3 of the amended complaint refers to alleged violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. Jenner & Block argued that the defendants violated the APA by promulgating the regulations required by Public Law 110-229 without giving the CNMI and other stakeholders notice and an opportunity to comment.

This claim is still pending in court.

Jenner & Block said the defendants promulgated the DHS' Interim Permit Rule without notice and comment, in violation of the APA.

DHS, the law firm said, cannot establish “good cause” for its failure to comply with the notice and comment requirements of the APA.

DHS is set to implement federal immigration laws in the CNMI on Nov. 28, under the authority provided by the CNRA.

All set for federal takeover

All set for federal takeover

Wednesday, 25 November 2009 00:00 By Gemma Q. Casas - Reporter

THE U.S. Department of Homeland Security will take control of the islands’ immigration system as scheduled on Saturday following federal Judge Paul Friedman’s decision to dismiss Gov. Benigno R. Fitial’s lawsuit.

Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia placed the case under advisement last March 12, 2009.

The first complaint seeks a permanent injunction on labor-related provisions of the federalization law, or U.S. P.L. 110-229, on grounds that it infringes on the CNMI’s right to self-government under its Covenant with the United States. It was filed on Sept. 12, 2008.

In November of the same year, the governor, through the Jenner & Block law firm and his special legal counsel Howard P. Willens, amended the complaint and sought for a preliminary injunction citing constitutional violations as grounds.

The governor said federalization law is an economic disaster for the CNMI’s economy because it will reduce to zero the number of foreign workers on the islands by Dec. 31, 2014.

The U.S. Department of Justice asked the federal court to dismiss the case, saying the CNMI’s arguments are purely speculative and stressed that local immigration policy had opened up the islands to security risks, including from Russian Mafia and Chinese triads.

DOJ also noted that the Covenant allows the U.S. Congress to apply federal immigration law to the islands.

In his Nov. 23 two-page order dismissing the case, Friedman said the CNMI “failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted with respect to counts I and II of its amended complaint and that those claims therefore should be dismissed.”
The judge said the CNMI’s motion for a preliminary injunction is moot.

He said an opinion regarding the court’s reasoning for its order will follow.
The administration is paying Jenner & Block a retainer of $50,000 a month for its legal services, excluding out-of-pocket reimbursements.

Saipan Independent Rep. Tina Sablan, who forced the administration to release the billing records, said they had known that the lawsuit was unlikely to prevail.
“Even Howard Willens and Jenner & Block acknowledged months ago, before filing the lawsuit in the first place, that the CNMI was likely to lose. Judge Friedman’s dismissal should not come as a surprise to anyone, not even the administration,” she told the Variety in an e-mail.

The lawmaker hopes to get the remaining financial records further detailing how public funds were spent for the lawsuit.

The financial records she obtained were up to April of this year only.
“I hope that the financial records will be fully disclosed now that the lawsuit has been dismissed, and that the CNMI can finally move on toward mending relations with the federal government and adjusting to the fact that federal immigration law will apply here starting on Nov. 28,” she said.

“The CNMI has been fighting federalization for so long, and fighting so hard to maintain the status quo, that we have missed the opportunities to build a better, stronger, more self-reliant CNMI. Now is the time to open our eyes and wake up to the reality that times are changing. The old labor and immigration system is coming to an end. We have to adapt,” she added.

In a statement, Fitial said: “We had excellent representation from our lawyers in Washington, D.C. We respect Judge Friedman and appreciate the time and careful consideration he gave to this case. We look forward to examining his opinion before making any decisions about our future course of action on this matter.”

The judge, he added, is expected to separately rule this week on the CNMI’s third complaint, an emergency injunctive relief to stop the interim final regulations on transitional worker program on grounds that they failed to comply with the notice and comment provisions of the U.S. Administrative Procedures Act.

Fitial said Willens is “traveling to Washington this Sunday and will be consulting with our D.C. lawyers on Monday. After those discussions, I expect to receive a recommendation from counsel regarding both of Judge Friedman’s decisions.”
The ruling came almost a day after the governor won the runoff election.

Opinions vary on military buildup

Opinions vary on military buildup

By Amritha Alladi • Pacific Daily News • November 24, 2009

As details of the proposed military buildup emerge, Guam residents continue to be at odds about whether it will bring more benefits than harm to the island.

Some of the island's residents shared some of their concerns and expectations yesterday as the draft Environmental Impact Statement, released by the Defense Department on Friday, outlines how the military expansions might mean to the host community.

Some residents living near the proposed site for the Marine base and housing complex in Dededo said the plentiful job opportunities will boost the island's economy and thus, reduce crime; others said they fear traffic congestion and crime will increase.

According to Dededo Mayor Melissa Savares, only one person had visited her office to look at the document as of yesterday morning.

The draft EIS indicates that 33,000 new jobs will be created by 2014, and the island will generate $325 million in revenue that year alone.

However, Dededo resident Marina Camacho, 59, said the island's economy has managed to stay afloat until now and it isn't in need of a military buildup to save it from sinking.

"We can still survive," she said.

Her nephew, 48-year-old John Babauta, said he is worried that the increased military activity on Guam will make the island a potential target for foreign attacks.

Neither Camacho nor Babauta has seen the EIS or has plans to do so.

Babauta said he feels the EIS is just for show. If the Department of Defense really valued residents' comments, they would have taken residents' concerns into account about five years ago, he said. The EIS process does give Guam residents 90 days to comment before the buildup plans are finalized.

"They own Guam," Babauta said of the military. "It's already a done deal."

A major component of the buildup is the proposal to move more than 8,000 Marines and 9,000 of their dependents from Okinawa to Guam.

"The problems that Okinawa sees, the same thing will happen here," he added. Babauta said the local government should learn from the Japanese leadership's desire to remove the American military presence from Okinawa altogether.

The Agence France Presse reported last week that members of the Japanese coalition, including newly elected Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, are suggesting the possibility of moving the entire Futenma base off of Okinawa altogether. Guam and Iwo To -- the former Iwo Jima -- have been suggested by Japanese officials as possible locations to shift the remaining American troops.

"The base, unpopular because of aircraft noise and the risk of accidents, is due to be moved from an urban to a coastal area by 2014 -- but Hatoyama has said the base may have to be moved off Okinawa or even out of Japan," according to the AFP report. "Okinawans have long complained about the burden of hosting more than half of the 47,000 U.S. troops based in the country, and residents have been angered especially by crimes committed by American servicemen in the past."

Yet Simon Sanchez, chairman of the Consolidated Commission on Utilities, said the idea that more U.S. troops will be moved from Japan to Guam -- in addition to the current 8,000 Marines who are being relocated under the current plan -- is only speculative. During his discussions with Joint Guam Program Office officials, there has been no mention of such additional relocation, and the draft EIS further confirms only a partial relocation of Marines from Okinawa to Guam, he said.

But Marilyn Tablante, a staff employee at the Dededo Mayor's Office, said she wouldn't mind an increased military presence on the island.

She added that those residents who have not looked into the EIS yet should take the time to do so because it provides a clear picture of how Guam will change as a result of the buildup.

"Tell them to read all of this," she said pointing to the binders filled with the 8,000 pages of the EIS. "They might change their mind."

If more people are employed by jobs created by the buildup, crime would actually decrease on the island, she said.

"The crime rate will go down because they will have a job," she said.

Keekah Mendiola, an employee at the R.S. Taitano convenient store in Dededo, said she, too, felt the positive impact of the buildup will far outweigh its negative effects.

"Look at how many people are losing their jobs," she said. Those people who are currently using federal welfare assistance may not have to do so anymore, she said.

Additionally, 28-year-old Rolly Nicolas, also a Dededo resident, said the shift of more U.S. troops to Guam would actually give the island more protection.

New wharf project

New wharf project

Tuesday, 24 November 2009 02:48
by Jennifer Naylor Gesick and Jude Lizama |
Variety News Staff

Polaris Point identified as site for aircraft carriers

THE Navy has determined that Polaris Point is an ideal location for building a port capable of hosting visiting aircraft carriers. It is preferred over utilization of the former ship repair facility at Apra Harbor, according to the draft environmental impact statement.

Increased carrier operations in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans mean aircraft carriers could visit Guam 63 days a year. With carrier crew capacity of nearly 6,000 men and women, port of call visits pump millions of dollars into the local economy as crew members can spend upwards of $200 to $300 a day on rental cars, hotel rooms, at restaurants and local shops.

Kilo Wharf has been used in the past, but as the military realignment progresses, but visits by carriers longer than a week would disrupt existing munitions operations at that wharf necessitating a more suitable location for the nuclear-powered floating airfields which need almost 50 feet of depth to safely come into port.

Ship ahoy

Other requirements planners are looking out for include shoreside infrastructure improvements at a new wharf to include utilities such as power, wastewater management, and potable water supply to minimize and eliminate dependency on shipboard systems while in port.

The draft impact statement further detailed the potential need for such facilities as laundry, recreation, transportation support for shuttle services and food and beverage concessions.

Polaris Point is expected to see a considerable increase in daily activities when aircraft carriers are in port with people transiting the wharf area, more truck traffic from the Navy base and vendors servicing visiting ships.

Cargo movement, the Navy anticipates, will likely require mobile cranes and other materials-handling equipment such as forklifts.

This aspect has raised some eyebrows among local leaders with Sen. Ben Pangelinan already having questioned the implications of the Navy diverting cargo to their facilities and avoiding the Port of Guam.

Digging in

About 1.1 million cubic yards of dredged material will be excavated from the Inner and Outer Apra Harbor for the proposed Navy and Marine Corps actions.

To reach the depth requirement dredging of the area will have to be done, and there are two methods, mechanical and hydraulic. The impact statement details mechanical dredging, which has historically been used in Apra Harbor, as the most likely way to prepare for a deeper water line at Polaris.

Mechanical dredging uses a bucket and hydraulic uses pipes and pumps to excavate the material. However, the methodology is controversial among some locals and with some environmentalist as well.

The draft study recognizes that mechanical dredging has the greater combined potential for environmental impacts, directly and indirectly, due to sediment redistribution which could destroy the areas valuable coral reefs.

The report additionally cited a need to develop temporary solid and hazardous waste storage areas at a proposed new wharf as well as a building to house on-site port operations for storage and other administrative purposes when a carrier is not in port.

Ecological crisis

Increased land needs are expected to have a critical impact on the environment as soil compaction and erosion, runoff, soil and subsurface contamination are cautioned against in the report. The U.S. government currently holds nearly one-third of all Guam lands under its aegis.

Buildup activities could further contribute to an ecological crisis on Guam if proper planning does not account for cut-and-fill activities, removal of vegetation and landscaping and the proper use of heavy equipment on projects, according to the study.

The long-term implications of what has been described as the largest military realignment in U.S. history is based upon information included in the report which purportedly studied environmental consequences of ground combat training, air combat and logistics combat training and support as well as the affect of encampment areas, training airfield and waterfront functions.

Vehicle and troop movements, munitions impacts, and explosive detonations were also considered in the report.

While there are proposed alternatives for the main encampment areas, training-firing range, training-ammunition storage, and training-Naval Munitions Site access road initiatives, there are no airfield or waterfront initiative alternatives.

Hazardous waste

Geological and soils impacts were conducted, in part, by reviewing documentation like previously published National Environmental Policy Act documents for actions in the Mariana Islands Range Complex and surrounding areas.

It is estimated that the proposed transfer of Marines to the island will result in an annual hazardous materials disposal volume of approximately 16,000 lbs.

The projected increase in hazardous waste may create adverse impacts to the environment and human health; however, the study states that best management practices and standard operating procedures will be utilized to ensure that no significant impacts occur.

The study also cited that such increases in the use and transfer of hazardous materials may require local Defense Reuse and Marketing Offices to expand “hazardous materials handling, storage, and disposal capacity.”

Projects cited as having potential impacts on local soil and geology resources include the construction and operation activities at the Andersen Air Force Base , main cantonment construction and operation activities, waterfront and Naval Base improvements at Apra Harbor, range operations at Navy Barrigada and NMS, and training activities at Andersen South and Route 15 Parcel.

Implied Complicity

Implied complicity .
Sunday, 22 November 2009 23:48 Editorial
The Marianas Variety

“WE CANNOT continue to cover up for their mistakes and cover for them on all the short falls. We’ve suffered for far too long,” Gov. Felix Camacho said about the ongoing financial crisis at the Guam Department of Education.

The USDOE refused to allow local public education officials to use existing federal grant monies to cover an anticipated shortfall in several program areas.

Implicit in Camacho’s statement is the notion that somehow the governor was able, in the past, to find a way to obfuscate and “cover” the financial incompetence at the largest government agency – so long as it served his purposes.

For years federal officials expressed concerns over interloping local elected leaders in the management of GDOE with the matter finally coming to a head with the fruition of an elected education policy board, which was created by Public Law 26-26.

When he was senator, Camacho was among those who signed the bill that created the independent education board, and removed the governor’s control over the education department.

However, not long after coming into office at Adelup he changed his tune and has repeatedly lamented his impotence to do anything because of the historic federal concerns and policy changes since that time.

Although the two-term governor has been unable to come up with an innovative effort to find solutions for public education – a key platform on which he established his successful run for Adelup twice already – he seems to have little problem with finding a way to block solutions proffered by others.

Assistant Secretary of Interior Tony Babauta and Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo proposed that the Compact Impact fund be tapped to avert a massive layoff that could have far-reaching economic implications.

But Camacho refused to allow the use of Compact-Impact monies, saying it would shortchange vital services in other areas depending on those monies.

This was the same governor who earlier tapped into the same limited critical resource to pay for the construction of a recreational sports center in Dededo.

Compared to education, it seems the joyriding governor has lost his way on the roadmap to success for our students and schools.

It is time for this governor to step aside if all he can do is plan obstacles to progress with little offer of solutions like competent bridge financing for the hard-pressed education agency.

GDOE superintendent Dr. Nerissa Underwood inherited a lifetime of difficulties and needs synergy and support – not silly political grandstanding and empty chatter to help right the course of public education on Guam.

It is time for local officials to step to the head of the class with positive ideas or move to the back before their legacy is topped with a dunce’s cap.

Judge Sustains Makua Complaint

Judge sustains Makua complaint
The ruling reveals doubt about whether Army environmental surveys were sufficient
By Gregg K. Kakesako
Honolulu Star Bulletin
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 20, 2009

A federal judge has sided with Hawaiian activists who want the Army to stop training in Makua Military Reservation, putting the military on notice that it will have to show that maneuvers in the Leeward valley would not contaminate ocean resources or damage cultural sites.

U.S. District Chief Judge Susan Oki Mollway’s actions keep alive a request by the organization Malama Makua to have the court set aside the Army’s environmental impact statement until it completes more marine contamination studies and archaeological surveys.

The Army completed the EIS in June, and in August filed a motion seeking to dismiss Malama Makua’s complaint.

In denying the Army’s motion Wednesday, Mollway wrote that the Army does not have the sole right to determine what qualifies as a survey.

“Taken to its logical conclusion, the Army’s argument would allow the Army to satisfy its burden by poking a stick into the ground and calling that action a ’survey,’” the judge wrote.

Earthjustice attorney David Henkin, who has represented Malama Makua since 2000, said that he hopes that Mollway will act early next year to permanently bar further training in Makua before the Army resumes any operations using live ammunition.

The Army, which conducted both a survey of cultural sites and several scientific studies on possible water and soil contamination, has said it had met all terms of their October 2001 settlement agreement with Malama Makua.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Army was required to conduct studies to determine the potential for training activities to contaminate fish, shellfish, limu and other marine resources off Makua beach. The Army was also required to prepare subsurface archaeological surveys to identify cultural sites that could be damaged or destroyed by training.

“At the hearing on this motion, the Army argued that it was entitled to summary judgment because the settlement agreement only required it to do a study, which it did,” Mollway wrote. “The Army contended that what kind of study it did was in its sole discretion. At the hearing, the Army went so far as to argue that it could have satisfied the ’study’ requirement by simply having a luau, serving food from the area and seeing whether anyone got sick.”

Malama Makua President Sparky Rodrigues said: “For years we’ve been insisting that the Army tell the community the truth about the threats that training at Makua poses to irreplaceable subsistence and cultural resources. Now the court has told the Army that it can’t get away with junk science.”

Said Earthjustice attorney Henkin: “To make a rational decision about whether to allow training at Makua, it’s vital that decision-makers and the public have accurate information about the harm to public health and cultural sites that resuming training at Makua could cause. This ruling puts the Army on notice that the court will not allow the Army to pass off woefully inadequate studies as meaningful.”

Dennis Drake, an Army spokesman, yesterday said it is Army policy not to comment on ongoing litigation: “We will abide with the dictates of the court.”

In August Col. Matthew Margotta, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, said the Army hoped to resume live-fire training before the end of summer since it believed that the environmental statement completed in June fulfilled its legal obligations. However, no training with live-fire ammunition has taken place.

The Army has said that it needs to rebuild several dirt roads and firing ranges in the training area damaged by heavy rain last year. The Army stopped live-fire training in the 4,190-acre valley in 2004, pending completion of the EIS.

DEIS: Over 11,800 housing units needed

DEIS: Over 11,800 housing units needed

Tuesday, 24 November 2009 02:43 by Therese Hart | Variety News Staff

THE civilian housing demand during the military buildup will be generated not by Marines and their dependents since they will be living on-base, but rather by civilian military workers and off-island workers who are seeking employment because of the buildup and there are major challenges that should be taken into account, according to the draft environmental impact statement.

Temporary workforce housing was not included because it is assumed that all H-2B worker housing would be provided by construction contractors and would not generate demand in the private market.

Housing needs

Another factor taken into consideration is the possibility of a typhoon disaster. If a typhoon were to hit Guam, currently available housing units may be destroyed, creating higher demand for new housing units. Higher demand would stem from a lower number of currently available housing units and a possible spike due to the presence of temporary relief workers.

According to the environmental report, the combined total impact of the military buildup would be a demand for 11,893 new units in the peak year of 2014, falling to 3,205 by 2020.

Comparing total housing demand on Guam with and without the proposed action, at the 2014 peak, housing demand with the proposed action is 17 percent higher than it otherwise would have been, without the project. At 2020, the difference declines to 4 percent.

According to the report, the likely available housing was estimated at 2,787 units at the start of the project construction in 2010.

During the construction period of the buildup, since such a large amount of materials will be used for military base construction, building materials for other projects such as civilian housing will be in short supply.

Cement shortage

Shortages of cement obtained from Japan, Korea and Taiwan were already evident in 2008. A new four-to-six silo cement storage facility at the Port Authority of Guam is expected to be completed by mid-2010, but whether this facility alone would be sufficient to consistently meet any rapid spikes in demand from the Maine Corps relocation, particularly its indirect effects, is questionable.

Labor supply is also expected to be an issue, stated the report. The requirement for construction workers to build civilian housing is an increment above and beyond labor demands.

An overriding issue regarding housing supply to demand is the willingness of the housing construction industry, or even individual owners, to invest for very short-run profit windows of opportunity.

The spike in housing demand is expected to last only from 2010 to 2014. Should housing supply construction accommodate the short-term housing demand fully, substantial vacancies rates can be expected after 2015 and a significant housing glut is possible.

This short window of high demand means those building rental housing might expect only up to four years to gain adequate returns on their investment, with long-term prospects being highly speculative.

The third factor that could impede a full response by the housing construction sector is the capability of Guam permitting agencies to review and issue housing construction permits sufficiently quickly to meet demand. The report mentioned that the Department of Public Works and the Department of Land Management are understaffed.

More than ‘a few good men’ coming

More than ‘a few good men’ coming

Tuesday, 24 November 2009 02:46 by Zita Y. Taitano | Variety News Staff

THE Marines aren’t the only ones coming to Guam. The draft environmental impact statement indicated that army soldiers and their dependents will also be relocated to Guam.

Approximately 630 Army soldiers and 950 of their dependents are expected to arrive by 2015, along with an additional 126 civilian personnel.

The army personnel are part of the planned Army Air and Missile Defense Task Force, which is anticipated to occupy about 28 acres of military land. This will entail an investment of about $242 million set aside by the U.S. Army for funding in fiscal years 2014 and 2015 with which to build the required facilities for the task force.

The task force will oversee the operations of three defense missile components comprised of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD system, a long-range, land-based air defense designed to intercept ballistic missiles in late mid-course or the final stage of flight.

The more recognizable patriot missile system targets cruise missiles and any other types of threats that could threaten the THAAD or other civilian and military assets on Guam.

The task force will assume responsibility for Surface-Launched Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, which targets air threats, whether unmanned aerial vehicles or cruise missiles.

Unlike its counterparts in the Marine Corps and the Navy, the Army missile task force is basically a ground force unit and will occupy three different locations on island, comprised of housing and headquarters; a munitions storage site for missiles and weapons emplacement sites.

Although there are three alternative sites for the housing and headquarters of the taskforce, such as the Navy and the Air Force Barrigada areas, both near the Nimitz Golf Course, the preferred location is south of NCTAMS or South Finegayan in Dededo, an area where several companies have expressed interest in locating worker housing.

As for the weapons emplacement site locations, it appears the alternative sites are located on or next to Northwest Field and covers vast acres of federal property. Alternative options include two areas spanning 368 acres and another swath of land that spreads across 333 acres.

Other options with less acreage are still on the table for consideration for siting missile installations. Because the details of the weapons emplacement are classified, a security clearance is required by parties interested in learning more about this particular part of the draft impact statement.

NMI: Chamorros, Carolinians are Native Americans, too

NMI: Chamorros, Carolinians are Native Americans, too

Tuesday, 24 November 2009 00:00 By Raquel Bagnol - Reporter

THE commonwealth government wants federal officials to include Chamorros and Carolinians in the Native American Programs Act of 1974.

CNMI American Recovery and Reinvestment Act program coordinator Geri Willis said the inclusion of the Chamorros and Carolinians will allow the commonwealth to tap more federal grants and programs.

“There are lots of opportunities and grants available there but it’s not explicit in regards to Chamorros and Carolinians,” Willis said.

She said the law defines “Native American Pacific Islander” to be an individual who is indigenous to a United States territory or possession located in the Pacific Ocean, and includes such individuals while residing in the United States.
Willis said the Administration for Native Americans, a federal agency serving all 562 groups of Native Americans, recognize the CNMI.

But “according to the 1974 NAPA, the commonwealth does qualify under the definition and this is a federal law,” she said.

This is why it needs to be amended, she added.

She said a lot of citizens in the CNMI will not check a box in grant applications if they are asked whether they are Native Americans.

“This will create a huge impact to the CNMI,” Willis said, referring to the local people’s inclusion in the legal definition of a “Native American Pacific Islander.”
“This means that citizens can get scholarships if they go to the states for college because they are listed by definition under [the law],” Willis said.

She has met with some individuals in Washington, D.C. recently who have started researching about the issue.

Criticism voiced for Draft EIS

Criticism voiced for Draft EIS

Posted: Nov 23, 2009 5:16 PM
by Nick Delgado

It was undoubtedly on many people's to-do lists this weekend - digesting the massive Draft Environmental Impact Statement that was released on Friday. There's already some negative feedback on the 11,000-page document that sets the plans for the impending military buildup.

"It's so daunting, you would literally have to read more than 100 pages per day in order to really read the entire document by the end of the comment period," said University of Guam instructor Victoria Leon Guerrero is among the dozens who have begun dissecting the Draft EIS that the military made public late last week. While she calls it a daunting task to review, Leon Guerrero encourages more residents to take a look at it.

Senator Ben Pangelinan also spent his weekend scanning through the voluminous document. Pangelinan says the EIS is supposed to set the guidelines for Guam to benefit from the relocation of Marines from Okinawa to the island, but from what he has seen so far, Pangelinan is not pleased. "The military wants to make Guam compatible to their needs, and we have got to make sure that our perspective is that the military has got to be compatible with Guam's needs," he said.

A major concern for both Pangelinan and Leon Guerrero is certain land issues where the military has changed their plans to have firing ranges in NCTMS, and instead placing them in the Pagat area located on the back road to Andersen Air Force Base - most of which Leon Guerrero says is ancestral land.

She continued, "We're going to lose more land and not for the purposes of sustaining future generation of Chamorros but for the purposes of military live fire training, in jungles that when we enter we ask permission. And do you think that the Marines are going to be asking permission when they're doing their live fire training on ancient burial grounds in Pagat? That is shocking, we need to say something about that; we cannot let more lands be taken."

The Draft EIS also points out mitigation efforts to minimize the local community perception of local and military communities being separate.

However, Pangelinan feels the military is already headed in the wrong direction when it did not inform the island about the additional marines and personnel. "On the day that the DEIS is released they say, 'Oh, by the way, this is under discussion now'. I don't believe it, I believe those discussions were ongoing and they were just holding back on those issues until they we can't do anything about it," he told KUAM News.

Leon Guerrero added, "If you don't want 80,000+ people in your island, then we need to say something, we need to do something because that will drastically affect us."

Military plans aircraft carrier in Apra Harbor

Military plans aircraft carrier in Apra Harbor

Posted: Nov 23, 2009 4:50 PM
by Heather Hauswirth

Construction of a deep draft wharf that would support a transient nuclear powered aircraft carrier in Apra Harbor, Guam requires over 5,600 military personnel alone to maintain daily operations - the carrier is the largest ship in the Navy's fleet.

The Draft Environmental Protection Statement describes why the Department of Defense wanted to construct an aircraft carrier on the island. Some of the reasons include that Naval Base Guam already possesses emergent nuclear repair, radiation response and radioactive waste management capabilities.

* The aircraft carrier is recognized as a floating sovereign U.S. territory
* The island's location in the Western Pacific is deemed vital for U.S. national security interests given threats from neighboring China, North Korea, and the Philippines

Aircraft carriers are deployed all over the world and used to support aircraft attacks during combat, provide deterrence during peacetime, and engage in independent operations of war during times of crisis. The projected annual carrier visits to Guam in the DEIS are estimated to be 63 days per year based on operational and geopolitical factors.

The Department of Defense identified Apra Harbor, an active commercial and military port, and Polaris Point, as the most suitable location for the aircraft carrier. The DEIS dismissed several nearby alternatives like Dry Dock Island, and the Commercial Port, shooting them down for unavoidable dredging in the Sasa Bay Preserve and the force protection costs associated with those locations seen as more vulnerable to attack from ships that might come in from the Phillipine Sea.

Other factors taken into consideration had to do with the cost of structural design requirements needed to shield wind and wave impacts and ecological concerns related to ensuring minimal damage occur from dredging, according to the DoD.

For instance, all aircraft carriers require 6-feet be beneath the keel to ensure a cooling system is not clogged or damaged by mud from the debris of the sea floor. Whether built in Apra Harbor or Polaris Point, the environmental impact on the coral reefs and habitat that will be disrupted is being considered.

The Department of Agriculture has taken the lead warning that the agency is looking closely at the DoD's analysis to ensure construction with minimal irreversible damage is done to the reef and existing habitat.

Ramos Calls On Guam, CNMI To Join 'ANEAN': An Association Of North East Asian Nations

Ramos Calls On Guam, CNMI To Join 'ANEAN': An Association Of North East Asian Nations

Former Philippine President's Vision For This Rising Regional Power Bloc Unlocks Tremendous Opporunities For Self Discovery On Guam

Written by Jeff Marchesseault, Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Monday, 23 November 2009 08:32

GUAM - Imagine Guam and the Northern Marianas as American players in a regional alliance that includes the Philippines, Okinawa, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Hainan, and the mainland China provinces of Guangdong and Fujian.

The object of the vision: optimizing trade and transnational governance. Former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos spelled it out in a Sunday opinion published by the Manila Bulletin.

Ramos argues that, "There are synergistic, advantageous combinations in the emerging Central East Asia Growth Polygon (CEAGPOL)...CEAGPOL could be the forerunner -- and building block -- of Northeast Asia's version of ASEAN or 'ANEAN,' meaning the 'Association of Northeast Asian Nations.' Economic heavyweight North East Asia is the world's last remaining regional bloc still without an inter-governmental organization of the likes of ASEAN and the EU."

(*ASEAN = Association of Southeast Asian Nations. *EU = European Union)

Guam: America's 'Linchpin To Dominance'

Ramos also tells how and why Guam is such an important American force in Asia's Northeast. His rhetoric hints that it is the United States' undivided sense of purpose and its use of interdependent relationships advancing mutual interests that makes America and Guam such a force to be reckoned with in Northeast Asia. Not only is Guam a Territory of the U.S. from which defensive power is projected and with which foreign nations actively do business, but the U.S. Departments of Defense and State have grown increasingly adept at building regional alliances that tie desired outcomes to cooperation. Here's an example. If there's a disaster in the Far East, armed forces based on Guam are quick to respond and help while respecting local chains of command.

Overall, the purpose of America's friendships and alliances in Pacific Asia is to provide security for U.S. interests -- be it trade, investment, travel, intelligence, idea sharing, or defense. And the beautiful thing is that our allies share our interests. So they have a reason to assign substantial human, capital and industrial resources towards sustaining a relationship with a nation that President Obama calls the "guardian of freedom."

Here's how Ramos sees Guam fitting into his visionary Northeast Asian alliance:
Guam: Geopolitical scenario a century later. Our close neighbor Guam is a strategic outpost developed by American leaders and strategists since the 1890s. Guam's overall value to American deployments towards Asia and Middle East has tremendously increased. Not only has the island become a strategic US Pacific base. Washington is now making Guam the linchpin of its overall design to insure dominance in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean.

Guam is extremely critical to American quick response to any sizable natural disaster, civilian emergency or military crisis, given that the US continues to be the "guardian of freedom" (according to President Barack Obama).

Firm leadership to plug holes of a leaky Philippines. If Guam is America's "unsinkable aircraft carrier," why do many observers see the Philippines – with all our land-sea-air resources and human assets – as a fragile ship about to go under? It's because ours is a leaky vessel, with no clear direction due to divided leadership.

The vision of a better future from which nations and peoples can benefit equitably – regardless of political ideology, religious faith, cultural background, socio-economic condition, and ethnic origin – is the unceasing, ultimate aspiration of all.

This universal hope should provide strategic guidance to the decisions/policies of today's leaders and their successors.

We must organize a caring and sharing international community – for it to become a family of truly principled nations daring enough to take concerted action against threats to humankind's survival. Today's complex world must be managed through efficient transnational governance.

An Opportunity For Participation

Former President Ramos' vision of an Association of Northeast Asian Nations is a remarkable, outside-the-box solution to the problems that inevitably surface every day in the realms of trade and transnational governance -- and would deal with those problems in the context in which they fester, instead of within the traditional formal strictures of sovereign-to-sovereign diplomacy.

Ostensibly, ANEAN would pair representative parts of giant nations on the one hand with smaller nations on the other to explore and dialogue about issues that directly affect all ANEAN members, then recommend and forge regional policies that solve problems on the Northeast Asia level, right where the action is.

Any questions about the ministerial authority of representative provinces or territories of bigger nations could be settled domestically and these provinces and territories could even opt to participate in ANEAN at the working group or observer level if necessary.

Perhaps the more important takeaway from Mr. Ramos' vision is that he (1) opens a portal to thinking creatively and productively about the future of the region and (2) that he helps us all to remember and realize that destinations across Northeast Asia don't exist all by their lonesomes in tight little silos -- nor do their problems always mirror the problems at the epicenter of world power. Nevertheless, the existence of one Northeast Asian destination affects the existence of the others. It is up to each nation, government and municipality within this region to decide whether it will maximize opportunities for mutual enrichment on every level.

Guam Buildup Impact Statement: The Devil's In The Details

Guam Buildup Impact Statement: The Devil's In The Details

Written by Jeff Marchesseault, Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Monday, 23 November 2009 15:24

GUAM - The recently released Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) that spells out U.S. DOD's plans for the buildup of military assets on island and the impact those plans will have on the environment has many on our island speculating as to the value and sacrifices that come with this process.

While much remains speculation, one thing is certain: this buildup is enormous and will bring with it tremendous benefits as well as serious challenges.

Among the first orders of speculation comes a recently published article in the Pacific Daily News. In a Monday article titled "EIS: 33,000 new jobs by 2014," the PDN asserts that "Guam's population is expected to soar -- with 79,178 additional people in 2014. That is approximately half of the current population." While on the surface, statements such as this are accurate, they are not complete. True, Guam's population will reach a peak of 79,178 in 2014. Yet just five years later, according to the Draft EIS, it will shrink by 45, 570.

This drastic spike and subsequent drop in population speaks to one of the major challenges before Guam's leaders. While the island must prepare for the maximum demands that will be placed on our infrastructure, ports, hospital, housing and just about every other aspect of life on Guam, once the surge ends, who will be left with the severe overcapacity? The people of Guam.

Who will pay for too many hospital beds, and more power and water services than we need? Who suffers when the large number of housing vacancies drops the value of housing on island? Who will pay for the excessive expansions required to meet the military's port and roadway demands to accommodate the aggressive construction phase? The people of Guam.

And so far, the federal government has been unresponsive to the request of local officials for some help. In fact, even the General Accountability Office of the U.S. Congress has criticized the slow release of timely and relevant planning information by the military to the local government.

Recently, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment Roger Natsuhara relayed the commitment of the federal government to take a "one Guam concept" approach to the buildup. Yet, to date, very little has been shown of that commitment. Piecemeal funding for an extremely aggressive and highly demanding buildup, 90 days to review, assess and provide comments on an 8,000-page study that is end-to-end filled with critical and mainly newly released information, and little in the way of recommendations on how to alleviate the overcapacity issue on behalf of the people of Guam... all of these fly in the face of the "one Guam concept" commitment. Just a cursory review of the Draft EIS leaves one with the impression that a whole lot has been focused on the mission, and very little on the impact it will have on the local community.

As the 90-day review period progresses, there will be much more speculation and statements of promise as well as skepticism. The most responsible approach to this process is to read the Draft EIS for yourself and understand how you and your family can benefit from the planned buildup, but also appreciate the way the sheer magnitude of this program will change the way of life on island forever. And participate in the comment process, because the future of our island depends upon our engagement today.

Simple promises of new jobs and a better quality of life must be tested against the actual buildup requirements and intentions. And that is the responsibility of each and every one of us who call Guam home.

Guam Governor's Mis"STATE"ment Brings Economic Opportunity To Our Island

Guam Governor's Mis"STATE"ment Brings Economic Opportunity To Our Island

Taiwan Business Executives Bring 'Construction Mission' To Tumon

Written by Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Monday, 23 November 2009 15:49

GUAM - Thirty-five senior business executives from Taiwan are on Guam today to explore ways to invest their money in our island. According to the Guam Economic Development Authority, this "Construction Mission" is the direct result of the Governor's May visit to Taiwan. While the local media and politicians were highly critical of the Governor's Office's claim that it was a state visit, it is obvious that Adelup's mis"STATE"ment has brought potential new money into our island. No matter what you call it...progress is progress. Kudos to Governor Camacho.

Today scores of eager Taiwan entrepreneurs and their local counterparts converged at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa's main ballroom to talk shop and show their wares. The Taiwan execs sported placards, laptops, samples and stacks of binders as they gave their 60-second elevator pitches to those already vested in Guam.

It was an exciting display of productive community-to-community interaction and a sheer sign the Governor meant business on his last official trip to Taiwan.

The 2009 Taiwan Construction Mission to Guam got underway on Saturday and ends Wednesday.

DEIS Raises Concerns over Land and Population

DEIS Raises Concerns over Land and Population

Guam - Over the weekend the Department of Defense released it's highly anticipated Draft Environmental Impact Statement or DEIS.

The DEIS is a document thousands of pages long that contains the most detail ever released on the DOD's plans for the Guam Military Buildup. Although no one has had the time to thoroughly review the entire document some have already found some plans that bring up serious concerns.



Senator Ben Pangelinan has already found several things that concern him on the draft EIS. First in his list is the increase in the number of marines that will be moved to Guam. For years DOD has said 8,000 marines and 9,000 dependents would move to Guam from Okinawa. According to the DEIS 11 to 12 hundred more marines could be coming.



Overall the DEIS says that the population of Guam at its peak during the buildup will increase by 75 thousand people. In addition to the increase in people the DEIS also shows that the military plans to obtain more land. DOD is currently looking at utilizing an additional 2200 acres of property that is not currently owned by the military. Much of this land lies along the back road to Andersen. In fact one of

The plans calls for the use of the Pagat area as a firing range. DOD originally planned on using property near NCTAMS or South Finegayan for this firing range however that proved undesirable as the firing range would be near local fishing spots. Thus they have offered an alternative plan. The major problem with the alternative of using Pagat is two things first it's owned by the Chammorro Land Trust and second some of the property contains an important archeological site. Senator Pangelinan says he has hiked through the area in the past and has actually seen the archaeological site which even contains remains of ancient pillars used by the Chamorros known as latte stones.



The site in Pagat is even registered at the Department of Historic Preservation as an archaeological site.



The DEIS is a huge document with volumes of information regarding various plans the military has been considering but up until now has not been willing to make public. Senator Pangelinan says in the past he has asked the military to give some type of milestone releases of what they're working on but those requests were never granted. In fact Senator Pangelinan says he believes withholding all this information until the release of the D.E.I.S. is a “calculated move” on the part of DOD in order to conduct the military buildup “the way they want to do it”.

Written by :
Clynt Ridgell

DEIS Timeline

Draft EIS Reaction November 23

Guam News Factor November 23

Okinawa base strains diplomacy

Okinawa base strains diplomacy

Posted on: Sunday, November 22, 2009

By Richard Halloran

A churning dispute between Japan and the U.S. over the realignment of U.S. military forces in Japan has revealed not only political and diplomatic differences between the governments of President Obama and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, but a cultural chasm in the way Americans and Japanese view agreements.

The realignment, agreed to in May 2007, calls on the U.S. to move a Marine air station on Okinawa from a congested city to a less crowded place; to transfer 17,000 Marines and family members from Okinawa to U.S. territory on Guam; and to consolidate other U.S. bases on the island and thus return land to Okinawans. The intent was to reduce friction between U.S. forces and Okinawans.

The agreement was signed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, then-secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, Fumio Kyuma, who was minister of defense at the time, and Taro Aso, who was minister of foreign affairs. In diplomatic practice, international pacts agreed to by one administration are generally considered to be binding on successor administrations.
Hatoyama's move

In this case, the Hatoyama government, which came to office in September, has said in effect that it wants to reopen the negotiations. After meeting with Obama in Tokyo earlier this month, Hatoyama said he will consider relocating the air station outside of Okinawa and perhaps outside of Japan. "We'll make every effort," he said, "to resolve the issue as quickly as possible."

In contrast, Obama said a working group "will focus on implementation of the agreement that our two governments reached." He added: "We hope to complete this work expeditiously." Earlier this fall, Gates was blunt during a visit to Tokyo, saying that if one element of the realignment is to be renegotiated, the rest of the agreement would be nullified.

The composition of the working group underscores the disparity in approach by Hatoyama and Obama. Representing Japan are two cabinet officers, Minister of Defense Toshimi Kitazawa and Minister of Foreign Affairs Katsuya Okada. On the U.S. side are two sub-cabinet officials, the ambassador to Japan, John Roos, and an assistant secretary of defense for Asia, Wallace "Chip" Gregson.

Compounding the task of the working group is the Hatoyama government's inexperience and disarray, with the prime minister, the defense minister and the foreign minister each taking a different public position on what a renegotiated agreement should look like. Hatoyama wants the air station out of Japan, Okada wants it consolidated with another U.S. base on Okinawa, and Kitazawa wants the agreement left alone.

Cultural chasm

Diplomatic differences bear indirectly on this issue. Hatoyama has said Japan should depend less on the U.S. and seek stronger ties to its East Asian neighbors. Obama said he visited Japan on his recent Asian trip to seek "an enduring and revitalized alliance between the United States and Japan."

The cultural chasm is a consequence of conflicting views on what constitutes an agreement. In the U.S., negotiators tend to seek firm concurrence on as many possibilities and contingencies they can think of. Americans negotiate toward detailed pacts that leave little room for interpretation. As the saying goes, Americans want all the t's crossed and the i's dotted.

In contrast, Japanese believe that negotiators cannot anticipate every eventuality and therefore seek flexibility in contracts. In most cases, it is permissible in Japan for one party to an agreement to ask subsequently that it be modified because the conditions under which it was made no longer obtain.

In this case, the Hatoyama government has essentially argued that the conditions under which the base agreement was made no longer obtain and therefore the agreement should be reconsidered. The Obama government clearly disagrees.

It looks like the Japanese and Americans need a bridge to get across this chasm.

Richard Halloran, formerly a New York Times correspondent in Asia and Washington, is a writer in Honolulu.

Trim East Asia presence, US urged

Trim East Asia presence, US urged

Monday, 23 November 2009
BY LLANESCA T. PANTI REPORTER

TOKYO: The United States should consider reducing its military presence in the East Asian region, an official said here over the weekend. According to Kazuo Kodama, spokesman for Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United States would still be capable of ensuring security in the region even if it realigned its forces because it possesses strategic weapons.

His advice came at a time when Japan was reviewing an agreement with the US on Washington’s bases stationed in Okinawa and pushing for a US bases relocation roadmap.

“Even if they [US] transferred the bases or realigned the deployment in nearby countries, let’s say outside Okinawa or even outside Japan such as in Guam, they could still easily respond to the security concerns of the nearby countries whenever needed because they are well-equipped,” Kodama told Asian journalists.

Like Japan, the Philippines used to host US bases until the Philippine Senate voted against it in 1991. The absence of US forces, however, did not last a decade when Manila entered into a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with Washington in 1999.

The VFA allows US troops to train and advise the Philippine military in its fight against terrorism, but it prohibits participation of US forces in combat operations.

It also lets deployment of US forces to Mindanao under the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, which provides immediate medical assistance to Filipino soldiers who are wounded in the battlefield.

Communist and separatist insurgencies in southern Philippines have lingered for nearly four decades.

Kodama disclosed that US bases in Okinawa are located near shopping malls and as such, have become a burden for Okinawans.

“We want to reduce American footprint by relocating the US bases since [the bases] have become dangerous for the people. Japan thinks that the time has come to explore that possibility,” he said.

In the case of the Philippines, the VFA drew flak when US Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith was initially found guilty of raping a Filipino woman known only as “Nicole” in 2006. Smith was briefly detained in a Philippine jail before being transferred in the US Embassy in Manila. He was later acquitted by the Philippines’ Court of Appeals in April 2009 and is believed to have returned to the US.

Kodama, however, stressed that Japan, as well as the rest of the East Asian region, still needs US forces for security.

He cited North Korea’s nuclear power and continued missile tests and territorial disputes such as those between China and Russia and between China and Taiwan.

“The deployment of US forces in East Asia helps in maintaining security and stability. We do not dispute that statement. Let us not forget that the ‘Cold War’ is not yet over here,” Kodama said.

Pacific Islands Political Studies Conference

Pacific Islands Political Studies Conference

Monday, 23 November 2009, 1:00 pm
Press Release: University of Auckland

University Of Auckland Hosts Pacific Islands Political Studies Conference

Pacific scholars, policy makers and analysts from around the world will convene at The University of Auckland for the 11th Pacific Islands Political Studies Association (PIPSA) conference.

The theme for this year’s conference is Pacific Democracy: What’s Happening? The conference provides a forum to openly and critically discuss and re-examine the problems and issues that continue to shape the dynamics, culture and institutions of political governance and democratic rule in the Pacific.

Delegates from around the Pacific including Hawaii, Australia, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, United States, Niue, Japan, Vanuatu, New Zealand and Solomon Islands will gather for the two-day conference, which will address a wide range of issues including human rights, political violence, military coups, constitutional change, traditional leadership, development and women’s participation. Sir Paul Reeves, former Governor General of New Zealand, distinguished statesman and eminent political mediator in the Pacific region, will open the conference. His speech will focus on problems of democratisation in the Pacific.

The keynote speaker on day two is Labour Party leader Phil Goff, former Minister for Foreign Affairs, who will present “Pasifika New Zealanders in the new political scene.” There will also be presentations by prominent Pacific academics on topics relating to constitutional changes, political violence, human rights, development, corruption, peace-building and conflict resolution, alternative political systems and parliamentary democracy.

“These are difficult times for the Pacific politically, socially and economically, and it is important to engage in wider discussion and analysis of issues in an open and critical way-- as well as to look for long term solutions. Unstable countries can lead to an unstable region; thus, both national and regional solutions must be sought with seriousness,” says Dr Steven Ratuva, political sociologist at the University’s Centre for Pacific Studies, chief conference organiser and president of PIPSA. PIPSA was established in Hawaii in 1987 as a forum for Pacific scholars, policy makers and analysts to engage in discussion, research and publications about political issues in the Pacific islands. The PIPSA general conference takes place once every two years in different locations around the Pacific, including Port Vila, Suva, Noumea, Queensland, Rarotonga, Honolulu, Christchurch and Guam. The conference has been made possible through the support of The University of Auckland’s Faculty of Arts, Centre for Pacific Studies and Equity Office; and the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Project at the Australian National University.

Fitial: ‘I will never support federalization’

Fitial: ‘I will never support federalization’

Monday, 23 November 2009 00:00 By Gemma Q. Casas - Reporter

GOVERNOR Benigno R. Fitial hopes the federal judge handling the lawsuit he filed against the federalization law will rule in the CNMI’s favor.

Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Nov. 23, which is Tuesday local time.

But Rep. Tina Sablan described the lawsuit as “wasteful.”

“I am hopeful that Judge Friedman will soon dismiss the governor’s wasteful lawsuit against the federal government, and that the CNMI will finally begin to work cooperatively with the federal government to ensure a transition to federal immigration control that is as smooth as possible,” she said in an e-mail.

But the governor believes that federalization will be fatal for the local economy.

“I will never support federalization,” he said.

This month, his administration began issuing umbrella permits to thousands of guest workers.

The governor said this should protect the workers from being uprooted from the commonwealth once the U.S. takes over local immigration.

DOD wants to acquire 2,200 acres

DOD wants to acquire 2,200 acres

By Dionesis Tamondong • Pacific Daily News • November 23, 2009

The Department of Defense is interested in acquiring at least 2,200 acres of non-federal land for the military buildup, according to the draft Environmental Impact Statement.

The report lists four main parcels the military is looking at, the largest of which is for a firing range along the island's northeast coast.

Between 1,100 acres and 1,800 acres along Route 15 in Mangilao and Yigo are needed for the proposed firing range. That would require the condemnation or leasing of those properties, which are owned by the local government, private owners and ancestral land claimants.

Sen. Judith Guthertz, chairwoman of the legislative committee overseeing buildup issues, said the military acquisition of land is going to be the most sensitive issue.

"They'd have to negotiate with the landowners, and it's really entirely up to the private landowners what they will want to do," Guthertz said. "With reference to the government land, we're talking about Chamorro Land Trust property and ancestral land. Those are very sensitive issues."

The EIS report lists three other main parcels of interest:

# Former Federal Aviation Administration housing in south Finegayan, Dededo, is owned by private landowners and GovGuam. The 680-acre parcel is currently vacant.

# In Harmon, there are 326 acres of land claimed by multiple ancestral land claimants, as well as private owners and GovGuam. This area is vacant but for a few abandoned buildings.

The Dededo and Harmon parcels are part of the planned Marine Corps base headquarters. About 8,600 Marines and their 9,000 dependents are being relocated from Okinawa to Guam.

# About 105 acres of GovGuam land in the Cabras area of Piti is being looked at as part of a wharf and related facilities. The site is generally vacant with a few abandoned buildings.

The Defense Department is also looking to acquire small pockets of non-federal land, and some road projects may also require land acquisitions.

"There may be some owners who are interested in selling or leasing land to the federal government and would perceive the federal acquisition or the lease of their property as a beneficial impact," the EIS report states. "Other owners who do not want to sell their property (or relocate) are likely to consider the forced sale or relocation as an adverse impact, even though they are properly compensated."

A bill sponsored by Guthertz in the last Legislature requires that any GovGuam land transactions for federal purposes require the approval of the Guam Legislature. The bill is now law.

"That means that no GovGuam land can be sold or leased on a long-term basis without the approval of the Legislature," she said. "Any such request will have to undergo the normal process of public input and testimony and due diligence from the senators."

Guthertz said military officials have assured her and other lawmakers they would not condemn any private land.

EIS: 33,000 new jobs by 2014

EIS: 33,000 new jobs by 2014

By Laura Matthews • Pacific Daily News • November 23, 2009

Guam's unemployment rate will drop by more than half in 2014 as the buildup creates thousands of jobs, according to the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed, multibillion-dollar military expansions on the island.

With more people paying income taxes, and as businesses pay more taxes and fees, the draft Environmental Impact Statement estimates that government of Guam will generate $325 million in 2014 revenue alone -- an increase of about 60 percent of its current annual budget.

In the recently published Defense Department document, which contains thousands of pages, Guam's unemployment rate is assumed to fall to 4.0 percent when Guam residents and off-islanders start taking on jobs associated with the military buildup.

The unemployment rate was last recorded in September 2007 and is estimated to be 8.3 percent, according to the document.

Guam's population is expected to soar -- with 79,178 additional people in 2014. That is approximately half of the current population.

The buildup, according to the EIS, may include the relocation of 8,600 Marines and their 9,000 dependents from Okinawa to Guam. An Army ballistic missile defense facility and a facility for recurring visits of an aircraft carrier are included in the proposed expansions.

The quality of life for many residents will improve as the buildup is projected to provide approximately 33,000 jobs for civilian workers at the 2014 peak, according to the draft EIS. An additional 6,150 jobs will be provided on a "more permanent basis" thereafter.

Guam residents are estimated to occupy about 2,000 direct on-site construction jobs for the Marine Corps facilities between 2013 and 2014.

Similarly, excluding direct on-site military construction, residents are expected to capitalize on 2,566 jobs during the 2014 construction boom. The related jobs "include civilian military jobs, direct from purchases jobs and indirect or induced jobs."

An additional 2,211 jobs will be made available by 2020 for Guam residents, as the 15,157 jobs that will be occupied by off-islanders during the boom, will decrease to 3,935 that year, as estimated by the EIS.

The EIS estimates that the increase in buildup economic activities will generate tax revenues for GovGuam worth about $97 million a year after 2014. These revenues will be collected through gross receipts, corporate income and personal income taxes.

Salaries to increase

The average full-time salary -- including those that are indirect jobs -- during both the construction and operational phases, will increase in tandem with the demand for labor.

The EIS states Guam incomes will rise and the average full-time salary for jobs within the construction phase would increase to $33,500, up from the 2007 average of $28,150. This is because there will be more "higher-paying jobs in the architecture and engineering, wholesale trade, and health services industries."

The full-time salary for jobs during the military operational phase would rise to $40,000. It was $28,150 in 2007.

Only about 25 percent of civilian military jobs are expected to be filled by current Guam residents, the document said.

Residents have until Feb. 17, 2010, to provide feedback on the draft EIS for it to be finalized and put into action.

Public matters

Public matters

Monday, 23 November 2009 00:19
by Zita Y. Taitano | Variety News Staff

Final release of EIS hinges on Guam feedback

THE final environmental impact statement on the military buildup could be released by late spring or early summer of next year, depending on public comments the Joint Guam Program Office and the Department of Defense receive, according to JGPO director John Jackson.

“Nothing will be set in stone until the record of decision comes out,” Jackson said during a press conference on Saturday. “Things could still change because we may discover something that wasn’t provided in the public comment period or some of our surveys.”

The 90-day period for public review and comment on the voluminous document officially started Saturday. The public review period ends on Feb. 18, 2010 at 3 p.m.

“We want to get it right not only for the requirements for the military but for the government of Guam and the people of Guam and again the military that will come here will be living on Guam,” Jackson said.

“This is a buildup that benefits the people of Guam and benefits the military mission and so we have once chance to get it right so it will take some time and has taken some time obviously to get it right and so that’s the goal,” he added.

Key points

The relocation of 8,000 Marines and their dependents from Okinawa to Guam and the impact on local infrastructure was a key point of discussion at the press briefing, as well as the construction of a deep trough wharf and improvements at the Apra Harbor and Naval Base which could support a transient nuclear air craft carrier.

The draft study also details the relocation of 600 Army soldiers and their dependents associated with an Army air and missile defense task force.

Jackson promised that all of the issues and concerns raised during the public comment period would be identified and appropriately considered in preparation for the final report.

Comments may be submitted online at the guambuildupeis.us website.

Prior to the study’s release, local activists on Friday staged a rally in Tamuning protesting the military expansion. (See related story on page 4)

Early comments

When asked how much would the comments weigh on the final impact statement to be released next year, Jackson said all feedback would be considered. “Each comment will be weighed and when I say weighed, each comment will be considered,” Jackson claimed.

Citing plans for locating a firing range at Finegayan, Jackson, said during the public comment period JGPO received more than 100 public responses to a notice of intent saying, “No, don’t do that” there.

As result, he added, a new site is under consideration for planned use in weapons training activities by the department of defense.

Jackson stated that a final impact statement release date will depend on the volume of feedback.

“If we literally receive thousand and thousands of comments, obviously it will take us longer than if we receive a hundred comments. And that’s why it’s really important for the public to be involved. This is an opportunity for the public to really get their thoughts on paper in the internet. This is the time frame for the public to make those comments,” he said.

Activists protest DEIS

Activists protest DEIS

Monday, 23 November 2009 00:05
by Jude Lizama | Variety News Staff

LOCAL activists provided a potent reaction ahead of the release of the draft environmental impact statement taking to the streets of Guam to protest what they perceive as non-transparency in the ongoing military buildup planning as the island anticipates absorbing upwards of 45,000 people over the course of the next 5 years.

Residents dissatisfied with faulty dialogue and a lack of clear information demonstrated Friday afternoon at the International Trade Center intersection in Tamuning.

“We are American citizens and I believe that we deserve better,” former senator Hope Cristobal stated passionately. We have this little island of ours that we are depending on to be the kind of environment that will sustain us as a people,” she said.

Cristobal was adamant, “There is no other study more important than the draft environmental statement,” she said referring to the complex document comprised of more than 10,000 pages contained in 10 massive volumes. “We are poor people. We are on the receiving end. We don’t have the kind of resources that the Department of Defense has,” the former senator explained about the public’s inability to access the technical expertise required to decipher the draft impact statement.

The outspoken activist and critic of military bases further noted serious flaws with the plan’s development besides the short review period allowed the public and local government officials. Cristobal cited a personal contact in Washington D.C. who informed her “an environmental impact study on a small island community such as Guam, with the kind of impact this $15 billion project would have, requires not a one or two year environmental impact statement, but at least a 10 year impact statement that would include comprehensive and proper land use planning.”

Senator Matt Rector was present at the Friday protest as well. He emphasized the complexity of the situation. “I have a degree in chemistry with a concentration in environmental science and I don’t have the expertise to evaluate the environmental impact statement. It’s an insanely complicated document.”

Rector, who has previously stated his intent on seeing local workers prioritized in military buildup projects, said he reviewed the executive summary and believes current plans would give 75 percent of the permanent civil service jobs created as a result of the military realignment to workers other than local residents.

“What is that good for? We are increasing our population with foreigners coming in and taking jobs; how is that good for the people of Guam,” Rector asked. “I don’t believe the military buildup will improve the quality of life for our families in the least. That’s why I’m here.”

“It feels very suffocating,” University of Guam professor Dr. Lisa Natividad said. “Because everything about life as we know it is going to be determined in the next 90 days.”

She added that “the imbalance of power, between Guam as a colony and the United States as the administering power, just sets us up so that with this environmental impact statement process and the buildup we are at a significant disadvantage.”

Natividad committed to continuing to struggle with bringing clarity to the situation. “We take hope in greater ideas and possibilities, so we continue to press on in terms of educating our people and taking a stand. We’re just fighting for our survival.”

Projected population boom concerns Guthertz

Projected population boom concerns Guthertz

Posted: Nov 22, 2009 2:50 PM Updated: Nov 22, 2009 2:50 PM

by Michele Catahay

While it has only been a couple of days since the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, chairperson of the Committee on the Guam Military Buildup Senator Judi Guthertz says she already has some concerns after reading only portions of the document.

She says she's not so comfortable with the idea that Guam may receive almost 80,000 additional people in the next four years. She also says there is also a huge concern because the department of defense has outlined a large military footprint for land. "They're interested in private land and Government of Guam land for their facilities and it's at a much higher level than I originally thought and of course that's going to be a very big question and will be careful consideration for private landowners that might be willing to leas their property," said Guthertz.

When it comes to government land, Guthertz says her bill authored last year states that land transactions from Department of Defense will be approved and considered by the Guam Legislature. She says because this is such a contentious issue, Guam would need more funding to support this massive buildup.

"If the United States military expects us to deal with this, they need to make a moral commitment to prepare by providing funds for all the operational military mitigation issues that will affect us and that has always been my position," she added.

Guthertz says she hopes lawmakers could consider holding public hearings on the Legislature's side, in addition to the ones scheduled in January by the Joint Guam Program Office.

Key marine force to leave Okinawa Prefecture

Key marine force to leave Okinawa Prefecture

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Satoshi Ogawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

WASHINGTON--About 1,100 marines from a division specializing in amphibious and ground combat missions are among the troops to be relocated from Okinawa Prefecture to Guam as part of the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, it has been learned.

The transfer of 1,100 marines of the U.S. Navy 3rd Marine Division will increase the number of marines to be moved to Guam to 8,552 from an originally planned 8,000.

The relocation of the 1,100 marines was referred to in an environmental impact assessment report the U.S. Navy released Friday in connection with its planned construction of a naval base on Guam for the relocation.

The 3rd Marine Division was widely known for its role in fierce fighting on Iwo Jima island in the closing days of the Pacific War and saw heavy combat in the Vietnam War.

The "road map" for realigning U.S. forces in Japan that Tokyo and Washington agreed on in 2006 said the division's command would be shifted from Okinawa Prefecture to Guam, but made no mention of relocating the marines themselves.

The navy's environmental assessment report, however, noted ground combat troops need to be located "close to a firing range and training exercise area."

Given that a new firing range of the 3rd Marine Division will be built on the islands north of Guam in the Marianas, some of the division's troops likely will be moved to the planned Guam base, according to navy sources.

Moving the 3rd Division troops to Guam in addition to other marines currently stationed in Okinawa Prefecture would mean most of the U.S. Marine Corps' ground combat training exercises will be shifted to Guam, a development that will alleviate the prefecture's burden as a host of U.S. bases.

The navy report also disclosed for the first time a breakdown of marines covered by the relocation plan. Almost 3,050 will be marines under the command of the 3rd Maritime Expeditionary Force and related troops, 1,856 will be mainly from the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and 2,550 will be from the 3rd Marine Logistics Group.

The bulk of the division's personnel has been stationed at Camp Schwab in Nago. The functions of the Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan in the southern part of the prefecture are planned to be relocated to Camp Schwab, although this plan has been hanging by a thread due to political shuffling over the issue.

The navy's environmental assessment report describes the major missions of the 3rd Division as "destroying enemy troops by means of artillery fire, mobile combat operations and close-range fighting."

Navy details impact of Guam move

Navy details impact of Guam move

By Teri Weaver , Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, November 23, 2009
TOKYO — It’s 8,600 Marines, not 8,000, moving to Guam.

That doesn’t count the estimated 9,000 sailors and Marines expected to visit the island for an average of two months each year.

And when construction, moving and hiring really get cranking in 2014 under the U.S. military’s plan to expand its bases in Guam, an estimated 80,000 people will temporarily flood the island, almost doubling the current population, according to a Navy report released Friday detailing the possible effects of the buildup.

The massive report comes more than three years after the United States and Japan agreed to move the III Marine Expeditionary Force.

The troop movement, from Okinawa to Guam, is part of a strategy to decrease troops in Japan and bolster the U.S.-controlled island in the Pacific.

While that agreement has come under scrutiny by a newly elected government in Japan, U.S. military officials say they are moving forward with the estimated $10.3 billion project.

Friday’s release of the environmental impact statement contains thousands of pages listing options about where the military wants to put the Marines, a new Army air defense unit and an expanded berth for visiting aircraft carriers within the island’s Apra Harbor port.

It also includes details about transforming existing training space on Tinian, an island in the Commonwealth of Northern Marina Islands. The expansion would support company- and battalion-level live-fire ranges.

Most of the report, though, deals with significant changes anticipated on Guam during and after the buildup. They include increased noise on the northern part of the island, traffic snarls during road construction, loss of habitat for threatened and endangered species, and significant changes to the coral reef ecosystem in Outer Apra Harbor, according to the report’s executive summary.

Overall, the buildup would bring about 34,000 new people to Guam permanently. About a quarter of the 1,800 new civilian Department of Defense jobs would be hired from island residents.

The military would expand and use much of Guam’s utility infrastructure for power, sewage and trash. Under one proposal, the Navy would drill 22 new wells on Andersen Air Force Base while connecting with the Guam Water Authority’s system, the report says.

When it comes to land use, the military would use much of its existing land at the northern tip of the island. Yet it’s clear, as military officials have said previously, that the current footprint is not enough for current plans, the report states.

Under a preferred option, the military would buy or lease private and public land near existing bases, including area now used as a racing track, reserved for development for new housing and existing homes, according to Sen. Judith Guthertz, who chairs Guam’s legislative committee that oversees the military expansion.

"Land is a very emotional issue here, especially because of our experiences during and after World War II," Guthertz said Saturday during a phone interview. Then, she said, "a lot was taken by the Navy and was not always under the best and fair terms for the indigenous people."

Now some of the land the Navy wants — including land reserved for development by the local Chamorro people — is controlled by Guam, which is a U.S. territory without a vote in Congress. A local law passed last year will require approval from Guam’s legislature before the military can buy or lease any locally controlled parcels.

But Guthertz said she and other local leaders anticipated those requests. Understanding what else might be in the massive report is the next step.

On Saturday, government officials in Guam were beginning to go through the details. Guthertz said her office spread the thousands of pages out in a room and assigned staff to study certain sections. Guam Gov. Felix Camacho parceled the report out to agency heads to comb through the technical language of the statement, which many call the EIS.

"We’ve only had it barely a day," said Shawn Gumataotao, deputy chief of staff for the governor. "All of our regulatory agencies will spend a lot of time with our people looking at the EIS. We’re also encouraging the public to do the same."

The Navy put the report out a day early, on Friday. An electronic version can be viewed online, and hard copies are available at local libraries and some mayors’ offices. A reading room was set up in the Agana Shopping Center in Hagatna.

Until Feb. 17, anyone can comment on the proposed options in the report, either online or by mail. The Navy will hold six public hearings on Guam, Saipan and Tinian from Jan. 7 to Jan. 15.

Japan wants US military base out of Okinawa

Japan wants US military base out of Okinawa

Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama says he will devise a plan to relocate the US military airfield based in Okinawa as soon as possible


Hatoyama made the remarks after a meeting with his foreign and defense ministers.

His government has called for the US to move its troops off the island, and even Japan altogether.

The new administration in Tokyo has also ordered an investigation into secret US-Japan deals ratified by previous governments.

Washington has about 47,000 troops based in Japan, more than half of which are on Okinawa.

US troops have been continuously stationed on the island since 1945.

Local residents have been angered by crimes committed by US service personnel.

In 1995 the rape of a schoolgirl by three US servicemen infuriated residents of Okinawa.

Japan's Defense ministry proposes the transfer of some F-15 fighter jet drills out of Okinawa as a condition for implementing the 2006 accord with the US.

Meanwhile, a junior partner in Japan's coalition government says the airbase should be moved off southern Okinawa to a more remote islet or to US territory in Guam.

The base is also unpopular because of aircraft noise and the risk of accidents and is due to be moved from an urban to a coastal area by 2014.

Demands to close the base on safety grounds grew when, in 2004, a US helicopter crashed in the grounds of a local university.

Tokyo and Washington have been at loggerheads with each other over the presence of US military forces in the country since the new Japanese government took the reigns of power in September.

Thousands of people held rallies against the American military presence during US President Barack Obama's recent visit to Tokyo.

Guam has 90 days to review Draft EIS

Guam has 90 days to review Draft EIS

Posted: Nov 21, 2009 2:09 PM
Updated: Nov 21, 2009 6:48 PM
by Michele Catahay

Guam now has 90 days to review and provide testimony on the released by the Department of the Navy at midnight. The document includes nine volumes of information relating to the Marines' relocation to Guam. It details the relocation of approximately 8,600 service members and their 9,000 dependants from Okinawa to Guam.

Joint Guam Program Office Director John Jackson says residents can pick up copies of the DEIS at the Dededo, Yigo, Agat, Mangilao, Santa Rita and Barrigada mayors offices as well as the Nieves M. Flores Memorial Library in Hagatna, and the RFK Memorial Library at the University of Guam in Mangilao. You can also check out the Reading Room on the 2nd floor of the Agana Shopping Center.

Jackson says they're already receiving feedback and phone calls about the massive document, saying, "I think overall, they're mainly questions. Not positive, not negative but just questions about the different aspects of the EIS."

Jackson says all comments will be considered when formulating the final document. He says once everything is compiled and put together, the people of Guam will then be able to start seeing progress. "Our goal is so that we can complete the process which is the final EIS, the record of decision and everything else so that we can start construction in Fiscal Year 2010, this fiscal year. So if you back all that up, we want to have construction started at October 1 2010, back that all up, it all has to happen in sequence so we're really looking at late spring or early summer to get the final EIS out but then again, it's totally dependent on how many comments we get."

Residents have until 3pm on February 18 to provide testimony.

Training held on DEIS review techniques

Training held on DEIS review techniques

Posted: Nov 21, 2009 1:27 PM
Updated: Nov 21, 2009 6:47 PM
by Heather Hauswirth

The Guam Environmental Protection Agency held a four-day training course this past week for various GovGuam agency personnel. The event was geared towards teaching participants the many practical skills needed to be a more effective and critical reviewer of the Joint Guam Program Office's Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

The daunting prospect of having to review ten volumes of text that spans 11,000 pages has GovGuam agencies and nearly everyone on island all worked up. EPA Administrator Lorilee Crisostomo says the USEPA's workshop on how to review an EIS was open to a select number of agencies.

"This is a big island build up, not just inside the fence so we want them to know how to review an EIS document too because we don't want anyone to be intimidated with how it's set up and how many pages we are going to get," she said.

The Guam EPA used its federal American Reinvestment and Recovery Act grant funds to hire USEPA instructors like Lance Richman and David Schaller, who focused the course on teaching participants about the methodology of the process. "One of the parts of the environmental impact assessment process is evaluating alternatives and there has been concern about which alternatives were chosen, which ones are being evaluated and about mitigation, efforts to reduce or avoid impacts that could occur from the projects that are underway," Crisostomo said.

The course focused on ensuring participants would be able to derive and reason more critically while reviewing the EIS. Assistant General Manager of Compliance and Safety at the Guam Waterworks Authority, Paul Kemp said, "We are getting a good systematic view of how to go about it and giving us a roadmap of how to execute the steps necessary to do a good job."

Course principles were designed around international frameworks set for environmental impact assessments. Richman emphasized the importance of asking critical questions, noting, "The important thing is to review the document, the integrity of the document, make sure there are commitments in the document, there are mitigation efforts underway, there are schedules and there is money for mitigation efforts, make certain its not just words, that there are actual dollars, there are actual schedules and actual technical experts to support the projects and mitigations proposed."

But it's not light reading - anyone who takes a stab is advised to reach out to those who may have more expertise than them to better understand portions that might be confusing. "It would be really helpful to have an interdisciplinary, inter-skill approach to looking at it, so if you really aren't familiar with an aspect of the document, find somebody who is and ask them about it," said Crisostomo.

And after completion of this training course, the individual participants will be able to teach the skills they learned and transfer it to how to review any EIS document to teach individuals and Gov Guam agencies as well as other individuals who would just like a chance to review this massive EIS document.

Public comment meetings for DEIS set

Public comment meetings for DEIS set

Posted: Nov 20, 2009 7:29 PM PST
by Michele Catahay

Several public meetings will be held in the month of January so the public will have the opportunity to provide testimony on the Joint Guam Program Office's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The first is scheduled for January 7 at Southern High School, another will be held January 9th at the UOG Field House.

Another session will be held at the Yigo Gymnasium on January 11, with the last meeting scheduled for January 12 at Okkodo High School. Open house takes place from 5pm to 7pm, while public hearings take place from 7pm to 9pm.

Military to increase road capacity

Military to increase road capacity

By Brett Kelman • Pacific Daily News • November 21, 2009

Main roads in Yigo and Dededo will be widened and strengthened in the next few years, or the population boom caused by the coming military buildup would create traffic congestion that would clog the northern half of Guam.

According to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement released yesterday, the military expects to increase the capacity of many roads so more motorists and heavy military vehicles can maneuver with ease. For example:

•Route 3, which splits from Marine Corps Drive in Dededo and stretches to the northwest corner of the island, must be widened from two to four lanes;

•Route 9, which snakes from the Ritidian area to Andersen Air Force Base, must be widened from two to four lanes; and

•Parts of Route 16, which narrows from the airport overpass to Barrigada and provides an alternative route from north to south, must be widened from four to six lanes.

These are just some of the 49 off-base roadway improvements proposed in the preferred solution to traffic congestion provided in the draft EIS.

The projects include eight roads that must be widened, five bridges that must be replaced, one brand-new road and road strengthening all over the island -- including Marine Corps Drive.

According to projected traffic maps provided in the draft EIS, the improvements could prevent Guam from being paralyzed by traffic congestion.

If nothing is done before 2014, roads in Dededo and Yigo will be flooded with more cars than they were built for day and night. Thoroughfares like Y-Sengsong Road would have nearly as many cars on it as it should, the draft EIS predicts.

But if improvements are made, main roads will be able to handle traffic so motorists won't be forced onto smaller roads to escape congestion.
Paying for it

Although civilians will benefit from outside-the-gate improvements to most roadways, the federal government will pay for much of the projects, according to draft EIS executive summary.

Projects may be funded by the Federal Highway Administration and the Defense Access Road Program, the document states.

"The Defense Access Road Program provides the means for DOD to pay a fair share for public highway improvements required as a result of a sudden or unusual defense-generated traffic impact or unique defense-related public highway requirement," the document states.

US and Japan at odds over bases

US and Japan at odds over bases

Peter Alford, Tokyo correspondent
From: The Australian
November 21, 2009 12:00AM

IN spite of Barack Obama's soothing manner in Japan, the argument over restructuring US military forces continues to go badly, stressing the Americans' most important relationship in the region.

The likelihood is Tokyo will be browbeaten into accepting Washington's position which, after all, is enshrined in their 2006 agreement on realigning US forces in Japan.

The risk is that relations between the two administrations will be permanently soured.

Even since Obama and Yukio Hatoyama met in Tokyo last Friday the politics has been messier. The sharp end of the dispute is whether the US marines' Futenma airbase moves from civilian-crowded Ginowan to a new facility beside the marines' Camp Schwab in Nago, to the northeast, as previously agreed.

The end-point of the realignment -- desired by the new Hatoyama government -- is shifting 8000 marines from Okinawa to Guam, a US Pacific territory.

Hatoyama wants the agreement varied so Futenma does not go to Nago. There is disagreement within his cabinet about where it should go, and the PM refuses to clarify.

Scrambling before last week's meeting to avoid a blow-up, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada agreed a high-level working group should resolve the disagreement. But straight afterwards, Obama said the working group "will focus on implementation of the agreement that our two governments reached".

That might be his understanding, Hatoyama responded, but we're interested in changing the 2006 agreement, not agreeing how to implement it.

The US Senate intervened this week, slashing the 2010 budget allocation for the Guam relocation, apparently to chide Japan for backsliding on the agreement. The White House has asked for the Guam cut to be restored and likely it will be. But when congress gets antsy about Japan issues, as the Japanese know too well, disputes tend to turn more difficult and nasty.

"It depends on how big of a thing both sides want to make of Futenma," says Koichi Nakano, an international relations expert at Tokyo's Sophia University.

"Because . . . the end outcome (relocation) is not going to be all that much different.

"In spite of the campaign rhetoric of the Democratic Party of Japan, the government has no clear alternative in mind; it doesn't even seem to have looked seriously at alternatives before the election."

The US seemed unprepared for a new government bringing a new approach to alliance management from their familiar partners of more than 50 years, the Liberal Democratic Party.

However, Obama's administration was forewarned 18 months ago by Seiji Maehara, the best-connected DPJ frontbencher in Washington, that a new government would seek a "clean slate" on Futenma.

LDP ministers dragged their feet over Futenma for a decade. When backed into a corner by the frustrated Pentagon, they signed and then resumed foot-dragging on implementation.

The Hatoyama government's election also completely changed the political dynamic of Okinawa bases.

Okinawans who wanted the burden of US military bases lifted or lightened were used to being sat upon by LDP governments and ignored by most of the other 99 per cent of Japanes.

Hatoyama as opposition leader, however, undertook "we would consider (Futenma) relocation outside of Okinawa and outside of the country".

Now the Okinawans have everyone's attention.

If Hatoyama u-turns on Futenma the domestic damage to his young government could be considerable. If he doesn't, the alliance could be upset in ways he and Obama neither want nor perhaps foresee.

"Please trust me," Hatoyama said last Friday.

"I trust you," Obama responded. Friends of the alliance in both capitals have their fingers crossed.

United Nations Action on Decolonisation Resolutions

United Nations Action on Decolonisation Resolutions

20 November 2009

OTR has recently completed its analysis of the vote in the United Nations Special Political and Decolonisation Committee (Fourth Committee) which adopted its 2009 resolutions on the remaining 16 non self-governing territories last month. Whilst a number of the resolutions were approved by consensus, the usual vote was required on others, as several of the countries which administer or occupy territories, or those which have sovereignty disputes over territories, vote against or abstain from specific resolutions.


In the case of the United Kingdom (UK), the usual explanation was given for their position, even as the explanation is inconsistent with its responsibilities under the United Nations Charter. France and the United States (US), however, provide no insight at the Fourth Committee on their negative votes.


In the case of the U.S., the vote by the Obama Administration was strikingly similar to that of the Bush Administration – in fact, it was identical. It appears that the policy’ ‘change’ has not yet filtered down to the issue of decolonisation of the remaining territories – an issue which apparently is of a lesser priority. The recent legislation authorizing U.S. support for a self-determination process for the U.S.-administered territories recently adopted by the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources should hopefully serve to stimulate some new thinking on this matter.


OTR offers the following excerpts from the United Nations press release, with substantive commentary in italics.

Draft resolution I, on information from Non-Self-Governing Territories transmitted under Article 73 e of the Charter of the United Nations was approved by a recorded vote of 140 in favour to none against, with 4 abstentions (France, Israel, United Kingdom, United States).

Explaining his position after the vote, the representative of the United Kingdom said that, as in previous years, his delegation had abstained. The Government did not take issue with the resolution’s main objective, and continued to meet its obligations in that regard. His Government believed, however, that a decision as to whether a Non-Self-Governing Territory had reached a level of self-government was ultimately for the government of the Territory and the administering Power concerned, and not the General Assembly.

Taking up draft resolution II, on economic and other activities which affect the interests of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories, the Committee approved the text by a recorded vote of 146 in favour to 2 against (Israel, United States), with 2 abstentions (France, United Kingdom)

Speaking after the vote, the representative of Argentina said the applicability of the resolution in a given Territory depended on whether the right to self-determination was applicable to that Territory. Thus, it was relevant to bear in mind that certain General Assembly resolutions noted that, in cases where there was a sovereignty dispute, such as in the Malvinas Islands, South Sandwich Islands and surrounding maritime areas, a negotiated solution was the only path to resolving the dispute, and not self-determination. The resolution, therefore, was not applicable to the Malvinas Islands and the surrounding archipelagic areas. The situation prevailing in this archipelago, belonging to the national territory of a country, resulted in the unilateral exploitation by the United Kingdom of the natural resources of the Malvinas Islands and surrounding marine areas. That ran counter to the Assembly’s decisions in that field, and was a brazen violation.

The representative of the United Kingdom said that the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was well-known, as the United Kingdom had expressed in the right of reply in the general debate on decolonization. There was no doubt about that Territory’s sovereignty and there could be no negotiation about those issues unless and until such time as the islanders so wished.

(Editor's Note: The Falklands Islands and the Malvinas are different names for the same island...)

The Committee then approved draft resolution III on implementation of the (Decolonisation) Declaration by the specialized agencies and the international institutions associated with the United Nations by a recorded vote of 98 in favour to none against, with 50 abstentions.

Speaking in explanation of vote on behalf of the European Union, Sweden’s representative reaffirmed support for the specialized agencies of the United Nations in their efforts, particularly those in the technical and educational fields. The Union favoured careful compliance with those agencies’ statutes. It had therefore abstained from the vote. The U.S. did not speak on this resolution, but did address the same issue during its consideration by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) last August. Accordingly, OTR reported in August that:

“The objections of the various member states to the resolution on assistance to the territories from the UN system are virtually identical to their objections for over a decade. Thus, the US representative continues to articulate to ECOSOC that any assistance to, or participation in, UN programmes for the non self-governing territories must be confirmed by the UN member State which controls the foreign relations of the territories concerned. This is a but a re-statement of the practice which is already in place, and has always been a requirement of the rules of procedure of any UN agency which provides for assistance or participation for these territories. The resolution, even in its present form, makes this clear.


A second objection by the US representative suggests that the resolution somehow “infringes upon” the internal constitutional arrangements of the United States. Yet, the longstanding US practice provides the delegation of authority to the territories, on a case by case basis, to participate in international organisations and activities.


In virtually all cases, it is only the state which controls the international relations of the territory which can make a request for the affiliation of the territory in any given UN body. If the delegation of authority is freely given by the administering power to the territory to participate in a given international organisation or activity, how can it be, at the same time, an infringement on the administering power’s control?”

The representative of Argentina stressed that the resolution should be in line with the previous resolutions and decisions of the General Assembly and the Special Committee on Decolonization.

It was unclear what was meant by this position.

Following that, the Committee took up draft resolution VI, on the questions of American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the United States Virgin Islands approving it without a vote.

But will the provisions be implemented?

Speaking in explanation after the vote, the representative of the United Kingdom said that his delegation had joined consensus on the last resolution, which reflected its full support for the right to self-determination. However, his delegation regretted the outdated approach of the “Committee of 24” (Special Committee on Decolonization), which failed to take full account of the way that the relationship between the United Kingdom and its Overseas Territories had been modernized in a way acceptable to both parties. The resolution did not fully reflect that modern relationship, he said, and the United Kingdom did not accept the assertion that self-determination did not apply where there existed a sovereignty dispute.

This was a repetition of the statement from previous years.

The representative of Argentina expressed full support for the right of people who were still subjected to colonization, and for the right to self-determination of the 11 Territories in the resolution just adopted. At the same time, as had been expressed in a letter to the Secretary-General distributed on 7 July. the annual resolution adopted by the General Assembly on the questions of American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the United States Virgin Islands, and the considerations contained therein, were strictly related to the Territories referred to in those questions. The question of the Malvinas Islands was subjected to separate treatment in specific resolutions that gave due consideration to the special and particular features inherent in it, which were derived from the existence of a sovereignty dispute between the Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom.

The Committee next approved draft resolution VII on dissemination of information on decolonization by a recorded vote of 150 in favour to 3 against (France, United Kingdom, United States) with 1 abstention (France).

Speaking in explanation of vote, the United Kingdom’s representative said his delegation had voted against the text because it remained of the view that the obligation it placed on the Secretariat to disseminate information represented an unwarranted drain on the Organization’s resources. As such, the resolution was unacceptable to the United Kingdom.

Really?

The representative of Argentina said his delegation wished to express support for the right of self-determination. Despite that, the text should be interpreted and implemented in keeping with pertinent General Assembly resolutions and the various resolutions and statements of the Special Committee on Decolonization, which recognized the existence of a sovereignty dispute between his country and the United Kingdom over the Malvinas Islands.

(Everything appears to be seen through the prism of the Malvinas sovereignty dispute).

Next, the Committee approved draft resolution VIII on the implementation of the (Decolonization) Declaration by a vote of 152 in favour to 3 against (Israel, United Kingdom, United States), with 2 abstentions (Belgium, France).

Speaking in explanation of vote after the vote, the representative of Argentina stressed that, regarding operative paragraph 7, visiting missions proceeded only in cases where self-determination was applicable, specifically those for which there was no sovereignty dispute.

(Everything appears to be seen through the prism of the Malvinas sovereignty dispute).

The representative of the United Kingdom said his delegation had voted “no” because it continued to find some parts of the text unacceptable.

(Which parts, may we ask?)

Nevertheless, the Government of the United Kingdom remained committed to modernizing its relationship with its Overseas Territories, while taking fully into account the views of the peoples of the Territories.

(The usual refrain...).

Following that, the representative of Guinea said that his delegation had intended to vote in favour of draft resolutions I, II and III, and requested that that be duly noted in the record.


Singapore’s representative said that his delegation had wished to vote in favour of the resolutions pertaining to item 35, on information from Non-Self-Governing Territories transmitted under Article 73 e of the United Nations Charter, and on item 36, on economic and other activities which affect the interests of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories.

The representatives of Pakistan and Chile said that their delegations had wanted to vote in favour of resolutions concerning item 35, and item 37, on implementation of the (Decolonization) Declaration by the specialized agencies and the international institutions associated with the United Nations. The representatives of Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso said they had wished to vote in favour of the resolutions concerning item 35.

On 3rd October, OTR wrote that “how the United Nations deals with decolonization has become “a sterile exercise, a game of pretense played to avoid what is meant to be achieved." We indicated that we would “nevertheless… cover the 2009 session of the Fourth Committee, not because we harbor any illusions that the process will change, but rather because our readership demands to be kept abreast.”


In any event, the General Assembly will take the final vote in December. We'll be there...

Historic election as Northern Marianas prepares for federalisation

Historic election as Northern Marianas prepares for federalisation

Gemma Casas, CNMI

Last Updated: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:31:00 +1100

The two leading candidates for governor in the Northern Marianas are campaigning this weekend ahead of their historic runoff election on Monday.

Supporters of incumbent Governor Benigno Fitial and and rival Republican Congressman Heinz Hofschneider are spending the weekend canvassing voters to support their candidacy.

The two will go head-to-head on Monday in the Island's first ever runoff gubernatorial election.

Mr Hofschneider was just eight votes ahead of the Covenant Party candidate when the four-way gubernatorial election was held last November 7.

The United States, which is poised to take over the islands' immigration system on November 28, is closely monitoring the runoff.

The next governor will serve for a term of five years and will be the first to rule under a federalized immigration system.

Needed: Guam must have plans for health care, public safety and education

Needed: Guam must have plans for health care, public safety and education

November 22, 2009

If Guam is going to maximize the benefit of the military buildup, the local government must properly plan for the increase in population the island will experience over the next several years.

In some areas, the plans are set. The Department of Public Works has a master plan for transportation needs that includes upgrades and expansions to roads and bridges, as well as public transit. The Port Authority of Guam has a plan for making the commercial port bigger and better. And the utility agencies have a good idea of what's needed to do in terms of additional power resources, as well as water and wastewater services.

But where are the master plans for the three top priorities for our community -- health care, education and public safety?

We've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce assessment reports, outreach efforts, consulting services for master plans for roads, infrastructure and the Port. But there hasn't been much spent on master plans for the top three quality-of-life issues for our community.

In the area of health care, it isn't even clear whose responsibility it is to develop a master plan.

We know the island will need more hospital beds and medical services, as well as an increased number of doctors, nurses and other health professionals. So how are we going to make that happen? And what about the increased demand that will be placed on public health clinics and mental health services?

What's the plan for increasing the number of police officers, or the capacity of prison and jail facilities? The Judiciary has a plan for increasing court services with a satellite facility in the north, but what about the need for additional judges and other personnel, or for more lawyers in the Office of the Attorney General, which already is short of prosecutors and other attorneys?

The Guam Department of Education, which faces a plethora of problems, will need more public schools to handle the increased population. How and where will these schools be built? Where will the needed additional teachers come from?

These aren't issues that can be put off for any longer. The buildup is progressing on pace. There's simply no more time for the government of Guam to waste.
Elected officials must work with government agencies and, in the case of health care, private professionals and clinics, to produce plans for expanding and improving local health, public safety and education services so that the island is more fully prepared for the military buildup and its aftermath.

Officials raise concerns on EIS

Officials raise concerns on EIS

By Bernice Santiago • Pacific Sunday News • November 22, 2009

Access to land, strains on infrastructure, the timely transfer of funds for improvements, and the military's commitment to use local port and utility facilities were among the concerns raised by government officials after the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

The draft EIS, released Friday, lays out proposed plans for military construction associated with the transfer of 8,000 Marines and 9,000 dependents from Okinawa to Guam, along with the environmental and social impact of those changes. The community has until Feb. 18 to submit comments on the EIS report.

All public comments will be weighed and considered, retired Marine Col. John J. Jackson, director of the Joint Guam Program Office, said during a press conference yesterday.

Sen. Judith Guthertz, chairwoman for the legislative committee on the military buildup, said that she's preparing a joint report assessing the draft EIS with the committee on rules, natural resources, and federal, foreign, and Micronesian affairs.
"It's a lot bigger in terms of its impact than most people thought it would be," Guthertz said yesterday, "particularly with the population increase estimates and the proposed footprint for land."

Guthertz is preparing an inventory of non-federal land that the military is proposing to acquire as part of the buildup, she said. "I'm very concerned about the land, and I think probably that's going to be the most sensitive part of the draft EIS," she said.

Gov. Felix Camacho said yesterday that four sites in Dededo, Yigo, Mangilao, and Agat would be affected, according to the proposals in the draft EIS, and that he will be working with the village mayors on public access issues in their villages.
The construction of a permanent Marine Corps base in Dededo could possibly include the long-term lease of private land in the Harmon Annex. The military hopes to build a new firing range in Mangilao and Yigo, as large as 1,680 acres, which would require the use of more than 900 acres of non-military land. In the south, a large portion of land between Agat and Umatac has been proposed as a "maneuver training area," including jungle training, land navigation and air-to-ground operations, for the Marines stationed in Dededo.

Camacho stressed that island residents should read the main volumes and appendices of the draft EIS, in order to submit their comments and help shape the final outcome the military buildup. "The entire community needs to be involved," Camacho said.

Sen. Eddie Calvo expressed concern with the impact of the military buildup on the island's infrastructure. The island's roads, power, water, wastewater, and solid waste systems, which are already strained, will be affected by the population increase. The systems need improvements to cope with the increase, but Calvo said that there have been several stumbling blocks during the process.

Almost $50 million in federal funds has been appropriated for road construction scheduled to begin next year, which isn't nearly enough, Calvo said. In addition, though the EIS states that the military will use the Layon landfill, a formal memorandum of understanding for the future use of the Layon landfill still hasn't been signed, Calvo said.

Major upgrades to the commercial port and the airport were planned because of the expectation of cargo for the buildup entering Guam through those facilities, Calvo said. Calvo is concerned that the military will not use the commercial port for cargo shipments, citing the August shipment of Watts Constructors' cargo from the Guam Shipyard.

"The win-win situation that we're talking about may not be a win for Guam," Calvo said. "It may be a win-win for the government of the United States and the government of Japan."

Calvo is running as a gubernatorial candidate in next year's election.
On Monday, acting Speaker Rory Respicio will be asking each legislative committee to hold joint public hearings with the military buildup committee, to give the public more opportunities to comment on the EIS.

"Every single component of the EIS impacts us one way or another," Respicio said. Residents should be concerned with possibility that power or water rates will go up, that the federal government may or may not move to augment health services, and what the impact to the island's environmental resources will be, he said.

"This military buildup will change the face of Guam," Respicio said.

At the Joint Guam Program Office press conference yesterday, Jackson said the public comments, especially legitimate concerns, do carry a lot of weight in the final decision-making process.

He gave the example of how comments during the public scoping period earlier this year led to the military scrapping its plan to build a firing range in the Finegayan area of Dededo and instead build it along the coast of Mangilao and Yigo.
The original plan would have created a danger zone extending over popular fishing and recreational areas.

"Nothing will be set in stone until the record of decision comes out," Jackson said. "Even when you look at that and we have our plans all in place, things can still change at that point because we may discover something else that wasn't identified in the public comment period or in our surveys."

According to a timeline in the draft EIS, the final statement is scheduled to be available by June 30.

After a 30-day waiting period -- July 6 to Aug. 6, 2010 -- the Record of Decision is scheduled to be issued by July 30, 2010. This allows buildup-related construction to begin.

But those dates are still tentative.

"This is a very long and drawn out process because we really want to get it right. And we want to get it right not only so that the requirements are met for the military, but for the government of Guam and the people of Guam," Jackson said. "We have one chance to get it right."

Range may take civilian land

Range may take civilian land

By Steve Limtiaco • Pacific Sunday News • November 22, 2009

The military has scrapped a 2006 proposal to build a new firing range in the Finegayan area of Dededo -- which would have created a danger zone extending over popular fishing and recreational areas -- and instead wants to build a firing range on the shoreline across from Andersen South, in Mangilao.

Creating the new firing range would mean condemning or leasing 928 acres of non-military land, including public land currently identified for a land exchange with Tiyan ancestral landowners. The landowners in June asked for the Mangilao land as compensation for the government's continued use of their ancestral land in Tiyan, for the airport and related facilities.

A spokesman for those landowners yesterday said they are willing to lease the Mangilao land to the military for the firing range.

The military yesterday released the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the military buildup, which provides a blueprint for increased military activity on Guam and the possible impact of those activities.

According to the statement, the proposed new firing range would involve the use of live hand grenades and machine guns, and might require relocating a 1.7-mile stretch of Route 15 to the north. A new access road to the firing range would be built parallel to Route 15.

The site would include a new pistol range because an existing pistol range at Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station does not meet the requirements for Marine Corps pistol qualification training, according to the statement.

The total area of the range complex, depending on configuration, could be as large as 1,680 acres, according to the draft environmental statement.

The Tiyan ancestral landowners do not have title to the Mangilao land, but a public hearing is scheduled Dec. 1 for Bill 278, which would delineate the properties to be exchanged with landowners.

"We're trying to get it together so we lease to them," said Benny Crawford, chairman of the Tiyan Taskforce, which in June identified 976 acres of public to be transferred to a new Tiyan landowners trust. Of that land, 395 acres is the "Marbo Base Command" across from Andersen South, which is part of the proposed firing range.
"We might as well negotiate a lease because they're going to take it anyway," Crawford said. He said Tiyan landowners started considering the Mangilao property for the land exchange about two years ago.

"We're looking forward to working with the federal government," he said.

Guam's 'Buildup & Beyond' Forum: A Fit Foray Into Impacts, Benefits & Challenges

Guam's 'Buildup & Beyond' Forum: A Fit Foray Into Impacts, Benefits & Challenges

Written by Jeff Marchesseault, Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Friday, 20 November 2009 20:12

GUAM - On Friday a two-day conference called The Military Buildup And Beyond: The Guam Perspective wrappred up at the Legislature. Hosted by Buildup Committee Chair Senator Judi Guthertz and the University of Guam, the free-admission conference was designed to empower local voices and perspectives on how the civilian community will be impacted, benefited, and challenged by the armed forces expansion.

Reality Check

The conference sounds the alarm that Guam needs to wake up and be alert as the buildup planning process winds down and massive construction begins. If Guam's local leaders and everyday citizens hope to be heard and helped, they must identify whatever they might find amiss with military planning, organize with one voice, and state their case for quality-of-life benefits. Those benefits include equal access to quality utilities and economic opportunity, an outdoor environment worth enjoying, and enough funding to sustain the social safety net as the population increases.

That process starts this weekend. On Friday, the Department of Defense posted online a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) spelling out how the land and coastal resources will be utilized for expanded regional defense purposes. Hard copies of the multi-volume DEIS will be available in local mayors' offices, libraries and even a shopping mall this weekend.

Hopes are high for quality outcomes. But a history of mutual mistrust and mismanagement has many local residents on the lookout for shortcomings to the DEIS.

The Compact-Impact Conundrum

An emotionally charged example of federal-territorial relations gone amok is the sticky issue of Compact-Impact reimbursement. Senator Frank Blas, Jr. has fought long and hard with the Federal Government to pay what he calls 'the the bare-minimum $400 million' in outstanding, un-reimbursed costs borne by GovGuam in hosting migrants from small, rural Pacific island nations.

The nations of these FAS citizens (citizens of Freely Associated States) bear benefit-laden Compacts of Free Association with the United States, including uninhibited resettlement rights to U.S. jurisdictions for their citizens. Perhaps ironically, the arrangement includes certain defense rights for the United States in the FAS region, according to Wikipedia.

Guam has traditionally been a favorite destination of FAS migrants. This is owing to its proximity to FAS states such as the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands; it is also due to Guam's cultural similarities to the FAS region; and to Guam's relatively robust economic and educational opportunities compared to those available in the less-populous, less-developed Freely Associated States.

The large-scale migration of FAS citizens has become a costly burden for Guam's infrastructure, public healthcare, and social institutions -- especially in light of slack reimbursements from a U.S. government that allows the migration to continue unfettered. And yet even the small federal funding Guam does receive for FAS absorption isn't entirely safe from reprogramming.

An Unwelcome Surprise

In a strange twist of fate, on Friday morning it was learned that the Department of the Interior had authorized Governor Felix Camacho to loan $5 million of Guam's paltry $16.8 million in annual Compact reimbursements to the Guam Department of Education at a time when that money has already been spoken for. The deal had been hammered out by Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs Tony Babauta and Guam Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo, reportedly without Governor Camacho's input.

Knowing that the limited reimbursement funding was programmed to underwrite capital improvements and social services -- and that he could expect no guarantee of timely repayment from Guam DOE, Governor Camacho rightly turned the arrangement down.

Through a pattern of financial mismanagement, the local school system has lost its control over the funding it receives from U.S. DOE. That authority won't be restored until a third-party administrator is appointed to manage the school system's federal funds.

A Bigger Perspective

Blas is fighting a worthy war for reimbursement. And despite financial mismanagement by school system administrators, Guam's public school students, including those from the FAS, deserve consistent financing for the federal programs that educate them. But it will take better overall financial management by the likes of Guam DOE and consistently unwasteful budgetary responsibility on the part of the Legislature to repair Guam's credibility with the U.S. government.

This is important because the federal system has the means and the know-how, if not the attention span, to get things done for players with mutual interests -- not only in democratic freedom -- but in the price of accountability that must be paid for this ideal.

Although the U.S. Government may not be entirely accountable with regard to Compact-Impact reimbursements to the Territory, the United States is arguably the world's most benificent nation. It is also inarguably the world's most powerful. Benificence and power go hand in hand and enable the U.S. to pick and choose what it wants to prioritize.

Insofar as a generous hegemon prefers to deal with players that have something valuable to offer in return, it behoves Guam to get its priorities straight and its house in order as the Department of Defense prepares to break ground on its $15 billion buildup this summer.

Michael Rudolph contributed to this analysis.

 Draft Impact Statement Raises Questions About Military's 'One Guam' Buildup Promise

Draft Impact Statement Raises Questions About Military's 'One Guam' Buildup Promise

Will It Be As Good For Guam As It Is For The Pentagon? You Decide...

Written by Jeff Marchesseault, Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Friday, 20 November 2009 16:30

GUAM - The federal government's ten-volume Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the $15 billion Guam Buildup has been published online. Hard copies will be available in public libraries and mayor's offices this weekend. The public is invited to read and react to the DEIS for the next 90 days. It remains to be seen how meaningfully and responsibly the Department of Defense will keep its promise this week to pursue a "one Guam concept" that embraces the quality of life on base and off.

It'll be the job of everyday citizens to speak up and be a part of the process. Like it or not, the military buildup is coming. And it will fundamentally change everyday life on Guam. Opportunity abounds for the entrepreneurial, the determined and the adventurous.

Volumes include an Overview of Proposed Actions and Alternatives, plus information on the Marine Corps Relocation to Guam, Marine Corps Training on Tinian, Aircraft Carrier Berthing, Army Air and Missile Defense Task Force, Utilities and Roadway Projects, Mitigation, Preferred Alternatives and Cumulative Impacts, plus an Executive Summary.

Last count was 8,000 pages. But don't overwhelm yourself. Stake out a strategy. Skim through the 40-page Executive Summary and let it lead you to the topics you're interested in learning more about. Happy reading!

EIS: 79,178 new people on island by 2014

EIS: 79,178 new people on island by 2014

By Erin Thompson • Pacific Daily News • November 21, 2009

The population of Guam will reach 267,665 people at the peak of the military buildup, with 79,178 new people coming to the island by 2014, according to new estimates released in the Defense Department's buildup Draft Environmental Impact Statement yesterday.

Without the military buildup, planners estimate that Guam's population would remain at 190,042 in 2014, and only reach 222,166 people by 2030.

Bureau of Statistics and Plans Director Tony Lamorena said he was surprised by the estimated increase in population, which includes 33,126 off-island workers indirectly related to the buildup arriving by 2014. Lamorena said the last number he was given was an initial estimate in October of 53,786 for total off-island military personnel, dependents, workers and their families.

"The numbers we've been working with are obviously much lower than these numbers. It throws a monkey wrench into all our planning processes," said Lamorena, who had not yet reviewed the draft EIS document.

The increase in population will have significant impacts on the availability of affordable housing, according to Michael Duenas, chief planner for the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority.

"Were we looking just at natural growth, we would have to look at increasing the supply of housing targeted for families," said Duenas. GHURA provides housing opportunities for people at 80 percent or below of median household income -- approximately 52 percent of the island.

Using estimates that assumed only 58,000 to 61,000 new people would be living on Guam from the Guam Comprehensive Housing Study prepared in August this year, Duenas said GHURA would need to add 3,300 to 3,800 new affordable units by 2014.

Using the lower figures provided in the August study, Duenas said to meet total demand for the buildup, including low- and moderate-income units, Guam would need to increase its total production capacity for new houses by 2,600 units per year. According to Duenas, the private housing industry builds anywhere from 400 to 1,000 units per year, including homes for sales, rentals and single -- and multi-family residences.

Anthony Godwin, principal broker with Today's Realty and president-elect of the Guam Association of Realtors, said the private housing sector in Guam is ramping up to meet the needs.

"Whatever the requirements are, we will be able to meet their needs," said Godwin, who said the buildup would likely affect property values on the island. Godwin said he expects property values will only increase to the "general affordability of the population."

EIS gives clues to buildup activities

EIS gives clues to buildup activities

By Amritha Alladi • Pacific Daily News • November 21, 2009

Within the thousands of pages of Draft Environmental Impact Statement documents that became public for the first time yesterday, clues abound as to how Guam could change with the looming military buildup.

Here's a quick glance of some of the proposed changes on Guam if the draft becomes final -- a decision likely reached at some point next year, according to military time lines:

# An Army missile defense's administrative offices will share a vast location in the Finegayan area with the preferred Marine Corps base in Finegayan;

# A population boom that, at the height of the military buildup activities, will add 79,178 people to the island -- approximately half the number of people currently on the island;

# Military projects that will require between 600 and 1,100 acres of mostly military-owned and other federal government-controlled land; and

# More waterfront space and support facilities for aircraft carrier visits.

The EIS gives Guam residents the first concrete idea of how Guam is expected to change as a result of the military buildup on Guam.

The population explosion itself is expected to strain an already overburdened utilities, which would require infrastructure improvements -- if the Defense Department continues to be a customer of both the Guam Waterworks Authority and Guam Power Authority.

The preferred utilities option for the buildup, according to the EIS, is for the Defense Department to become a bigger customer of GWA and GPA.

For solid waste, the DOD will use the existing landfill at Apra Harbor until the new public landfill at Layon, which the local government is paying for, is ready, the EIS states.

The buildup on Guam, according to the EIS, may include:

# the shift of 8,600 Marines and their 9,000 dependents from Okinawa to Guam;

# the construction of a new deep wharf in Apra Harbor to support a transient nuclear powered aircraft carrier; and

# development of facilities and infrastructure to support relocating about 600 military personnel and their 900 dependents to establish and operate an Army Missile Defense Task Force facility in the Finegayan region.

Marine base, housing

Of eight alternatives that were originally generated for the main area designated for the Marines' headquarters and administrative support, housing, open storage, as well as retail, school, recreational, medical and day care services -- four continue to be analyzed.

All of them would take anywhere from 600 to 1,100 acres of land that has, so far, been established to protect endangered or threatened species of wildlife and vegetation in the Overlay Refuge in Finegayan, according to the EIS.

The Defense Department prefers using existing DOD land parcels from the Naval Computer Telecommunications Stations in Finegayan, South Finegayan, and long-term leasing of Federal Aviation Administration lands for the main Marine base area. This area would be bound on the north by the Andersen Air Force Base and Route 3, the cliffline and Philippine Sea to the west, a limited residential development on the east, and the Harmon Village residential area to the south, according to the EIS.

This alternative would develop just over half of the Overlay Refuge area.

But the DOD has also suggested three alternatives to this arrangement that would infringe less on the Overlay Refuge and instead place military housing facilities and quality of life services outside the main Marine base area. These alternatives could lead to the removal of the Navy golf course or the acquisition or long-term lease of private lands in the Harmon Annex.
Army missile defense task force

The Defense Department would prefer that the Marine Corps base in Finegayan share a location with the proposed administrative offices and support facilities for the planned Army Missile Defense Task Force, according to the EIS.

This option would require the housing and headquarters for the Army facility to be "co-located" in the eastern portion of the NCTS in Finegayan, adjacent to the proposed Marine Corps housing and administrative units. Housing units for the task force personnel could be co-located with Marine Corps units in South Finegayan, the EIS states.

Another possible site for the task force headquarters and all of its housing units could potentially be placed within Navy property in Barrigada, according to the EIS.

Air field, aircraft carrier facilities

The DOD plans to construct an airfield at the North Ramp of Andersen Air Force Base while the South Ramp would serve as an air embarkation facility.

There are no alternative sites for the construction of the airfield at Andersen.

On the other hand, there are two alternatives being considered for aircraft carrier berthing, both of which require widening of the Outer Apra Harbor by 600 feet.

The DOD has shown preference for the construction of a wharf at Polaris Point, which calls for dredging of 600 feet in the Inner Apra Harbor to meet aircraft carrier requirements.

An alternative location at the former Navy ship repair facility would meet the aircraft carrier requirements without having to dredge.

The document states that damage caused to the reef as a result of dredging may be mitigated with watershed management projects and artificial reef construction. Both wharf locations are on Navy submerged lands and would affect man-made coastlines, according to the EIS.

Guam residents have until Feb. 17, 2010, to comment and provide feedback on the draft EIS.

Draft EIS

Draft EIS



Download the draft EIS documents by clicking here:

http://www.guambuildupeis.us/documents