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There are thousands of federal facilities across the country, such as military bases and nuclear plants, owned and operated by the U.S. Government.  Technological advances, efficiency evaluations, and economic adjustments in the U.S. Government have created opportunities for these sites to be transformed to other beneficial uses for local communities and expanding businesses.  However, as a result of facility age and industrial processes, some of the sites contain environmental contamination, such as hazardous wastes, unexploded ordnance, radioactive wastes or other toxic substances.  To reduce the cost of cleanup and reuse of these sites, the EPA's Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office (FFRRO) coordinates creative solutions to restore sites for reuse and to protect both human health and the environment.  Community development solutions restore federal facility sites so they can once again serve an important role in the economy and welfare of local communities.

In particular, military base closures have impacted hundreds of communities around the country.  The Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) is the Department of Defense’s (DOD) primary source for assisting communities that are adversely impacted by Defense program changes, including base closures or realignments, base expansions, and contract or program cancellations. Within OEA, the primary tool for DOD’s economic adjustment projects is the Defense Economic Adjustment program for base realignment and closure (BRAC).

Since the first round of U.S. military base realignment and closure in 1988, the Pentagon has closed approximately 100 bases in the U.S., according to the Association of Defense Communities, formerly the National Association of Installation Developers (NAID).  Many of these communities with closed military bases face a long, complex process of closure, reuse planning, implementation, and environmental cleanup. For other communities, base closures present an enormous opportunity.  To reuse a closed military facility successfully, local government officials must lead the community through a number of military base reuse processes and laws. In addition the local government must work with the federal and state governments, other affected local governments, and neighboring communities.

Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council (ITRC) Brownfields team has prepared a document titled: Property Revitalization – Lessons Learned from BRAC and Brownfields. The document provides an overview of incentives and tools used to accelerate the cleanup and reuse of brownfield and BRAC sites and also includes case studies.  

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to integrate environmental values into their decision making processes by considering the environmental impacts of their proposed actions and reasonable alternatives to those actions. To meet this requirement, federal agencies prepare a detailed statement known as an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

Links with further information on revitalization and federal facilities are listed in the Links to Resources for Federal Facilities Sites Exhibit.