The Defense Department and Environmental Protection Agency have agreed to resume the transfer of extra military vehicles to first responders, Navy Times reported Friday.Jeffrey Curtis, Defense Logistics Agency executive director for logistics operations support, told Navy Times that EPA permitted the transition of Humvees and mine resistant ambush protected vehicles to emergency personnel as long as DLA keeps the national security exemption titles for those vehicles.
Jeff Schogol writes the DLA suspended the transfer of those vehicles to first responders on June 19 after the agency learned that the exemption of vehicles from EPA standards becomes null when they are passed to first responders.
Curtis told the publication that the DoD is able to operate the vehicles through a national security exemption.
Navy Times reports that 25 lawmakers led by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wrote to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel insisting on the importance of the vehicles to firefighters and other first responders.
