BRAC: What’s Different this Time?

By Peter Gillon and Joe Corrigan

The current round of military base closures is now in progress, and the brownfield developers and professionals are scrambling for position to take advantage of the opportunities presented as thousands of contaminated acres are presented for redevelopment.

On September 15, the president forwarded the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission’s recommendations to Congress. Congress now has 45 legislative days to reject the list in its entirety. If both houses of Congress do not reject the list within that period, then the recommendations become law. By law, all closures and realignments must be completed no later than six years after the president transmits the commission’s report to Congress —September 15, 2011.

The 2005 BRAC Commission’s recommendations are extremely complex. The total number of actions equals that of all previous rounds combined. Importantly, many of the recommendations are for realignment (either by moving missions or people in or out of an installation).

The property identified for closure is extremely diverse, ranging in size from more than 15,000 acres and 800 buildings to a five-acre reserve site. Some sites have been occupied by the military for nearly two centuries, others only since World War II. In addition to scores of small closures and partial closures, the commission recommended 22 major closures.