California Base Closure: Lessons for DOD’s Cleanup Program

This report is an examination of the policies developed to bring about accelerated cleanup of military bases now closing in California and the relevance of those policies to other Department of Defense cleanup programs and hazardous waste policy in general. This annotated, case-study-oriented briefing discusses the applicable legislation and the various priority-setting systems that might be imposed–those based on risk, jobs, reuse, speed, or land. Four questions are addressed: what goals govern cleanup on California’s closing bases, and to what extent are they reuse-driven? Is risk-driven priority a by-product of existing cleanup legislation? How do reuse- and risk-driven priorities differ, and can DoD’s goal of harmonizing these two priorities with legislative requirements be achieved? What is project management’s role? Site-specific base studies are described, and recommendations delineated for both active and closing bases.