URBAN ECONOMIC POLICY COMMITTEE

URGING EXPEDITIOUS REVITALIZATION OF CLOSED MILITARY BASES

WHEREAS, numerous communities throughout the nation are significantly impacted by base closure ranging from Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and Oakland Army Base in California to Fort McClellan in Alabama; and

WHEREAS, the Base Closure and Realignment Acts (BRAC) of 1988 and 1990 obligate the United States government to fully fund environmental restoration programs for closed and contaminated military installations; and

WHEREAS, current environmental program funding generally does not allow for expeditious remediation to standards that permit the full implementation of those communities' reuse plans; and

WHEREAS, perpetual land use controls are increasingly being considered by the military as a cost-saving substitute for active remediation, rather than being utilized as a tool to augment other remedial strategies; and

WHEREAS, due to inadequate funding in support of cleanup and transfer, numerous communities are unable to bring closed military bases back into productive reuse in a reasonable time frame;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors urges the Administration and Congress to fully fund the BRAC program to allow for base cleanup programs, including the clearance of unexploded ordinance, to occur expeditiously and to a level that permits the full implementation of community reuse plans.