rH B- 3B | cs UNITER STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 408336 . R. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240 JAN 17 1969 Dear Mr. Chairman: This is in further reference to Acting Secretary Black's letter of November 8, 1968, with which he enclosed a copy of the proposed Bikini resettlement program resulting from the President's instruction that the three agencies, Interior, Defense, and the Atomic Energy Commission, cooperate in effecting the return of the Bikini people to their home atoll. That proposed program hes had some further review and discussions among representatives of our respective agencies. It includes, however, as an integral part, an estimate of the work of clearing the atoll supplied at our request by the Atomic Energy Commission. amounted to $1,200,000. The estimate The scope of work and the planning assumptions in that estimate are satisfactory to Interior and the Trust Territory and have, as noted, been incorporated as an integral part of the resettle- ment program. Acting Secretery Black's letter of November 8 stated that implementation of the program will require our continued cooperation. The Department of Defense and the AEC have conducted operations in the Bikini area in the past and have essential skills and capabilities in the kind of work involved in clearing of the atoll that neither the Interior Department nor the Trust Territory Government possesses. Further, I note that the atoll is under Defense Department jurisdiction at this time under the existing use and occupancy agreement. In the interest of most expedi- tiously and economically setting about this necessary preliminary task, therefore, I wish formally to request the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Defense jointly to undertake the clean-up effort embodied in the Bikini program beginning in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 1969. This includes the removal of test-releted structures and debris which are unusable or unsafe and the clearing of vegetative overgrowth. Such an effort will require the use of $600,000 to be made available in fiscal . year 1969 in equal parts by the Defense Department and the AEC. I am | informed that each agency is making these funds available for this purpose. For our part, the Department of the Interior is requesting in the fiscal year 1970 Budget the appropriation of $1,700,000 for the Bikini resettleThis request includes $600,000 for the completion ofthe PEST COPY AVAILABLE Cpe fe toe al fa tye ye . ye. ES ea? rete AE LERGY end a Intas 4 Reals aban vf 3 Lo-C/-/ ment program.