[CPEO-MEF] Non-BRAC Closures

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The dramatic decline in environmental funding for fiscal year 2000 BRAC
(Base Realignment and Closure) facilities suggests that the communities
impacted by such cuts organize to restore and recoup the money next
year. However, it may be time to consider a structural change in the
BRAC account.

With Defense Secretary Cohen's proposal for a new, systematic round of
base closure stalled in Congress, we are likely to see an increase in
non-"BRAC" closures. The communities affected by such closures need
fast-track cleanup just as much as BRAC communities, so it would make
sense to expand the BRAC account to cover cleanup and other transitional
environmental expenses at all closing bases.

Even at the height of BRAC, the military was closing many small
installations outside of the deliberative process of the BRAC
commission. Typically, these closures attracted little attention because
they employed few voters. The armed services were generally able to
address the environmental problems at those installations because costs
were low. In a few high profile non-BRAC closures, such as Kaho'olawe,
Congress earmarked funds for the environmental response.

Now we are starting to see larger, more challenging non-BRAC closures,
such as the Badger and Sunflower Army Ammunition Plants and likely, even
under the most conservative scenario, the Naval Ammunition Facility on
Vieques. Those closures require an accelerated response, whether the
predominant reuses entail development or preservation, because the
property is being transferred. But it's hard to focus the funds within
the non-BRAC environmental restoration accounts.

The solution is simple: any property being surplused by the military
should be eligible for environmental money from the BRAC accounts. Money
should be programmed, within those accounts, to accommodate the more
rapid pace of cleanup associated with closure. And the law should be
drawn carefully to avoid gaps - such as with BRAC round IV - when
coverage transitions from one account to the other.

I expect a couple more years of political bickering over how to reduce
the military's base structure. There's no need to retard cleanup while
those issues are being resolved.

Lenny
-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/968-1126
lsiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org



You can find archived listserve messages on the CPEO website at http://www.cpeo.org/lists/index.html.

_____________________________________________________________
We've got email newsletters galore!  Check 'em out at Topica.
http://www.topica.com/t/5