Research & Tools

Military base closures have impacted hundreds of communities around  the country. These communities face a long, complex process of closure, reuse  planning, implementation, and environmental cleanup. Since 1988, there have been four successive bipartisan Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commissions  (BRAC) that recommended the closure of 352 major and minor military bases and installations and the realignment in operations and functions of 145 others. In the short term, a closure can severely affect a community's economy. Local officials must contend with critical problems, including the loss of an economic base and possibly the health effects of environmental contamination. For some  communities, base closures are an enormous opportunity, however, to  reuse a closed military facility successfully, local government officials must lead the  community through a number of military base and reuse processes and laws. In addition the local government must work with the federal and state governments, other affected local governments, and neighboring communities.

Federal Resources

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economic Development Administration

Success Stories :

Pease Air Force Base (NH): EDA infrastructure investments helped create the Pease International Tradeport. The Tradeport is now the host to over 155 tenants and over 6,800 jobs - all of which has generated over $280 million in private investment.

Hunters Point Annex (CA): EDA reuse planning investment and causeway construction helped generate 1,150 new civilian jobs.

Glenview Naval Air Station (IL): An EDA construction investment assisted with increase in 4,098 new civilian jobs.

Williams Air Force Base (AZ): EDA supported infrastructure improvements and engineering investments helped provide an estimated 3,704 new civilian jobs. The base is now Williams Gateway Airport, an international aviation and aerospace center and foreign trade zone.

• EDA Defense Economic Adjustment Program Brochure
• Economic Development Administration and Defense Conversion
• EDA Programs Guide

  - Economic Adjustment Program.

• From Barracks to Business: The MIT Report on Base Redevelopment

  , 2000 - a report prepared for the Economic Development Administration.

• Cluster Based Economic Development: A Key to Regional Competitiveness

  (Summary) - a report  prepared for the Economic Development Administration. For the full report and case studies, call 202-482-4085.

• Defense Adjustment Infrastructure Bonds: Credit Enhancement Grants Make Affordable Capital Available,

  1998 - a report prepared for the Economic Development Administration.

U.S. Department of Defense

Army Base Realignment and Closure Web Site

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Federal Facilities Restoration & Reuse Office , the mission of which is to build partnerships which provide  faster, more effective, and less costly cleanup and reuse of Federal facilities.

U.S. General Accounting Office

Military Bases: Status of Prior Base Realignment and Closure Rounds (at GAO Website, click GAO  Reports/Annual Indexes - Fiscal 1999/Search - title of report).

Other Resources

International City/County Management Association (ICMA) -  The Military Base Reuse Consortium provides information about recent developments in base  closure and reuse legislation and helps communities play a constructive role in improving the base reuse process.

The Association of Defense Communities (ADC) - the Association of Defense Communities (ADC) has been the nation's leading source for information on base redevelopment.

Technology Transfer for Defense Conversion

• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency  (DARPA)

• Far West Regional  Technology Transfer Center

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Technology Transfer Department

• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

• • Advanced Technology Program (ATP)
  • Manufacturing Extension Partnership  (MEP)
  
  

  Economic Development Administration and Defense Conversion

  EDA's Defense Adjustment Program is managed in close coordination with the Department of Defense's Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA). EDA helps  communities impacted by closing military bases and/or reduced defense procurement to rebuild and diversify their economies away from defense  dependency. In the process, communities move toward economic sustainability and, in many cases, experience greater prosperity under the new economy than under the previous defense-centered economy.

  
  

  When military bases are closed, the most significant opportunity for economic  recovery generally involves using the facility for civilian purposes. EDA provides flexible discretionary funding to communities to implement base reuse  plans. Most plans are dependent on the redevelopment of former military  infrastructure systems to support new uses. Defense economic adjustment projects are critical to restructuring individual economies to retain or attract businesses and stem the severe job losses associated with downsizing defense dependent companies. Technical assistance, development of manufacturing and  industrial clusters, technology transfer and international trade promotion  through civilian-oriented business networks, promise near-term results in achieving stability and new sustainability for threatened businesses.

  
  

  Since 1992, EDA's Defense Adjustment Program has awarded over $500 million in  grants to 105 communities that have undergone a major downsizing or closure of a military base. For FY 1999, 50 projects or 82% of EDA's $84.8 million Defense  Adjustment appropriation supported construction of new or replacement  infrastructure on closing military installations and Department of Energy sites. Fourteen projects involved the provision of technical assistance, 13  the development of strategies, and 1 a revolving loan fund.

  
  

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