Posts Tagged ‘BRAC’

While the House Armed Services’ Readiness Subcommittee on Friday rejected the Pentagon’s request for two new BRAC rounds, at the same time it called for GAO to review how defense communities that experienced significant mission growth in the past handled the associated strains on their transportation infrastructure, schools, utilities and housing. “Now that the Department of Defense has completed its fifth BRAC round and the potential exists for future infrastructure, force structure and installation mission changes, local communities may once again have to manage potentially significant installation change …

The House Armed Services’ Readiness Subcommittee approved its section of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill Friday, omitting language allowing the Pentagon’s request to hold base closure rounds in 2013 and 2015. The decision to deny DOD permission for one or more BRAC rounds had been all but assured since the department announced its intention to request them. Subcommittee Chairman Randy Forbes confirmed that outcome at the outset of the markup …

The Air Force would be required to keep a key research, development and testing facility at Eglin AFB that local officials believe would be jeopardized under a reorganization announced last year, under a provision in the draft version of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill that the House Armed Services’ Readiness Subcommittee is scheduled to mark up today. Florida Rep. Jeff Miller sponsored the language, which requires the Air Force to retain the Air Armament Center at Eglin, located in northwest Florida, unless a future base closure action rules otherwise …

As expected, the draft version of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill that the House Armed Services’ Readiness Subcommittee is scheduled to mark up today does not include the Pentagon’s request for BRAC rounds in 2013 and 2015. The annual policy bill’s failure to authorize one or more base closure rounds comes as no surprise, as Rep. Buck McKeon, chairman of the committee, and Rep. Randy Forbes, subcommittee chairman, have opposed the request since Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced it in January …

The Horsham LRA completed a legally binding agreement with homeless service providers for a seven-acre parcel on the former Naval Air Station Willow Grove, overcoming the last barrier before it can submit the reuse plan for almost 900 acres of the property to DOD and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The authority completed the mixed use plan last month for the installation located outside of Philadelphia, but it did not submit it because it had not yet reached a final agreement with the homeless groups, reported Warminster Patch. Horsham Township’s next step is to form an implementation LRA that would apply to the Navy for an economic development conveyance, Township Manager Bill Walker told Patch.

The Defense Department, Navy and developer of a proposed 83-turbine wind farm located near Naval Air Station Kingsville reached agreement last week on a series of actions to mitigate the potential for the project to interfere with flight operations at the installation situated on the Texas Coastal Bend. The deal alleviates the fears of Navy officials about the likelihood that proposed wind farms could affect installations across the state …

The reuse of military installations closed outside of the BRAC process would receive the same liability protections when unknown contamination is discovered as the developers of BRAC sites are provided, under legislation introduced last week by Indiana Rep. Todd Young. Young introduced the Base Redevelopment and Indemnification Correction Act, H.R. 4407, to benefit the former Indiana Army Ammunition Plant in southern Indiana. Concerns about the potential that developers would bear legal liability if unknown contaminants are found at the plant have blocked interest in investing in what is now called River Ridge Commerce Center, Young said …

The Navy is gathering support from 10 southern Maryland counties surrounding Patuxent River Naval Air Station to participate in an assessment of land uses that are compatible with the Navy test center. The joint land use study, which could begin in September, would cover the counties within range of testing conducted at Pax River and could factor into deliberations over upcoming BRAC rounds, reported Delmarvanow.com. The JLUS may include recommendations on whether wind turbines are a compatible land use in southern Maryland. A separate study is evaluating the impact on military radar of a proposed wind farm in Somerset County located across Chesapeake Bay from Pax River.

In an attempt to ensure the future of Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane County commissioners last week approved new land use rule to protect the eastern Washington installation from urban development. The commissioners said the zoning code protections also could help the base attract the next generation of refueling tankers the Air Force is acquiring. The rules require noise insulation in new homes and notice to people who are considering moving into the defined military influence area with 65 decibels or more of jet noise …

Business alliances supporting Maryland’s military installations have played a variety of roles in recent years, working with local officials to accommodate BRAC growth, lobbying for new missions, sponsoring on-base improvements and helping to boost economic development. A primary function of the groups is helping contractors understand how to do business with installations, but the partnerships extend much further …