Military Installation Sustainability

There are several different factors of sustainability the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation addresses through this program to include (but not limited to):

• Incompatible development in aircraft runway clear and accident potential zones
• Light pollution
• Urban growth
• Energy project siting
• Installation and key infrastructure access (roadway, railway, pipeline, etc.)
• Noise
• Electromagnetic spectrum interference
• Protection from a threat of unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles
• Vertical obstructions
• Incompatible use of land, air, and water resources
• Management of endangered species
• Tidal flooding and storm surge
• Stormwater and floodwater management
• Extreme weather events including wildfire and drought
• Unanticipated changes in environmental conditions
• Energy and water security threats

Military Installation Sustainability grantees may find themselves working with other Department of Defense agencies, Military Services, and Federal agencies in addition to the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation. These may include: 

Military Aviation and Installation Assurance Siting Clearinghouse, 
Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration, 
Economic Adjustment Committee (EAC) 
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and 
United States Department of Agriculture Office of Rural Development.

The technical assistance starts with a dedicated project manager who serves as a grantee's go-to resource, providing guidance throughout the entire process, to include the ability to bring other agencies and Department of Defense offices into the process. 

The primary components of this program are the Compatible Use Study and the Military Installation Resilience Review. These studies are comprehensive tools used by state and local governments to develop strategies that allow them to grow, while supporting the military mission. 

Like the other Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation programs, Compatible Use follows the Organize, Plan, Implement model.

 

Organize
During this phase of the project, the grantee works with the region to identify stakeholders, define the study area based on military operations footprint, and establish the Sustainment Policy Committee and technical working group(s). Typically, participants include representatives of the military installation (in ex-officio status), all jurisdictions adjacent to the installation, and other jurisdictions that may be affected by sustainability factors. State agencies, non-profits, property owners, and others may be involved as well. This organizational phase of the process is the foundation for success of any sustainment project. 

Plan
At this stage of the process, the Policy Committee and technical working group(s) develop the study through assessment of baseline conditions. This will include identification of compatibility and resiliency challenges, current and future development patterns and activities, and areas of potential conflict. The study will identify strategies and priorities as well as implementation actions to carry out the recommendations. Eligible activities often include:

• Compatible Use Studies to comprehensively understand concerns and opportunities, and to develop a responsive strategy and implementation actions;
• Military Installation Resilience Review to identify risk to resources outside the installation necessary to conduct critical missions, and to develop a responsive strategy for implementation;
• Preparation of land use or jurisdictional ordinances;
• Analysis and dissemination of information, including community outreach activities;
• Timely consultation and cooperation among Department of Defense; state and local governments; and other stakeholders;
• Coordinated interagency and intergovernmental assistance;
• Technical and financial studies, including business plans and property valuation;
• Clearinghouses or websites (to include Geographic Information System data) to exchange information among Federal, state, and local efforts;
• Resolution of regulatory issues impeding the support of compatibility measures;
• Drafting of state legislation;
• Feasibility studies, including housing, alternate use, and transportation;
• Integration of the Department’s Military Aviation and Installation Assurance Siting Clearinghouse procedures with local/state reviews; and
• Development of follow-on open space/easement opportunities for the Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program.
   

In addressing encroachment, grantees may at the same time develop initiatives to enhance the security and resiliency of a military installation.

• Preliminary engineering planning and design of valid executable projects; and
• Resolution of regulatory issues impeding the support of resiliency measures.

Implement
Results are expected from a Military Installation Sustainability grant effort. While recommendations are non-binding, states and communities are asked to make a good faith commitment before the program is funded that recommendations will be approved and incorporated or adopted into local planning and community development decisions/activities that directly impact the military mission.

Recommendations are used to help local jurisdictions guide community development and infrastructure investments that protects and preserves military readiness and defense capabilities while supporting continued economic development and public health, safety, and general welfare of those living and working near an active military installation. The Policy Committee will approve and prioritize implementation strategies within their community. The intent is to ensure that future public and private development and infrastructure investments around the military installation will continue to protect the military mission and the needs of the community.

Although it is expected that the grantee will develop a way to sustain this effort, additional funding assistance may be available to carry out specific recommendations identified in a Military Installation Sustainability grant.

States, counties, municipalities, other political subdivisions of a state; special purpose units of a state or local government; other instrumentalities of a state or local government; and tribal nations are eligible if:

(a) Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation determines there is existing or potential encroachment of a civilian origin on the local military mission and this encroachment of civilian origin is likely to impair the continued operational utility of a military installation.

or

(b) OLDCC determines there is a current, future, or potential threat to military installation resilience that involve, or may be significantly impacted by, resources or activities outside of the military installation and that this threat to military installation resilience is likely to impair the military installation’s ability to maintain, improve, or rapidly reestablish installation mission assurance and mission-essential functions.

The relevant Assistance Listing numbers (previously referred to as Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance, or CFDA) are:

12.610  Community and Economic Adjustment Assistance for Compatible Use and Joint Land Use Studies

12.003 Community Economic Adjustment Assistance for Responding to Threats to the Resilience of a Military Installation

Cost sharing is required.  A minimum of ten percent (10%) of the project’s total proposed funding is to be comprised of non-Federal sources.

There are two ways a community can participate in the Military Installation Sustainability program:

• Service Nomination Process. Each year (typically in March), the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation puts out an annual call to the Military Services for nominations from installation commanders. The Military Services may nominate installation(s) for Military Installation Sustainability assistance through this annual process or may also nominate installations out of cycle. 
• Community Nomination Process. State and local governments can respond to a Federal Funding Opportunity posted on https://www.grants.gov/ and https://www.federalregister.gov/ or express interest in a Military Installation Resilience project through the following process. These processes allow the community to self-nominate with installation support.

The Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation will evaluate existing or potential sustainability issues to determine if a community proposal is reasonable, allowable, and allocable as well as beneficial to preserving the military mission.  

See Terms and Conditions  for more information.

OLDCC and our grantees have provided a wide selection of past Compatible Use Studies (previously referred to as Joint Land Use Studies, or JLUS) for communities like yours to understand what a study looks like, what are some of the issues and factors studied, and how communities are alike, as well as where they differ.