The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is conducting environmental response activities at Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) in accordance with Engineer Regulation (ER) 200-3-1 and the DoD Management Guidance for the Defense Environmental Response Program (DERP). USACE is conducting these activities under the provisions of CERCLA, Executive Orders 12580 and 13016, and the National Contingency Plan (NCP). As such, USACE is required to conduct remedial preliminary assessments (PA) to evaluate hazardous substance releases or threatened releases from eligible FUDS.
USACE is evaluating FUDS historically used for military training and testing under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program's Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP). Based on historical records, these FUDS may contain munitions and explosives of concern (MEC) (including unexploded ordnance (UXO), discarded military munitions (DMM), and explosive-contaminated soil) or munitions constituents (MC). To date, USACE has completed its initial inventory of MMRP FUDS, as required by Section 311 of the FY02 Defense Appropriations (Public Law 107-107). This effort, commonly known as the range inventory, included reviewing completed Archives Search Reports (ASR), locating the ranges and other MMR areas (as documented or planned for construction) and populating additional required data fields in a central database. Completion of the ASR constitutes completion of the PA phase. USACE expects to complete PAs and populate the range inventory data fields for FUDS in the initial MMRP inventory by the end of FY07. As new MMRP FUDS are identified and added to the inventory, USACE expects to complete PAs and data field population efforts within two years of adding the new property.
Military Munitions Response Program-Site Investigation (MMRP-SI)
In 2004, the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment (ODUSD(I&E)) established a goal of completing an SI for each Munitions Response Site (MRS) in it's inventory by the end of Fiscal Year 2010. DoD established this goal to ensure that all MRSs are adequately assessed and prioritized for further action. The SI is a critical step in identifying and assessing the potential hazards present and collecting the data necessary for determining priorities for further action. The SI is also important for developing a conceptual site model that leads to design of necessary response actions.
USACE's primary objective for the SI is to determine whether an MMRP FUDS project warrants further munitions response or that no further action should be taken on the part of DoD. Using existing MRS information as a basis, USACE is conducting reconnaissance inspections and collecting environmental samples as well as other site-specific data to meet this and other SI objectives.
