The United States is nearly ready to respond to the Bermuda Government's position on the closure of the US Bases.

Capt. Tim Bryan, Commanding Officer of the US Naval Air Station, said the American response was "winding its way through the Washington bureaucracy.'' It had been looked at by the State Department, the Federal Aviation Administration, the US Coast Guard, and the National Aeronautic and Space Administration. Inside the Pentagon, it had been reviewed by the Navy and the Air Force.

Capt. Bryan said he had received "very favourable comments from all quarters'' to his own recommendations on how to respond.

Once all the parties had "signed off,'' it would be returned to Capt. Bryan, who would present it to the Government of Bermuda.

The US has closed the US Naval Annex and US Naval Facility in Southampton and is to withdraw from the US Naval Air Station at St. David's on September 1.

Bermuda must take over running of the Airport from the US Navy on June 1.

While Government's hard-line stance on the environment was expected to be a major sticking point, "I have found that most of the aspects (of the closure) seem to be contentious,'' Capt. Bryan said. The environment was "but one aspect.'' For example, Bermuda wanted to scrap the original 99-year lease signed by the United Kingdom and the US during the Second World War.

The Americans, who planned to keep the NASA tracking station at Cooper's Island, wanted the existing rent-free lease continued for that property.

He expected a meeting of the US and Bermuda negotiating teams could be held in early April.

The talks are being observed by Deputy Governor Mr. Peter Willis, representing the UK.

Committees handling air operations and other technical aspects of the Base handover have been meeting continuously.

But the two sides have not met in a "plenary session'' since December, when Bermuda presented its position on the Base closures, which was sharply at odds with the US stance.

Bermuda called for a major environmental clean-up and completely rejected a $140-million value the Americans had placed on "improvements'' at the Naval Air Station and Naval Annex.