Post-BRAC Cleanup Funding for BRAC Bases

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

POST-BRAC FUNDING FOR BRAC CLEANUP

Many of us living near closing or recently closed military bases have
been wondering how cleanup at those facilities will be funded once the
existing Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) accounts expire. Sen. Tom
Harkin (D-Iowa), a member of the Appropriations Committee, submitted
such a question for the record this year. Below are Harkin's question
and the responses from each:

HARKIN: It appears that cleanup will not be completed at many of the
sites before the BRAC funding is scheduled to end. What will the
services do to ensure adequate budgeting for remediation of these
facilities? Through what DOD accounts?

ARMY: The Army will address requirements for post FY01 BRAC
environmental cleanup in POM 99-03. Funds will be programmed in the
Army's environmental restoration account.

NAVY: The Department of Defense has not yet established a policy on this
issue. In the absence of specific DoD guidance, the Navy has increased
the ER,N account starting in FY2002 to accommodate cleanup of BRAC bases
that will not be completed by the time BRAC funding is scheduled to end.

AIR FORCE: The Air Force has fully funded the environmental cleanup of
BRAC bases using BRAC funding through FY2001. The Last Remediation In
Place is scheduled for FY2001 for all BRAC bases except one. Funding for
remediation and long term operations and maintenance of environmental
systems at BRAC facilities beyond 2001 has been planned. Those costs
will be covered through Air Force BRAC Appropriation and under the Air
Force Total Obligation Authority. The Air Force has projected future
cleanup costs at BRAC bases in the out years and will continue to
include them in the Defense Resource Allocation process.

(FY means fiscal year.)

Lenny Siegel
Director, SFSU CAREER/PRO (and Pacific Studies Center)
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/968-1126
lsiegel@igc.org