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Base Closure and Property Transfer at Federal Facilities
Department of Defense
(DoD) Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 2005
BRAC Commission’s
final report to the President (PDF, 758 pages, 9.45MB)
The purpose of this Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) (PDF, 12 pages, 46KB) file is to establish responsibilities and funding for the US Environmental Protection Agency's assistance and support in accelerating environmental restoration and cleanup decisions in support of reuse at selected Department of Defense (DoD) BRAC Rounds I-IV installations.
Under the Base Realignment and Closure Act of 2005 (BRAC) a number of communities have military installations that are slated to close. This guidebook titled, Turning Bases into Great Places: New Life for Closed Military Facilities outlines the steps for creating a redevelopment vision using smart growth principles.
FFRRO helps accelerate the transfer of federal property by coordinating environmental cleanup activities and crafting innovative property transfer arrangements. As part of this mission, FFRRO assists in the transfer of both Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) and National Priorities List (NPL) sites, also known as Superfund sites. Because these facilities often encompass hundreds of acres with buildings, roads and other infrastructure, their effective and efficient cleanup and reuse can play a pivotal role in a community’s economic development.
To elicit community input, smooth the transfer process and mitigate the social and economic impacts of a site closure, EPA and the lead federal agency responsible for cleanup often work with surrounding communities through advisory boards. Together, the lead federal agency, EPA, and state and local governments conduct environmental restoration activities as efficiently and effectively as possible to help the local community put the property into economically beneficial use as quickly as possible.
On August, 11, 2005, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission met to receive testimony from federal, state and local government officials, professional associations and the general public regarding the issues related to the appropriate environmental stewardship of installations recommended for closure and realignment. The meeting was open to the public. The following document is EPA’s written statement (PDF, 14 pages, 46KB). For additional information on the 2005 BRAC Commission please visit the BRAC Web site.
To sustain and streamline military readiness, the Department of Defense (DoD) recognized the need to close some installations and redefine the department’s mission at others. DoD and Congress agreed on four rounds of BRAC actions in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995. A large portion of BRAC property was designated for transfer to other federal agencies or non-federal entities, such as states, tribes, local governments or private industries. See BRAC program frequently asked questions (PDF, 4 pages, 59KB) for more information.
The Superfund NPL consists of the hazardous waste sites that pose the greatest threats in the United States and its territories, as determined through EPA’s Hazard Ranking System (HRS) or as identified by the state as their top priority site. Sites on the NPL may be in proposed, final or deleted status.
A proposed site is a facility that EPA has announced it intends to place on the NPL. This action is conducted as a regulatory rule-making process. The regulatory rule-making process requires public notice and comment.
A final NPL site is one where EPA has made a final regulatory decision, after receiving public comments, to place it on the NPL. In the context of federal facilities, this means that additional requirements now come in to play, such as EPA approval of remedies and the establishment of an interagency cleanup agreement commonly referred to as a Federal Facilities Agreement (FFA) or Interagency Agreement (IAG).
A deleted NPL site is one that has met all of the cleanup objectives specified in remedy selection documents. EPA may delete or partially delete sections of a site from final status on the NPL. To delete a site from the NPL requires that the state concur with EPA that cleanup actions have met the cleanup objectives specified in the remedy decision document and no further response is required to protect human health and the environment.
All federal facilities that are listed on the NPL pose actual or potential exposures to hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants and actual or potential human health or environmental risks posed by contamination at the facility. Whether an installation remains an active facility, or is closed or realigned under this round of BRAC, a designation as an NPL facility will not change until actual or potential risks to human health and the environment have been addressed. The BRAC list has no bearing on the hazards of the contamination present at the time of a base’s NPL designation. Likewise, the states’ environmental authorities and responsibilities are not affected by the BRAC designation.
The BRAC Commission’s recommendations for reshaping the Defense Department’s infrastructure and force structure officially took effect on November 9, 2005. The 2005 BRAC recommendations represent the most aggressive BRAC ever proposed, affecting more than 800 installations. BRAC Round Comparisons (PPT 51KB). Whether a DoD facility is included in the BRAC 2005 list for realignments and closures does not change EPA's core environmental responsibilities (PDF, 3 pages, 31KB) relative to characterization and cleanup of an installation on the Superfund NPL. At NPL sites, EPA remains responsible for:
- Negotiating cleanup agreements at the individual military service’s facilities;
- Overseeing the service’s investigation and response activities, including jointly selecting the cleanup remedies;
- Reviewing and commenting on remedies in the Five-Year Review reports; and
- Preparing documents for deleting certain parcels or entire areas of
land off the NPL.
For the facilities that will be affected by actions to be undertaken for BRAC 2005 , EPA will have additional responsibilities to be performed, which may include:
- Working with the service and local community to integrate reuse priorities
into the cleanup process to minimize the adverse economic impact;
- Providing assistance, as requested, on a service’s National Environmental Policy Act’s documentation;
- Concurring on a service’s identification and determination of uncontaminated parcels at NPL sites;
- Concurring on the property transfer, along with the governor of the
host state, when a service plans to transfer an NPL facility prior to
the completion of cleanup, (frequently referred to as “early transfer”).
As part of this process, EPA and the state must agree that, among other
things, the interim use of the property will not adversely affect the
ongoing cleanup, all necessary response actions will be taken, and the
intended use is consistent with protection of human health and the environment;
- Negotiating a cleanup agreement with the new owner and continuing to conduct normal oversight functions where a service is transferring cleanup responsibility to a third party at an NPL site;
- Certifying that remedies are working as they were intended at all sites where remedial actions are complete (known as “operating properly and successfully”); and
- Reviewing and commenting on the documentation that a property is suitable
to transfer by deed or lease to determine if the military service has
an adequate basis for issuing the required Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) covenant that all
necessary remedial action has been taken. This review also ensures that
the intended use is consistent with the protection of human health and
the environment, or that the likely effectiveness of lease restrictions
will be protective.
On May 13, 2005, DoD released the facilities it proposed to be closed, realigned or gain personnel under the BRAC 2005 process. The BRAC Commission reviewed DoD’s proposals for realignments and closures and on September 8, 2005, forwarded their final recommendations (PDF, 758 pages, 9.45MB) to the President. On September 15, 2005, the President forwarded those recommendations to Congress. The BRAC Commission’s recommendations, now finalized, will impact 72 installations that are also listed on the Superfund NPL, including the following six installations which are to be closed:
- Brunswick Naval Air Station
- Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant
- Malony U.S. Army Reserve Center (on Fort Devens)
- Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant
- Umatilla Army Depot
- Willow Grove Naval Air Station
2005
BRAC NPL Sites (PDF, 2 pages, 19KB)