Japan and the United States have announced that they agreed "in substance" on a new accord that paves the way for on-site environmental surveys by Japanese authorities inside U.S. military bases in this country. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida says he will do his best to wrap up the new accord at an early date.
However, details of the agreement are still pending and it is not clear how much effective power will be given to local governments hosting the bases to probe possible environment problems inside the base premises. The effects of the planned accord will be in doubt unless it provides clear-cut powers to the local authorities.
The agreement effectively represents a response to Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima's call for an accord on local governments' environmental surveys inside U.S. bases as a quid pro quo for his go-ahead last year for land reclamation work needed for construction of a new facility on the coast of Nago in northern part of Okinawa Island to replace U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on the central part of the island.