[CPEO-MEF] Base Closure Authority in Defense Act

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The following summary of the base closure provisions in the Defense
Authorization Act for fiscal year 2002, as reported by Conference
Committee, is from a December 12, 2001 House Armed Services Committee
press release available at
http://www.house.gov/hasc/pressreleases/2001/01-12-12confsummary.html

Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Authority. The conferees approved
the President's request for a round of base closures, but with revised
procedures to create a fair and objective process that places national
security as the principal objective, closes loopholes, and ensures that
BRAC decisions support military force structure and strategy.
Furthermore, the conferees agreed to delay the BRAC round until 2005 to
ensure that the U.S. economy has time to recover, DOD has time to define
its military strategy and requirements, and the federal government and
U.S. military have time to adjust budgets so that up-front BRAC costs do
not damage military modernization, readiness, or personnel requirements.
Details of the process are as follows:

In February 2004, the Secretary of Defense must submit to Congress a
detailed force structure plan, including end strengths and major
combatant units (e.g., Army divisions, Navy ships, Air Force air wings),
an infrastructure inventory that supports future U.S. military needs;

The Secretary of Defense must compare the force structure and
infrastructure inventory, and certify that proceeding with base closures
is necessary and justified. He must also certify that his
recommendations for base closures will result in annual net savings for
each of the services by 2011. Failure to do so will stop the BRAC process;

The President, in consultation with the congressional leadership, will
appoint nine members of the BRAC Commission, who will convene in March 2005;

In May 2005, the Secretary of Defense must submit to Congress, the BRAC
Commission, and the Federal Register a list of bases and facilities to
be closed;

The BRAC Commission will assess and may modify the plans of the
Secretary of Defense. In September 2005, the commission will submit to
the President a list of closure and realignment recommendations; and

Upon receiving the list, the President will have 15 days to accept or
reject the commission's entire list. If the President approves it,
Congress will have 45 days to approve or reject the entire list. If the
President rejects the list, the BRAC Commission will have 30 days to
consider the President's objections, make adjustments to the list, and
resubmit the list to the President. Upon receiving the resubmitted list,
the President will have another 15 days to approve or reject it. If
approved, Congress will have 45 days to approve or reject the entire list.

While the BRAC process approved by the conferees is similar to previous
base closure rounds, there are a number of important changes, including: 

"Military value" must be the primary evaluation factor to be used in the
base closure process;

"Military value" is defined in detail to ensure that valuable training
land, air, and sea space are not sacrificed for short-term budgetary
pressures, and that military readiness, strategy, and training
requirements are protected;

DOD and the BRAC Commission must consider the extent and timing of costs
and savings, the impact of potential environmental remediation costs,
and the impact on existing communities in the vicinity of military
installations when making closure and realignment decisions;

DOD may place closed bases into caretaker status (rather than disposing
of them) if those facilities may be needed in the future for national
security purposes or it is otherwise in DOD's interest;

The BRAC Commission may not add any military facility to the list of
facilities to be closed under the Secretary of Defense's infrastructure
plan unless a super-majority (seven of the nine commissioners) agrees to
do so. In contrast, the commission may remove a base from the closure
list by a simple-majority vote; and 

Loopholes in past BRAC legislation that allowed the decisions to be
politicized have been eliminated.


-- 


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: 650/961-8918
lsiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org

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