The Readiness and Range Preservation Initiative

1
The Readiness and Range Preservation Initiative

• Prof. R. Wilson
• ES 333 Environmental Policy
• Dominique Shaw

2
Military Environmental Policy

• Foreign Environmental
• Policy
• - Wartime strategies/Impacts
• usually examined in context
• of A single conflict
• (Vietnam, Gulf War, etc..)
• - Building installations overseas
• Domestic Environmental
• 
  Policy
• -Ideal
  Goal Balance security and
• 
  Environmental Concerns
• -
  governed by same environmental laws that
• apply
  to other federal agencies
• -For past
  3yrs dod has aggressively been

3
Military Land USe

• Over 30 million acres in the U.S. are controlled
  by the military (Department of Defense)
• -army installations cover 12 million of the 30
  million acres
• -of those 12 million acres 90 are used for
  training and weapons testing
• 20 of the nations endangered plants and animal
  species inhabit these areas
• Military also relies on public space like coastal
  waters and air for training
• Military actions have immense
• impact on the natural
• environment

4
Readiness and Range Preservation Initiative

• We are the best military in the world, bar
  none, and the reason for that is that we train
  more often, we train to higher standards, and
  most importantly we train under realistic combat
  conditions, and that includes and emphasizes
  live-fire training and the testing of our weapons
  systems.
• 
  Under Secretary of Defense for
  Readiness
• 
  on behalf of the
  DoD
• The RRPI package seeks to exempt the military
  from
• - national environmental policy act (Nepa)
• - Endangered Species act (ESA)
• - Migratory bird treaty act (MBTA)
• - Marine Mammal protection act (mmpa)
• - clean air act
• - resource conservation and recovery act (RCra)

5
Congress Response to RRPI

• 2002 congress exempted military from the MBTA
• - allows for the unintentional killing of
  migratory birds
• - changes decades long policy of joining
  with neighboring nations to protect 850 species
  of migratory birds

• 2003 exemptions from ESA
• and MMPA
• - esa exemption
• passed a law authorizing the
  military to use
• integrated natural resource
  management \
• plans in place of more
  restrictive critical
• habitat designations required
  by the esa
• - MMPA Exemption
• authorized due to national
  security

6
RRPI Provisions currently in congress

• Exemption from Clean Air Act
• -would allow new units that
• are moved into an installation more
• time before they are required to
• comply with Clean Air Act State
• Implementation Plan
• Exemptions from RCRA and CERCLA
• - would ease overall regulations on
  munitions and clean
• up

7
Opposition to rrpi

• Variety of Environmental organizations
• - nrdc has filed suit
  against
• Department of
  defense
• Major challenge to the opposition
• - recommendations
  require a shift in military
• view on its
  responsibility to the environment

8
Benefits of Military Compliance

• Adhering to the environmental laws the Dod is
  seeking exemption from would actually help to
  ensure that
• - realistic environment needed for training is
  maintained
• - safety of military workers and their
  families
• - save military from paying fines,
  penalties and engaging
• in costly litigation
• - would boost the militarys public image
  both
• domestically and abroad

9
Conclusion

• The passing of these provisions will indicate how
  the military is going to conduct domestic
  environmental policy in the future
• As our major source of national
• security, the military should be set
• an example of environmental
• consciousness
• The implementation of these provisions would
  place the military above the law and send
  negative messages both domestically and overseas
• Severe degradation to environment