The Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP)/Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) Regulatory Context

Environmental-response activities initiated by the Department of Defense (DoD) at several military installations in the 1970s evolved into the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP). The Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) component of DERP is managed and executed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Under FUDS, local USACE districts address response actions related to unexploded ordnance (UXO), discarded military munitions (DMM), and munitions constituents (MC) originating from UXO, DMM, or other military munitions.

The DERP/FUDS program follows the guidelines established in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The overall FUDS process is illustrated in the flowchart below.



The Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP)

The Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) was established in 2001, when the DoD issued new management guidance for DERP. As a new program category under DERP, MMRP addresses environmental health and safety hazards associated with UXO, DMM, and MC on both current and former military sites, as a complement to the Installation Restoration Program (IRP) that has been the Army's primary cleanup program within DERP since the 1980s.

In 2003 the Army completed a Range/Site Inventory, which evaluated former training ranges and munitions sites to identify those sites eligible for MMRP. A protocol using a risk-management approach is being developed to establish priorities for response to the sites identified for MMRP. Generally, those sites that present a greater relative risk to human health, safety, or the environment will be addressed before sites that present less risk.

The USACE, Los Angeles District, provides overall coordination for the field actions and reporting activities related to the current effort at the former Camp Ibis.

In conducting the current project activities, the USACE will work closely with:

• The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC)
• The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Needles Field Office
• Private landowners

For More Information
A wealth of information is available on the DoD Environmental Management Office Web site.