ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY

DoD's environmental program evolved in the 1980s with strong bipartisan support for ensuring that military and other federal installations comply with the same environmental laws as the rest of America. As early as 1981, President Reagan promoted environmental policy by signing several initiatives, including the Defense Environmental Restoration Account (1984). Of the numerous other pieces of environmental legislation signed into law by President Reagan, the most notable was the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, which requires the federal government, including DoD, to comply with and fully incorporate civilian environmental cleanup standards.

President Reagan frequently expressed his Administration's dedication to promoting conservation and stewardship, developing environmental technologies (on both national and international levels), and urging Congress to keep hazardous waste cleanup a high priority. This enthusiasm for the environment was carried over into the Bush Administration in 1989, culminating in the passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments in 1992.

During the Bush Administration, Secretary of Defense Cheney articulated the basic components of the Environmental Security Program in a 1989 memorandum to the Service Secretaries: "I want the Department of Defense to be the federal leader in agency environmental compliance and protection. We must demonstrate commitment with accountability for responding to the Nation's environmental agenda. I want every Command to be an environmental standard by which federal agencies are judged."

Building on the commitments of Presidents Reagan and Bush and Secretary of Defense Cheney, President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and Secretary Perry created the office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Environmental Security in 1993. Their goal was to focus and energize the environmental efforts of the defense agencies and Services and to fully incorporate environmental security into the U.S. defense mission. In short, environmental security is now an essential part of the U.S. defense mission and a high priority for DoD.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY PROGRAM

DoD's Environmental Security Program fulfills four overriding and interconnected goals. The first is to comply with the law. The second goal is to support the military readiness of the U.S. armed forces by ensuring continued access to the air, land, and water needed for training and testing. The third goal is to improve the quality of life for military personnel and their families by protecting them from environmental, safety, and health hazards and maintaining quality military facilities. The fourth goal is to contribute to weapon systems that have improved performance, lower cost, and better environmental characteristics. DoD invests in pollution prevention to reduce the cost of cleanup and compliance, to promote technology innovations to obtain better and cheaper environmental performance, and to support community revitalization with fast-track cleanup of closed or realigned facilities.

The Environmental Security Program fulfills its mission through eight programs:

• Pollution prevention to stop pollution at the source whenever possible and properly manage, recycle, or dispose of potential pollutants.

• Technology to fulfill all DoD environmental security objectives more efficiently and economically.

• Safety and health protection of civilian and military personnel and their families.

• Conservation to protect and preserve the natural and cultural resources DoD holds in public trust.

• Compliance to ensure that DoD operations adhere to environmental, safety, and occupational health laws, regulations, and standards.

• Cleanup to restore DoD facilities and reduce risk from contaminated sites.

• Explosive safety to prevent explosive incidents and to protect people, equipment, and facilities from the effects of accidental explosion.

• Pest management to protect DoD personnel from vector-borne disease and to assure proper use of pest control methods.

SIGNIFICANT STEPS FORWARD

Over the past year, the Environmental Security Program has taken significant steps forward. For example, the Department now devotes more environmental cleanup resources to actual cleanup than study. Other important steps DoD has taken include the following:

• Streamlining duplicative cleanups and compliance requirements wherever possible.

• Supporting the acquisition process to ensure DoD's systems, supplies, and processes are cost effective and environmentally sound.

• Testing and demonstrating innovative technologies at cleanup sites on defense installations.

• Identifying endangered species and creating inventories of cultural resources to ensure training and testing can continue on military installations.

In this vein, DoD is building a foundation of cooperation and, most importantly, trust with the public and environmental regulators. The major elements of Environmental Security -- pollution prevention, technology, safety and occupational health, conservation, compliance, cleanup, explosive safety, and pest management -- are discussed below.

PREVENTING POLLUTION

The Department is strongly committed to a pollution prevention program that affects every aspect of its activities. Through this program, liabilities for future cleanup and additional expenses for complying with environmental, safety, and health laws can be dramatically reduced. Further, many of the pollution prevention projects yield a better product in a more efficient manner. In short, the pollution prevention program reduces costs, improves readiness, and protects the environment.

The Department is committed to becoming a leader in pollution prevention. These efforts require changing current acquisition practices, reviewing procedures and materials used in the maintenance and operation of existing weapon systems, supporting vigorous research and development programs to develop environmentally benign alternatives, and carefully managing hazardous materials and resulting emissions.

The Department has made significant progress during FY 1994 by:

• Working closely with the private sector to adopt National Aerospace Standard 411, Hazardous Materials Management Program. This standard will help reduce hazardous material usage and generation of pollutants during manufacture, operation, and maintenance of major weapon systems.

• Establishing an industrial-scale demonstration factory where clean technologies can be tested under realistic conditions.

• Developing a Hazardous Substance Management System, a defense-wide automated network to enable installations to track toxic materials from cradle to grave. This will ensure these materials are used, controlled, and disposed of properly.

• Encouraging the procurement of products with recycled -- or recyclable -- components. This will help institutionalize the recycling ethic as both recyclers and manufacturers realize that a large and active customer is interested in obtaining products made with recyclable content.

In FY 1995, the Department will continue to incorporate environmental security considerations into all aspects of weapon system acquisition, maintenance, and operations. Life-cycle costs should be considered during major milestone reviews for new weapon systems. This effort will ensure that full environmental security costs associated with maintaining and disposing systems are considered in addition to initial purchase price. In addition, an extremely formidable task is to review maintenance and operational practices for existing weapon systems and to identify more environmentally benign approaches where possible. To this end, the Joint Logistics Commanders recently formed a group to help disseminate information among weapon system managers and to coordinate research on common issues. The Department's goal is to curb its use of hazardous materials and its releases of pollutants to as near zero as feasible.

TECHNOLOGY: THE CUTTING EDGE

Advanced technology can improve all aspects of defense environmental security -- a greater ability to prevent pollution at the source; more creative conservation initiatives; compliance at less cost; and faster, cheaper, and more effective cleanup. For example, DoD is supporting the development of advanced environmental technologies for defense and commercial use, such as a nontoxic coating for ships, which reduces maintenance costs by preventing barnacles and zebra mussels from attaching to the hull, increases ship availability, and is environmentally benign.

The Department's strategy is to match environmental technology investments to real DoD needs; to identify technologies which provide the highest payback; to stimulate innovative dual-use technology development; and to expedite the use and commercialization of these technologies. Helping to execute this strategy is the DoD Environmental Security Technology Program which established a process to coordinate, integrate, and prioritize environmental technology research and development projects across the military departments. In FY 1995, the program will implement a tri-Service environmental quality research and development strategic plan.

DoD's technology investments include the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, which stimulates the development of technologies to meet both military and dual-use environmental security goals. In FY 1994, Congress established the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program, which provides funding for technology validation and demonstration by private industry and federal agencies at military installations. DoD also is testing generic cleanup remedies at four National Testbed sites: McClellan Air Force Base (AFB) and Port Hueneme Naval Base in California, Jefferson Proving Grounds in Indiana, and Wurtsmith AFB in Michigan.

As technologies enter the demonstration phase and become validated, they will provide cost savings for remediation. They further will allow time savings on the cleanup process. In addition, pollution prevention and compliance technologies will allow the identification, detection, monitoring, and upfront cost avoidance.

Finally, the Department is working in partnership with the Western Governor's Association and the Departments of Interior, Energy, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and state regulatory agencies to demonstrate innovative technologies for environmental restoration at military bases and to meet federal and state regulatory requirements. Under a pilot initiative, regional working groups have been established to explore waste technology development for four major areas: mixed hazardous and radioactive waste, abandoned mine wastes, munitions wastes, and wastes at military bases.

PROTECTING THE FORCE

Environmental security also ensures protection of military forces and their families from fire, safety, and health risks. This involves making military systems, installations, and housing safer; curbing workplace injury and illness; and raising safety awareness. These efforts are key to maintaining combat readiness and capability.

Over the past year, the Department has executed the following protection agenda:

• Made the Department of Defense workplace smoke free.

• Worked closely with the Department of Labor to identify better ways to protect workers. For example, DoD has offered itself as a major laboratory for testing new ways to prevent injuries and occupational illness.

• Teamed with the United Auto Workers and the Army to share innovative safety training materials, saving DoD significant costs.

• Shared information about DoD's advanced safety programs across the federal government, including the EPA, Department of Interior, and others.

• Developed new policies to improve abatement of lead-based paint, asbestos, and radon at military facilities slated for closure. The goal is to reduce cost and speed the transfer of DoD buildings.

• Helped the defense industry develop a commercial standard to improve the safety of weapon systems, replacing the outdated military standard.

An important milestone in protecting its people is that 1994 marked the first year that accidental deaths were not the leading cause of deaths among DoD military members.

CONSERVING RESOURCES

The Department controls over 25 million acres of land. This land supports a wide variety of military activities essential to maintaining readiness, including training and testing, and maneuver operations. The land also supports nationally important cultural and natural resources. For example, more than 300 threatened and endangered species live on more than 200 installations; hundreds of properties on DoD installations are listed on the National Historic Register; the Department has the largest federal archaeological collection in the world; and many installations hold Native American burial and sacred sites. The goal of the Department's conservation program is to support military readiness by pro-active preservation of the nation's natural and cultural resources.

The Department has achieved a remarkable record for its stewardship of the national treasures under its control. In fact, many lands are still in pristine condition, many threatened and endangered species are thriving under its protection, and many historic and prehistoric properties have been protected from destruction. In order to improve its conservation program, the Department has implemented a multi-year effort to conduct fence-to-fence inventories with special emphasis on wetlands, threatened and endangered species habitat, and cultural resources.

The Department has emphasized the value of partnerships in stretching scarce DoD resources. For example, DoD is working with Partners in Flight to monitor the songbird population on DoD installations and manage their habitats. DoD has entered into partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation to help manage historic buildings and other cultural resources on military lands. It has also entered into agreements with many other federal agencies to gain their expertise in meeting its stewardship responsibilities. An example is the use of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services personnel to train DoD personnel on sound land management practices.

The Department faces some significant challenges in the future due to its need to develop new training and testing ranges or change the use of existing ranges. As weapon systems improve, additional space is often required. In addition, new ranges are required to support military forces withdrawn from overseas locations. Larger ranges will better support readiness by allowing troops to train as they will fight. As the base closure process continues and forces are realigned, adjustments will be made to operations on existing ranges.

In order to meet these new challenges, the Department has responded with new approaches to training and management of lands and has invested in research to optimize future management decisions. For example, increased use of computer simulation is helping to reduce the need for field operations that cause environmental damage. DoD is already using land rotation and refurbishment techniques to ensure the long-term availability of heavily used training lands. Additionally, in conjunction with other federal agencies, DoD has initiated comprehensive ecological studies of specific regions. By better understanding the ecologies of these regions, the DoD will be better positioned to predict the impacts of training activities and to develop appropriate mitigations. On Earth Day 1994, DoD announced that it would lead such an effort for the fragile California Mojave Desert. This effort is particularly important to DoD since all the Services train and test new weapon systems in the Mojave.

COMPLYING WITH ENVIRONMENTAL, SAFETY, AND HEALTH LAWS

The challenge of the Department's environmental security compliance program is to protect the readiness of U.S. military forces while meeting diverse environmental, safety, and occupational health requirements in the United States and overseas. The Department is fully committed to complying with these requirements. Not complying could impact readiness by putting personnel at risk or creating environmental damage, or subjecting military personnel to fines and penalties. Environmental damage could make areas unavailable for military operations and training and could place further liabilities on future budgets for cleanup.

The Department was successful in its FY 1994 compliance goal. It reduced the number of open notices of violation (NOVs) by 7 percent. New NOVs have fallen by approximately 47 percent since 1992, even though EPA's enforcement inspections have increased. These improvements are due to more vigorous compliance efforts by DoD components, increased use of self-audits, better dissemination of information, improved education and training, and an increasingly effective pollution prevention program.

In FY 1995, DoD will continue many of the compliance efforts that have proven successful over the past few years. Specific actions include the continued effort to upgrade underground storage tanks, the replacement of transformers with polychlorinated bipheyls (PCBs), the upgrade of waste water treatment plants to meet tighter state and local standards, and the upgrade of air emission sources to meet new rules under the Clean Air Act of 1990.

In addition, the Department has established a system of 10 regional Environmental Security executive agents -- one for each EPA federal region. The mission of these agents is to improve communication and coordination among DoD components and regulators, with the goal of improved and more efficient compliance. By working closely with regional, state, and local regulators, the executive agents will be able to ensure DoD's operational requirements are addressed during regulation development and that the military facilities within the region are knowledgeable of new requirements for timely, efficient, and uniform action.

RESTORING DOD FACILITIES

Last year marked the 10th anniversary of the Defense Environmental Restoration Account, which Congress created specifically for defense cleanup in the United States. Significant progress has been made with the program now transitioning from initial investigations to real cleanup. Over the next few years, DoD expects to increase substantially the actual cleanup of its sites.

DoD has made strides in four areas: accelerating cleanup, fostering environmental technology, partnering, and community involvement. Accomplishments in each of these areas are outlined below:

• Accelerating cleanup. DoD has shortened the traditional lengthy cleanup schedules at numerous installations through use of innovative contracting methods and close coordination with regulatory agencies. This approach has paid dividends at Marine Corps Station Tustin, California; Naval Air Weapons Station Point Mugu, California; and Defense Distribution Region West, Defense Distribution Depot San Joaquin (Sharpe Site), Lathrop, California.

• Fostering environmental technology. DoD is reducing cleanup costs through innovative technology for both site characterization and treatment.

  Environmental technological advances were recently applied at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, and the Presidio of San Francisco, California.

• Partnering. Successful partnering efforts with other federal, state, and local agencies have streamlined the cleanup process and reduced costs by fostering early involvement, technology sharing, and jointly determined cleanup goals. Air Force Plant #6, Marietta, Georgia; Keesler AFB, Mississippi; and Naval Air Station, North Island, California, have conducted productive partnering programs.

• Community involvement. New DoD policy calls for providing more cleanup information to communities early in the process, and seeking community input through Restoration Advisory Boards (RABs). Community involvement has been a significant factor at Fort Wingate Depot Activity, New Mexico; Massachusetts Military Reservation, Massachusetts; and Charleston Naval Base, South Carolina.

DoD also is committed to prioritizing the use of cleanup resources. Where feasible and appropriate, DoD's goal is to review cleanup schedules at each installation with regulators and the public and give priority to the sites with a higher relative risk.

Other near-term cleanup goals include:

• Using additional interim measures to reduce threats at environmental hot spots, such as providing alternate drinking water supplies to nearby populations or quickly removing sources of contamination.

• Using lessons learned from completed sites to design generic remedies and target technologies to solve common cleanup problems, then screening all sites to adopt such remedies.

A key part of the President's Five-Point Plan for closing bases is the common-sense, fast-track approach to environmental cleanup. DoD continues to be committed to a fundamental redesign of the cleanup process based on an approach that eliminates needless delays while protecting human health and the environment. It is an approach that emphasizes speedy assessment, teamwork, and responsiveness to the community. Some of the key elements of the fast-track cleanup initiative are:

• Establishing a cleanup team at every base. Cleanup teams have been established at every major closing or realignment base, consisting of members from the Department of Defense, EPA, and the state environmental agency. These teams are speeding up the planning, construction, and full implementation of appropriate cleanup remedies so that property can be turned over for community revitalization.

• Involving the public. Recognizing the importance of involving the community in the cleanup planning and execution process, DoD is establishing RABs at all closing bases to keep community members closely involved with the base cleanup process.

• Making clean parcels available. Environmental assessments are being performed to identify within 18 months all clean parcels of base property available for early reuse. In many instances, communities are able to lease property while cleanup is being conducted. Removal and interim remedial actions are being employed to eliminate hot spots and to prioritize parcels with potential for quick reuse.

MAINTAINING EXPLOSIVE SAFETY

The Department of Defense Explosive Safety Board (DDESB) is tasked with ensuring that Service explosives operations are conducted safely. This responsibility is carried out by efforts to identify the extent of unexploded ordnance at active bases and formerly used defense sites. The DDESB directly contributes to combat readiness by enhancing the survivability of combat forces and critical resources. It maintains DoD's explosive safety standards, conducts site surveys to ensure service operations conform to established criteria, and ensures that explosive site plans are in place. The DDESB has:

• Assisted in the base realignment and closure (BRAC) process by reviewing and approving plans for leasing, transferring, or disposing of DoD property where ammunition and explosive contamination may exist.

• Working closely with EPA to develop standards for handling of waste DoD munitions.

• Reviewed explosives testing to ensure accuracy in partnership with other federal agencies, allied governments, and industry.

SAFEGUARDING THE TROOPS

Since 1956, the Armed Forces Pest Management Board (AFPMB) has supported readiness in two ways: by protecting U.S. forces through prevention of diseases such as malaria and dengue, and by preserving DoD buildings, real properties, piers, troop rations, and natural resources from the damage and losses caused by insects and other pests.

DoD has moved swiftly to reduce the risk of pesticide exposure by embracing an integrated pest management approach. This approach, in support of the Department's pollution prevention strategy, substitutes nonchemical, environmentally compatible methods of control for pesticides. DoD's goal is to reduce all pesticide use by 50 percent by the end of the year 2000. In addition to this goal, the AFPMB has:

• Worked closely with the Services to provide deploying forces with current information on disease prevention information and state-of-the-art insect repellents. These actions minimized expected losses of troop strength to preventable diseases in forces that deployed to Rwanda, Haiti, Southwest Asia, and other locations around the world.

• Assisted the Air Force in developing the unique capability to aerially apply dispersants on marine oil spills from specially equipped C-130 aircraft.

• Participated in a partnership with the Defense Logistics Agency, private industry, and universities to apply a new pesticide-free process to ship fresh fruits and vegetables in the Pacific region. The use of the controlled-atmosphere shipping containers eliminated the use of ozone-depleting fumigants, improved the freshness of the product, and reduced transportation costs by 50 percent with an annual savings of $2.8 million.

A GLOBAL VIEW

DoD has environmental responsibilities and opportunities at U.S. military installations throughout the world. The goals of DoD's International Environmental Activities Office include:

• Overseas site returns. By 1996, the United States will close 54 percent of its overseas military facilities, or about 900 sites. DoD will consult with the host nations on environmental compliance and cleanup at these installations.

• Overseas restoration policy. DoD is developing an environmental restoration policy for operating bases overseas. The policy will require cleanup of imminent and substantial threats to human health and safety. Cleanups that exceed this standard, and funding for it, will be negotiated with the host nation.

• Environmental security leadership. DoD is earning a reputation for strong environmental leadership within NATO and the expanded forum of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. DoD is helping to educate Eastern European military personnel on stopping the spread of contaminants, improving the health of soldiers and surrounding populations, and cleaning up military facilities for conversion to civilian use.

TRAINING THE ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY WORKFORCE

Education and training are the foundation of DoD's environmental security programs. DoD's goal is a highly qualified, well-trained environmental workforce. To achieve this goal, in 1994 DoD established the Inter-Service Environmental Education Review Board. It will integrate DoD environmental education and training programs into a single school system, eliminate duplication, and improve the quality of courses.

CONCLUSION

The Environmental Security mission strengthens national security by integrating environmental, safety, and occupational health considerations into U.S. defense planning to ensure responsible performance in defense operations. Investing in preventive measures optimally protects the health and safety of military and civilian personnel, and the environment. Aggressive pollution prevention, comprehensive compliance, and the containment and cleanup of contaminated sites avoids more costly remediation work in the future and supports the defense mission by contributing to readiness, promoting quality of life, and enhancing modernization.

In 1995, the United States will mark the 25th anniversary of Earth Day and a quarter century of environmental awareness and action. DoD can also look back on 25 years of increased environmental awareness and action. Today, by working in partnership with environmental regulators, local communities, and private industry, DoD is making real progress in protecting America's natural resources, supporting military readiness, and ensuring a sound quality of life.