Amendments to these acts enacted within the past year are leading to ongoing changes in reuse planning and implementation at closing bases. Status of Base Disposal

About three fifths of the property at the 37 closing military bases will be retained by the federal government because it is contaminated with unexploded ordnance, has been retained by decisions made by the BRAC commissions or by legislation, or is needed by federal agencies. Communities are planning to acquire about 12 percent of the property under economic development conveyances, and DOD plans to sell about 4 percent of the property either through negotiated sales to state and local jurisdictions or through direct sales to the public. Communities are creating new airport facilities, jobs, education and job training centers, and wildlife habitats. In some instances, these efforts have involved pooled efforts by local schools and state institutions and agencies. In numerous communities, the failure to reach a consensus on reuse issues has caused delays in the development of acceptable reuse plans. Some base conversions involve reuse expectations that may be unrealistic given their rural or relatively unpopulated geographic locations. Environmental cleanup requirements delay the implementation of reuse plans. The Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration has awarded $85 million to assist communities with infrastructure improvements, building demolition, and revolving loan funds. The Department of Labor has awarded $46 million to help communities retrain workers adversely affected by closures. We obtained up-to-date federal assistance information from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Economic Development Administration, the Department of Labor, and the Office of Economic Adjustment to determine the amount and type of assistance the federal government provided to the BRAC 1988 and 1991 base closure communities. For each base, the profiles provide (1) a description of size and location; (2) important milestone dates; (3) a reuse plan summary and a golf course reuse plan, which discusses the status of reuse implementation; (4) jobs lost and created; (5) federal assistance; and (6) environmental cleanup status. Estimated cleanup cost: $7 million. DOD has recommended to the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission that the naval shipyard be closed. Pending final environmental clearances, long-term leases will be used to promote immediate reuse on most parcels. The Office of Economic Adjustment has provided about $2 million in planning grants. The remaining 1,648 acres will be an airport public benefit transfer to the port authority. The total more than offsets the jobs lost due to depot closure. The local authorities are planning to request the remaining 466 acres, including housing units, utilities, and property available for commercial development.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on reuse planning and implementation at the 37 bases closed in the first two base realignment and closure (BRAC) rounds, focusing on: (1) planned disposal and reuse of the properties; (2) successful property conversions; (3) problems that delay reuse planning and implementation; and (4) assistance provided to communities.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) under current plans, over half the land will be retained by the federal government because it: (a) is contaminated with unexploded ordinance; (b) has been retained by decisions made by the base realignment and closure commissions or by legislation; and (c) is needed by federal agencies; (2) most of the remaining land will be requested by local reuse authorities under various public benefit transfer authorities or the new economic development conveyance authority; (3) little land will be available for negotiated sale to state and local jurisdictions or for sale to the general public; (4) reuse efforts by numerous communities are yielding successful results; (5) hundreds of jobs are being created at some bases that more than offset the loss in civilian jobs from closures, new educational institutions are being established in former military facilities, and wildlife habitats are being created that meet wildlife preservation goals while reducing the Department of Defense's (DOD) environmental cleanup costs; (6) some communities are experiencing delays in reuse planning and implementation; (7) causes of delays include failure within the local communities to agree on reuse issues, development of reuse plans with unrealistic expectations, and environmental cleanup requirements; (8) the federal government has made available over $350 million in direct financial assistance to communities; (9) DOD's Office of Economic Assistance has provided reuse planning grants, the Department of Labor has provided job training grants, and the Federal Aviation Administration has awarded airport planning and implementation grants; and (10) grants from the Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration are assisting communities in rebuilding or upgrading base facilities and utilities and are helping communities set up revolving loan funds that can be used to attract businesses to closed bases.