[CPEO-MEF] Summary of Marine "Encroachment" Testimony

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The Senate Armed Services Committee March 20, 2001 hearing on
"Encroachment" defined the emerging tension between military training
needs on the one hand and the twin "threats" of urbanization and habitat
preservation on the other. This tension promises to be the most
significant battleground between the military and
environmental/community interests over the next decade, and we at CPEO
believe it deserves careful attention before the conflict gets out of
hand. I will be summarizing the prepared testimony of each of the four
military services, beginning here with the written remarks of Major
General Edward Hanlon, Jr., Commanding General, Marine Corps Base Camp
Pendleton. He said:

"Your Marines' success of the battlefield depends on having assured
access to training ranges and installations on the land, sea, air and
the communications spectrums. However, our ability to train effectively
is being slowly eroded by encroachment on many fronts. Urbanization,
increased environmental restrictions; competition with civilian demands
for airspace, land, sea space, and radio frequencies threaten the
long-term, sustained us of Marine Corps bases and ranges. Encroachment
is a serious and growing challenge. Solutions are possible - we can
achieve a balance between military readiness, encroachment pressures,
and stewardship responsibilities."

Hanlon addressed the tension between training requirements and the
preservation of critical habitat: "The undeveloped areas on our
installations support so many endangered species because we are very
attentive land managers stemming from the Marine Corps' decades-long
recognition that we must be good stewards of our training lands, to
ensure they are available to train future generations of Marines. Our
stewardship commitment predates the Endangered Species Act." At Camp
Lejeune, North Carolina, Hanlon said that the Marines have partnered
with other organizations, including environmental advocacy groups, to
meet their training needs while protecting nine endangered species,
including two species of sea turtle and the red-cockaded woodpecker. At
Camp Pendleton and the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, both in
southern California,  the Marines have worked out agreements with the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect 17 and 10 endangered species,
respectively. However the Natural Resources Defense Council and a
building industry association have taken Fish and Wildlife to court,
insisting that large sections of both bases be designated critical habitat.

Hanlon briefly discussed the difficulties posed by the Clean Air Act,
particularly as it applied to fog oil, smoke, and other deliberate
obscurants. In particular, he noted, "The Marine Corps and the other
military services overcame this issue by obtaining a statutory exemption
under California law that allows the use of obscurants for training at
military ranges in California."

However, he argued, "Most encroachment issues result from population
growth and urbanization." Though his own base has for decades been the
primary obstacle to the merger of San Diego and Los Angeles into one
huge "megalopolis," Hanlon presented examples from the southeast U.S.
The city of Beaufort, South Carolina, proposes to allow development near
the Marine Corps Air Station there. New residents are expected heighten
the chorus of complaints about noise from the facility. Transportation
development, now under study, is likely to impact the Marine Corps Base
at Quantico, Virginia. At Camp Lejeune, "Two recently approved housing
developments are currently under construction within 2500 meters of two
of the new Greater Sandy Run Area ranges, which will compound the noise
complaint problem." Hanlon said that the Marines "identify appropriate
land uses" for areas immediately surrounding air stations, but he
implied that local governments don't always zone in conformance with the
military's plans. He concluded, "Absent appropriate zoning restrictions,
buffer land acquisition is out sole remedy to legitimate noise complaints."

Hanlon argued that encroachment and environmental restrictions are
making it difficult for the Marines to train, in partnership with the
Navy, as a "single cohesive entity." He said, "They are forced to train
piecemeal, separated by time and distance; often never 'tying it
together' prior to deploying." He singled out the restrictions on the
Navy range on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques:

"Vieques is the only location on the East Coast that can support live
fire training and maneuver on the scale necessary to maintain [Marine
Air Ground Task Force] combat readiness. [Marine Expeditionary Units]
have resorted to sending their [Naval Surface Fire Support] personnel to
train in Scotland with [Carrier Battles Groups] enroute to the
Mediterranean without the benefit of coordinating the training and
application of fires with the rest of the [Amphibious Ready Group] and
[Marine Expeditionary Unit]. As a result,  [Amphibious Ready Groups] and
[Marine Expeditionary Units] train in an environment that does not
support combined arms operations prior to deployment."

At Camp Lejeune and Camp Pendleton, the presence of endangered species
is severely restricting amphibious operations. Though sensitive habitat
covers only about five percent of Camp Lejeune, it's located on those
areas - such as beaches - that the Marines need most. At Camp Pendleton,
only one mile of approximately 17 miles of beach is open for
unrestricted training.

On behalf of the Marines, Hanlon laid out a three-pronged management strategy:

1. The Marines will educate the public and engage other government agencies.

2. The Marines want "legislative clarification" of environmental laws.
Though Hanlon said they don't  want a "rollback," they want Congress to
"consider the unique nature of military activities when developing or
reauthorizing [environmental] laws."

3. The Marines Corps wants "to acquire additional land around some of
its installations and ranges to protect them from additional
urbanization pressures."

Hanlon concluded, "In light of [its] record, the Marine Corps needs
support of its unique requirements considered by all levels of
government when developing and implementing federal statutes, as well as
local, state, and federal land use and air space policies and practices.
In recognizing those needs, I am confident that we can achieve and
maintain the appropriate balance between military readiness and
competing demands for scarce resources."

(As we announced before, Hanlon's testimony and those of his
counterparts from the other armed services can be downloaded from
http://www.senate.gov/~armed_services/hearings/2001/r010320.htm.)


-- 


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

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