[CPEO-IRF] Coast Guart questions Otis ANG Base (MA) closure

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

It's unusual for another federal agency to testify publicly against a 
proposed base closure, but in response to the proposed closure of Cape 
Cod's Otis Air National Guard Base, it appears that there is no other 
avenue for the Coast Guard to defend its interests. The Defense 
Department did not consult with other federal agencies, even those 
likely to be directly affected, before issuing its BRAC recommendations. 
Now, since decision-making is in the hands of an independent commission, 
the only way for the Coast Guard to offer input is through contact with 
the BRAC Commission.

I find the rules on inter-agency consultation mystifying. If someone at 
EPA even thinks about perchlorate, he/she seems to need approval from 
the Pentagon. But in preparing the BRAC proposal, the Pentagon held its 
cards close. Perhaps that was the only practical route, but it 
undermined the unitary theory of the executive branch, which says that 
the agencies reporting to the President should speak publicly with one 
voice.

The Otis situation also highlights a much broader accounting problem. 
When one federal agency shares a facility with another agency, it does 
not necessarily charge the tenant the full cost of its presence. The 
tenant benefits as long as the relationship lasts, but when the 
arrangement terminates, the tenant is stuck, like the Coast Guard at 
Otis, between moving or paying.

I know, it's all one budget, but in truth Congress finds it much easier 
to fund the Defense Department to operate unneeded facilities that to 
appropriate necessary funds to other, politically less popular, agencies.

LS

**********

Coast Guard attacks Otis closure plan

By KEVIN DENNEHY
Cape Cod Times
July 2, 2005

The U.S. Coast Guard is challenging the Pentagon's decision to shut down 
Otis Air National Guard Base, saying the loss of its Upper Cape neighbor 
would cost it millions of dollars each year.

The loss of Otis would leave Air Station Cape Cod to cover the $17 
million it costs to run the airfield it shares with Air National Guard, 
and perhaps the $1.2 billion environmental cleanup costs, Acting Coast 
Guard Commandant Terry M. Cross, a vice admiral, wrote in a letter to 
the Cape's federal congressional delegation.

And for the Coast Guard, which is part of the Department of Homeland 
Security, these are costs it just can't afford, he wrote.

''There is no funding within the Coast Guard's existing budget to 
support this effort,'' he wrote.

The Coast Guard is one of several agencies that shares space with the 
Air Guard on the Massachusetts Military Reservation, including the Army 
National Guard, Cape Cod Air Force Station home to the PAVE PAWS radar 
station, the national cemetery and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/coastguard2.htm



--
Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org

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