In Landmark Victory for Puerto Rico, Pierluisi Bill to Require Federal Cleanup of Culebra Set to Become Law

Washington, DC—Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi announced today that, after five years of persistent efforts, his bill to require the Department of Defense to remove dangerous military munitions from the Northwest Peninsula of Culebra, Puerto Rico is finally on track to become law.  The bill was included as Section 317 in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (NDAA), which was unveiled today by leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.  The bill is expected to be approved by both chambers and signed into law by President Obama before the end of the year. 

Enactment of the Resident Commissioner’s bill into law will constitute a major victory for Puerto Rico, in terms of both public safety and equitable treatment. 

Culebra, which is located 17 miles off of the east coast of Puerto Rico’s main island, was used as a military training range for over 70 years by the U.S. Navy.  In 1973, Congress enacted legislation directing the Navy to cease operations in Culebra.  In 1982, the federal government executed a deed that conveyed about 935 acres of land on Culebra to the government of Puerto Rico, for use as a public park or for public recreation. 

The property conveyed includes about 400 acres on the Northwest Peninsula that had been part of the Navy’s “bombardment zone” when the island was used as a training range.  These 400 acres, which are now managed by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, include world-famous beaches that are highly popular with residents and tourists.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—which is within the Department of Defense—is removing residual military munitions from limited areas of Culebra.  However, the Department of Defense contends that a provision in the 1973 law prohibits the use of any federal funds to decontaminate the 400 acres on the Northwest Peninsula.  The Department insists that this prohibition was not superseded by a 1986 federal law that specifically requires the Department of Defense to decontaminate its former military sites.

“As a result of this restrictive legal interpretation, the Northwest Peninsula is the only former defense site—of several thousand across the United States—that the Department of Defense contends it is barred by statute from decontaminating.  The status quo poses a threat to human safety, since this area of Culebra is visited by over 300,000 people a year and yet contains unexploded bombs that could cause grave harm,” said Pierluisi.

“Since arriving in Congress in 2009, I have worked to address this problem though the annual defense bill.  Although incremental progress was made, success ultimately proved elusive because of opposition from certain Members of Congress and, to my immense frustration, from the Department of Defense,” added the Resident Commissioner. 

However, Pierluisi refused to give up.  He tried again to rectify the situation this year, enlisting key congressional allies in the fight.  In May, the Resident Commissioner successfully offered an amendment to the House version of the NDAA, which would enable the Corps of Engineers to clean those areas within the 400-acre parcel where there is public access, namely all of Flamenco Beach, the adjoining campgrounds, a walking trail, Tamarindo Beach, and Carlos Rosario Beach.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York offered a similar amendment to the Senate version of the NDAA that was approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee, 20-6.

As the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees convened in recent weeks to reconcile the differences between the two versions of the NDAA, Pierluisi spearheaded a letter to these leaders that was signed by 39 bipartisan Members of Congress, 27 from the House and 12 from the Senate, urging the retention of the Culebra language in the final bill.  The Resident Commissioner also led a bipartisan letter to the Department of Defense’s representative on the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico, urging the Department to support, rather than oppose, the Culebra provision.

These efforts, at long last, have borne fruit.  Section 317 of this year’s NDAA modifies both the 1973 federal law and the 1982 deed in order to eliminate any and all legal obstacles to the Department of Defense removing military munitions from the publicly-accessible areas of the Northwest Peninsula.  

“I am very pleased with this result and want to thank all of those Members of Congress from both parties who joined with me to advocate for this provision.  I want to express my deepest gratitude to Senators Blumenthal and Gillibrand, who have been tremendously effective partners in this effort.  I also want to thank Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Congressman Don Young of Alaska for their steadfast, principled support.  In addition, I want to thank Congressman José Serrano, who fought alongside me on this issue, just as we fight side-by-side together on so many other issues where Puerto Rico is not being treated fairly,” said Pierluisi.

"Finally, I want to thank the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees for including this provision in the final bill, namely Congressman Adam Smith of Washington, Congressman Howard ‘Buck’ McKeon of California, Congressman Rob Wittman of Virginia, Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo of Guam, and Senator Carl Levin of Michigan,” added the Resident Commissioner.