[CPEO-MEF] "Closing Major Bases outside of BRAC Unlikely, Panetta Says"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[I'm sure that many host communities and their elected  
representatives are breathing easier, as the prospect for a new round  
of base closure soon seems to diminish. But as I've said before, I  
don't understand the attraction of having a "hollow" base in one's  
community, where activity and employment gradually fall but the  
property is off limits for economic recovery. - LS]

Closing Major Bases outside of BRAC Unlikely, Panetta Says

Defense Communities 360
April 2, 2012

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last week said major installations  
should be closed only through the BRAC process, a statement that  
should ease communities' concerns about the department’s intentions  
to shutter bases if Congress does not authorize new base closure rounds.

"There is some de minimis closures that we have the right to do under  
the law, but my view is that for the kind of major installation, that  
ought to be done through the BRAC process," Panetta said Friday  
during an informal press event aboard the USS Peleliu, off the coast  
of Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Panetta's comments should serve to clarify earlier remarks made by  
Dorothy Robyn, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and  
environment, at several Capitol Hill hearings over recent weeks.  
Robyn had told lawmakers that in the absence of obtaining  
congressional authorization to use BRAC, DOD "will be forced to use  
its existing authorities" to close or realign bases. She most likely  
was referring to 10 U.S.C. Sec. 2687, a statute allowing base  
closures and realignments to be carried out when a BRAC round is not  
in effect.


...

For the entire article, see
http://www.defensecommunities.org/headlines/closing-major-bases- 
outside-of-brac-unlikely-panetta-says/#

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope 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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