Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program Overview NMFWA Webinar 16 July 2013 1
REPI Program Overview Agenda Agenda I. Overview of the REPI Program II. III. IV. VI. VII. VIII. Buffer Partnerships Large Landscape Partnerships Stakeholder Engagement Where Do We Go From Here? Keys to Success Questions & Discussion 2
The Problem: Encroachment 3
Air, Land, and Sea Space for Test and Training Requirements 4
Overview of the REPI Program 5
What is REPI? Mission: To protect military value and maximize commanders flexibility to accomplish the mission by preventing, removing, and mitigating restrictions to training, testing, and operations. 6
REPI Program Focus Areas Increase REPI Funding: Build REPI budget to sustainable level and work with private and public sources for strong and diversified cost share. Advance REPI Policy: Ensure OSD policy for DoD Components (including OSD and the Services) includes key REPI policies, tools, and structures, and institutionalize REPI responsibilities. Develop Off-Base Regulatory Solutions: Seek regulatory solutions to species protection that incorporate off-base habitat, and disseminate knowledge of particular regulatory solutions across DoD and other communities through communication and education. Invest in Large Landscape Partnerships: Continue to support existing partnerships and work with the DoD Components and other Federal agencies to identify needs and opportunities to invest in new partnerships that advance the program mission. Accelerate REPI Buffer Projects: Deliver the REPI Guide and REPI Report to Congress annually, develop and maintain the REPI database, and evaluate of REPI proposals annually. 7
Buffer Partnerships 8
Buffer Partnerships Legal Statue REPI Buffer Partnerships The REPI program supports partnerships per 10 U.S.C. 2684a, which authorizes partnerships among the Military Services, private conservation groups, and state and local governments to acquire real property interests OSD manages REPI buffer partnerships as an internal- DoD program, issuing guidance and providing funding to the Services for buffer projects. Services implement projects, including projects that are only funded with Service O&M funds, and do not receive REPI program funds Source of Funding National Defense Authorization Act line item to fund implementation of the partnerships authorized by 10 U.S.C. 2684a 9
REPI Program Funding 160 140 120 Combined Service Funding Request 100 Presidential Budget Request 80 60 REPI Appropriations 40 Millions 20 0 10 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13
What is the REPI authority? Legal Requirement Partnership with eligibly entity State or local government Conservation organization Encroachment justification Incompatible development Habitat preservation Cost-share Willing seller Demand clause Purpose Partners own land or hold easements, partners must have interest and responsibility in managing land and abiding by terms of agreement. REPI never increases DoD acreage. Validates the use of the authority, alleviation of encroachment threat, benefit to the Mission Best use of taxpayer dollars NOT eminent domain Services must be able to enforce the terms of partner agreements 11
How does a REPI buffer work? OSD Army Navy USMC Air Force Each military Service runs its own own encroachment management program, in which REPI is one tool in the encroachment management toolbox use of authority: all partnerships are enabled through the REPI authority use of funding: each Service s program is funded through a combination of REPI funding and separate Service funding 12
How does a REPI buffer work? program management: OSD provides program guidance, interpretation of the law, funding through the REPI proposal process, internal and external coordination; reports accomplishments to Congress OSD Army Navy USMC Air Force program implementation: Services identify Mission priorities, submit projects for funding, identify partners and willing sellers, establish and maintain partner agreements, conduct transactions, maintain real property interests; reports accomplishments to OSD 13
REPI Buffer Accomplishments REPI Expenditures Cost-Share Through FY 2012 27% Combined Service Expenditures 50% Partner Expenditures 23% Transactions Acres Protected REPI Service Partner Combined Total Army 411 207,528 $116.98 $158.63 $258.26 $533.86 Navy 109 16,177 $41.53 $5.70 $53.06 $100.29 Marine Corps 44 35,964 $39.77 $17.26 $61.84 $118.87 Air Force 113 4,981 $16.81 $0.32 $14.42 $31.55 Total 677 264,651 $215.10 $181.91 $387.57 $784.58 14
REPI Buffer Accomplishments 66 locations 24 states 15
REPI Buffer Best Practices: Example Successes Robins AFB worked with local and regional governments on a ballot measure providing $13 million for buffer acquisitions through a special purpose local-option sales tax. 250 incompatibly developed properties in the base s APZs and noise zones are being acquired and permanently removed. Fort Stewart, GA won the first ever REPI Challenge by taking advantage of a bargain sale of 5,500 acres by a Timber Investment Management Organization, who continues to manage the land for timber production under a lease agreement with the new conservation organization landowner. Joint Base Lewis-McChord is working with USFWS, USDA NRCS, private conservation partners, and landowners to preserve, restore, and manage south Puget Sound prairie habitat. Regulatory relief will provide the base with credits for protecting and recovering habitat for threatened, endangered, and candidate species, which in turn provides the base with more flexibility in the use of its training lands. 16 July 2013 16
REPI Buffer Best Practices: Example Successes NAS Oceana, VA worked with local governments to adopt JLUS recommendations into zoning ordinances while also partnering to protect parcels in APZs, noise zones, and flight tracks around the base and its Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress. This project also used the land exchange authority (10 U.S.C. 2869) to protect 46 acres at no additional cost. MCAS Beaufort, SC used the property exchange authority to exchange a 127-ace former housing property for an easement on 259 acres and a $3.8 million cost savings. Beaufort County also implemented a Transfer of Development Rights program to cover over 1,400 parcels in the installation s AICUZ overlay. Cape Canaveral AFS is partnering with the voterapproved Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands program to protect Florida scrub-jay habitat. The Air Force will receive credits for acres of scrub habitat protected to offset scrub habitat lost to mission support development on base. 16 July 2013 17
Large Landscape Partnerships 18
Large Landscape Partnerships Regional partnership among DoD, States and federal agencies Mission seize opportunities and solve problems in value-adding ways that provide mutual and multiple benefits to the partners and sustain the mission 19
Large Landscape Partnerships Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) Partnership of state environmental and natural resource officials, DoD, EPA, NOAA, USFWS, USDA/Forest Service, USDA/NRCS, and USGS to promote better collaboration in making resource-use decisions in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi SERPPAS works to prevent encroachment around military lands, encourage compatible resource-use decisions, and improve coordination among regions, states, communities, military Services and other federal agencies 20 20
Large Landscape Partnerships America s Longleaf Restoration Initiative Military training is critically linked to longleaf pine habitat, and restoration can enhance military readiness 730,000 acres on military installations/ranges 35% of publicly-owned longleaf pine habitat 18% of total longleaf habitat in entire Southeast Range-Wide Conservation Plan in March 2009 USDA-DoD-DOI MOU signed in June 2010 Emphasis from Administration and Congress American Recovery and Reinvestment Act America s Great Outdoors 33 Member Partnership Council supports implementation 21
Large Landscape Partnerships Western Regional Partnership (WRP) Southwest partnership between state and tribal leadership from Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah (co-chair), DoD, and other federal agencies WRP works to eliminate redundancies in resource management, address issues of regional significance, and develop solutions for the fivestate region The Western Governors Association (WGA) affirmed the Governors support of the military mission and their desire to work with DoD and other federal agencies on the development of regional policies and projects 22
Large Landscape Partnerships Accomplishments Leveraged resources to restore or improve over 300,000 acres of longleaf pine habitat as part of America s Longleaf Restoration Initiative Leveraged funding to hire additional biologists to conduct Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (RCW) Translocation activities Completed the Gopher Tortoise Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) to coordinate and implement proactive, non-regulatory management actions to protect gopher tortoise habitat and populations Developed the WRP Web Mapping Application to provide GIS data from state, federal and non-governmental partners to assist planning efforts in the region Helped identify incompatible renewable energy siting of the proposed Pantego wind turbine project near MCB Camp Lejeune 23 23
Large Landscape Partnerships Ongoing Initiatives Identify opportunities to leverage conservation and restoration efforts along the Gulf of Mexico with RESTORE Act funding Leverage resources to protect additional longleaf pine habitat through the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation s (NFWF) Longleaf Stewardship Fund Link federal conservation efforts through America s Great Outdoors (AGO) Initiative Implement the Comprehensive Strategy for Prescribed Burning on Longleaf Pine Habitat in the Southeast Develop strategies to preclude federal listing of at-risk species Accelerate land protection and prevent incompatible development near military installations in the Southeast and Southwest 24
Stakeholder Engagement & Outreach 25
Outreach & Engagement A significant component of REPI involves engaging with other federal agencies, conservation organizations, and other national NGOs. Outreach and engagement with these organizations helps provide additional tools and resources for protecting military readiness. By working together with stakeholders we can find mutually beneficial solutions to encroachment and other sustainability issues. 26
Outreach & Engagement Example Stakeholder Engagement Organizations 27
Outreach & Engagement: Primers We have developed a series of primers to further describe how partnerships work between DoD and these organizations. These primers provide specific information, tools, and additional resources for military installation leadership; state, regional, and local government officials; land trusts and conservation districts; and others. For more information, please visit www.repi.mil for printable copies. 28
Outreach & Engagement Accomplishments National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) passed resolutions supporting: Funding Increase for the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program, Clarifying and Supporting the use of DoD Matching Funds Permanent Tax Deduction for Conservation Easements Supporting Federal Farmland Protection Program REPI has hosted installation site visits to raise awareness about sustainability and test and training limitations. 29
Where Do We Go From Here? 30
Where Do We Go From Here? FY 2014 will be much like FY 2013: do more with less SecDef efficiency measures Increasing awareness and refining tools Expanding the toolbox Focus on DoD-wide capabilities and priorities Continue to build on successes: push the envelope and try to make more Enterprise-wide solutions at the landscape scale Increased coordination and partnerships with other Federal agencies (obvious and not-so-obvious) Leverage market-based opportunities Measurable results Public-private solutions 31
Future Successes Increasing new partnerships with other Federal agencies and across regional boundaries Continue to double tax dollars with partner dollars Encourage innovation, lessons learned, and transferring across Services and projects 32
Sentinel Landscapes New initiative announced July 10th between DoD, Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Department of Interior Purpose is to preserve, enhance or protect habitat and working lands in the vicinity of military installations; prevent or eliminate restrictions that inhibit military testing and training, and/or avoid incompatible development in the vicinity of installations. Agencies are coordinating through the White House Rural Council to together more efficiently overlap their priority areas to protect with military readiness, restore and protect habitat for at-risk species, and preserve agricultural lands. Inaugural project at Joint Base Lewis-McChord 33
Sentinel Landscapes Joint Base Lewis-McChord project to protect military readiness and endangered prairie habitat The majority of the last remaining 3 percent of native prairie habitat is found on JBLM, resulting in current and future restrictions as species relying on this habitat get listed under ESA NRCS, DOD, USFWS, the Center for Natural Lands Management, and partner organizations invested $12.6 million to protect more than 2,600 acres of prairie habitat and working lands off-post to ease pressure onpost. The agencies are currently working together and with private partners to identify the nation s next Sentinel Landscape. 34
Keys to Success 35
Keys to Success 1. Strong Partners Good management/governance Solid funding history Record of positive landowner relations 2. Multiple Benefits Sustaining readiness MUST be paramount Partners and Funders should see a fit for their goals Communities should see economic benefits as well as quality of life, natural resource protection, recreation, and other wins 3. Engagement Strong state & local government support Consistent and repetitive message to the public 4. Proactive Installations Able to articulate the need Active in the community Strong command support 36
Questions & Discussion For more information, visit our website: http://www.repi.mil 37
Back-Up Slides 38
REPI Authority: 10 U.S.C. 2684a Authority provided by Congress in FY 2003 National Defense Authorization Act Authorizes agreements to acquire: 1. Real property interests or water rights 2. For property in the vicinity of, or ecologically related to, 3. A military installation, range or airspace Two-pronged justification: 1. Limit development or use of the property that is incompatible with the installation s mission and / or 2. Preserve habitat to relieve current or anticipated environmental restrictions on military activities 39
10 U.S.C. 2684a Authority Eligible Partners: 1. A state or political subdivision of a state, or 2. A private entity that has as its stated principal organizational purpose or goal the conservation, restoration, or preservation of land and natural resources Can be a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization or a for-profit conservation organization Congressional intent: 1. Willing sellers only 2. Cost share with partners 3. Flexibility on agreements 4. Robust selection process 5. Annual reporting 40
10 U.S.C. 2684a Authority: Partner Cost Share Partner cost share: Monetary contributions State and local grants or cost share programs, other Federal grants, or private capital from conservation organizations Exchange or donation of real property or a real property interest May be from partner, other stakeholder, or willing seller In-kind services Goods and services inherent to the acquisition of real property interests, i.e., appraisals, legal services, GIS, natural resource-related services No minimum cost share requirement, but Services may have targets 41
Eligibility Limits for REPI Program Funding OSD targets projects that proactively prevent and manage encroachment concerns OSD policy sets eligibility limits for REPI program funding for the following types of projects, which may be implemented under section 2684a using other funding sources: 1. The land acquisition is required under DoD policy or by law or regulation, or the land encompasses a safety zone traditionally acquired in fee 2. The land acquisition is intended to comply with regulatory requirements of a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Biological Opinion 3. The land is to be acquired for the primary purpose of training or testing Complete information can be found in the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program: Buffer Partnership Guide 42
The Process: An Overview Buffer projects are initiated locally at the installation level Each Service manages a comprehensive portfolio of buffer projects and is not required to submit all of those projects for REPI program funding OSD manages the REPI program, provides guidance for buffer partnerships, and funds selected projects submitted by the Services using Congressional funding The Services also fund projects independent of REPI program funding The Services implement all projects through respective encroachment management programs 43
The Process: Explained from the Bottom Up REPI Program Funding Decision Annually (Oct - Dec) OSD determines allocation rankings and distributes funding for Service implementation Service Headquarters to OSD Annually (Sep - Oct) Installation to Service Headquarters Ongoing Local-Level Planning and Analysis Ongoing Service submits proposals to OSD for review by REPI Inter-Service Working Group OSD and Services review proposals using criteria set in the Buffer Partnership Guide Installation prepares plans to address test and training needs and submits proposal to Service HQ Service HQ reviews/approves proposals and determines funding strategy Installation analyzes encroachment problems and solutions Partner(s) identifies areas of interest and develops relationship with landowners 44