Federal Funding of Transportation Improvements in BRAC Cases: Special Report 302 (2011)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

1 IntroductIon t he Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) was created by Congress to determine whether recommendations for base closure and realignment developed by the Department of Defense (DoD) “provide a fair process that will result in the timely closure and realign- ment of military installations inside the United States” (Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 2000). The independent commission, made up of appointees of the administration who are approved by the Senate, makes recommendations to Congress, which it can approve or reject, but it makes either choice without changing the recommendations. BRAC 2005 was the fifth round of decisions designed to stream- line the nation’s defense infrastructure. Unlike past BRAC rounds, which generally focused on reducing excess physical infrastructure, this round presents military growth challenges for DoD, states, and local govern- ments. Its implementation will increase the number of on-base personnel, military families, and defense-related contractors at or near 18 military bases, several of which are located in major metropolitan areas. Further- more, because the BRAC realignments must, by law, be completed by September 15, 2011, these community changes will be rapid, as person- nel will arrive quickly once the bases are readied. There are 18 bases where BRAC growth will affect neighboring communities, as shown in Figure 1. Other military growth communities exist, but their growth is not a result of BRAC. While BRAC 2005 is taking place, other major initiatives will increase growth at or near some BRAC-affected bases. These areas include two major military reorganizations. First, the Global Defense Posture Realignment initiative will move about 70,000 military and civilian personnel from overseas to U.S. bases by 2011 to help support current strategies and address emerging threats. Second, the Army’s force modularity effort will restructure the Army from a division-based force to a more readily deployable modular, brigade-based force. Some of these brigade units will relocate to existing bases. A third initiative, Grow the Force, is not a reorganization but will increase the permanent strength of the military to enhance overall U.S. forces. This initiative will add about 74,000 soldiers and about 27,000 marines. Finally, troop drawdowns from Iraq could increase personnel at some BRAC-affected bases. These other military initiatives will be implemented over a longer time frame than BRAC decisions, which must happen by September 2011. 5 

Wash. Army Ft. Lewis Army Aberdeen Army Proving Ground Ft. Meade Army Ft. Carson Navy Army Va. Kans. National Naval Ft. Knox Army Army Colo. Medical Center Ft. Lee Ky. Ft. Riley Army N.C. Army Redstone Army Ft. Belvoir Army Arsenal Ft. Bragg Ft. Sill Okla. Marine Corps Army Quantico Army Fort Benning Ft. Bliss Marine Corps Tex. Ga. Ala. Camp Lejeune/ Army Air Station Cherry Point/ Ft. Sam Air Station New River Air Force Houston Eglin AFB Fla. Installation identified transportation as a major challenge Installation did not identify transportation as a major challenge FIGurE 1 Military bases affected by BrAc growth (GAo 2009). 

IntroductIon These BRAC movements are occurring at a difficult time. The nation is fighting two wars during the severest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Traditional sources of funding for trans- portation are under severe strain because of the economic downturn; the federal-aid transportation program has not been reauthorized, in part because of inadequate revenue to fund needed improvements. The forces driving growth at military bases and the surrounding com- munities are more complex than they would be if they were the result of BRAC decisions alone. During fiscal years 2006 through 2012, the populations of the communities in the vicinity of the 18 BRAC bases are expected to increase by an estimated 181,800 military and civilian personnel plus an estimated 173,200 dependents, for a total increase of about 355,000 persons (Table 1).1 The total military and civilian workers at these locations in 2005 was about 422,000 (DoD 2009), indicating an increase of 84%. About 28% of the total population increase, roughly 98,000 people, will occur at bases in metropolitan areas, several of which have transportation facilities serving the bases that are barely able to serve current demand during peak periods. Except in the case of congestion caused by a doubling of traffic, however, DoD views the responsibility for addressing increasing traffic attributable to military expansion to be that of state and local authorities (DoD 2008). The problems for state and local jurisdictions in BRAC cases are attributable to the rapid pace of traffic growth on heavily used facilities, particularly those in urban- ized areas that have limited options for expansion; the lengthy process for projects to be evaluated for environmental impact and included in state and regional transportation plans; the intense competition among state and local projects for available federal and state aid for capacity enhancements; and the general shortage of available state and local funds. Moreover, the normal process for developing highway and transit projects, from required planning and environmental processes all the way through construction is, at best, 9 years and usually takes 15 to 20 years (GAO 2003). Addressing congestion problems around bases in metropolitan areas will require major improvements in the transportation system, including both increased capacity and improved operations. At issue is where the additional funds will come from and who will be responsible for carrying out the improvements. With limited exceptions, the committee did not have information about secondary, or spin-off, 1 employment growth associated with the increases at military bases. 7 

TABLE 1 Estimated Growth from All DoD Sources at and near BRAC-Affected Military Bases, Fiscal Years 2006–2012, as of March 2008 (GAo 2009) Total Change in Total Change in Population Total Current Total Military and Civilian of Military and Civilian Population Regional Base DoD Population DoD Dependents Increase Population Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. 3,400 2,200 5,600 2,512,000 National Naval Medical Center, Md.a 2,500 Not available 2,500 4,331,000 Camp Lejeune, Cherry Point, 13,400 18,700 32,100 108,000 and New River, N.C. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. 3,600 5,900 9,500 190,000 Fort Belvoir, Va. 24,100 12,700 36,800 4,331,000 Fort Benning, Ga. 12,700 6,100 18,800 247,000 Fort Bliss, Tex. 28,000 41,700 69,700 722,000 Fort Bragg, N.C. 18,900 17,100 36,000 301,000 Fort Carson, Colo. 10,400 14,400 24,800 514,000 Fort Knox, Ky. (2,900) 4,500 1,600 117,000 Fort Lee, Va. 10,200 4,600 14,800 138,000 Fort Lewis, Wash. 13,500 17,400 30,900 3,422,000 Fort Meade, Md. 7,000 4,200 11,200 2,512,000 Fort Sam Houston, Tex. 10,900 6,100 17,000 1,416,000 Fort Sill, Okla. 3,700 (400) 3,300 81,000 Fort Riley, Kans. 10,900 15,000 25,900 109,000 Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va. 3,600 1,000 4,600 202,000 Redstone Arsenal, Ala. 7,900 2,000 9,900 291,000 Total 181,800 173,200 355,000 a Traffic impacts will be compounded by patients and visitors to the hospital, who are not included in this population number. 

IntroductIon orGAnIzAtIon oF thE rEport In Chapter 2, the committee describes case studies of BRAC-related per- sonnel increases in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, Texas, and Florida and the efforts of these communities to cope with traffic increases in the surrounding transportation system. In Chapter 3, the normal processes followed in military base planning and metropolitan area transporta- tion planning are described, while noting the apparent disconnects between these two processes and opportunities to better integrate them. In Chapter 4, the committee reviews the available options for funding off-base transportation improvements and travel demand management efforts through both DoD and non-DoD sources and offers a rationale for assigning cost responsibility for the improvements. Chapter 5 presents the committee’s findings and recommendations. Information about com- mittee members is presented in the Study Committee Biographical Infor- mation. A background paper prepared for the committee on the subject of impact fees is contained in Appendix A. rEFErEncEs U.S. Department of Defense. 2008. Defense Access Road Criteria. DoD, Washing- ton, D.C. October. U.S. Department of Defense. 2009. Defense Community Profiles, Partnering for Success, Installation Mission Growth, Base Realignment and Closure. Office of Economic Adjustment, DoD, Washington, D.C. U.S. General Accounting Office. 2003. Highway Infrastructure—Perceptions of Stakeholders on Approaches to Reduce Highway Project Completion Time. Report to the Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Environment and Public Works, U.S. Senate. GAO-03-398. April. U.S. Government Accountability Office. 2009. Military Base Realignments and Closures—Transportation Impact of Personnel Increases Will Be Significant, but Long-Term Costs Are Uncertain and Direct Federal Support Is Limited. Report to Congressional Committees. GAO-09-750. GAO, Washington, D.C. September. 9