Summary

GAO evaluated the effectiveness of the air installation compatible use zones program by which the military services encourage compatible land use around airfields.

The air installations' studies have provided useful information for local governments to plan compatible land uses and for the Government to act on pending incompatible development. The air bases' efforts in cooperating with communities, reporting on the need for compatible land use, and making operational changes have, in most cases, been successful in lessening the impact of flight activities on base environs and in furthering land use needs. The approaches of both the Navy and the Air Force to acquiring property interests are sound in principle. Both policies must weigh the risks of dependence on local control of land use against the costs of purchasing land or land rights.