1. Department of Defense Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) Update
National Defense Industrial Association
30th Environmental and Energy Symposium
April 2004
Mr. Vic Wieszek
Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
(Installations and Environment)
As promised, today we’re going to spend a little more time on the Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP), its main points, and DoD’s next steps in building this program to address unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions, and munitions constituents.

2. MMRP: Background
Established in September 2001 under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP)
Created to identify and respond to environmental and explosive safety hazards posed by unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions, and munitions constituents
A little background on the MMRP:
DoD established this subset of the DERP at the end of FY01, in response to the growing need to address military munitions contamination more fully. According to Congressional direction, the MMRP doesn’t cover operational ranges or facilities that manufacture, store, demilitarize, or treat and dispose of military munitions.
What it DOES cover are those areas most likely to cause explosive safety hazards – ranges that DoD used to use, but have closed; areas on BRAC installations that used to be ranges, but now are clearly not facing that reuse, and possibly most important of all – Formerly Used Defense Sites, which are all out of DoD control and provide the greatest risk for human contact with UXO.

3. MMRP: Framework
MMRP key elements are patterned on the Installation Restoration Program (IRP) of the DERP:
Separate budget stream
Comprehensive inventory of sites
Prioritization protocol developed
Goals and metrics
DoD built the MMRP along the same lines of how the IRP was constructed to handle hazardous substances contamination –
We established a separate funding stream. under the DERP to ensure adequate funding independent of IRP requirements There’s no point in having the program if we can’t secure the funding necessary to do the work
We’ve been putting together a comprehensive inventory, that you folks have been helping us assemble. continually updated as additional information is available We need to have a complete and accurate inventory to adequately determine the scope and breadth of the risks out there. This is a key step in securing adequate funding, which goes to addressing contamination, which makes these places safer, which meets our most basic goal – protect human health and the environment.
To address the biggest risks first, we’re almost done developing a protocol for prioritizing response actions throughout the inventory , with stakeholder involvement, to assign priorities for site cleanup. Here again, we have you folks to thank for helping us identify the primary factors needed to determine what situations are greater potential dangers, what exposure pathways are of greater concern, etc.
We’ve got some early goals already in place, to drive and measure program progress, and as we develop the program and get a little better understanding of our direction, we’re going to be developing some performance metrics. We’ll talk about these in a minute.

4. MMRP: Inventory
Initial MMRP site inventory completed in FY02 and will be updated annually
As of September 30, 2003, DoD had identified 2,800 sites
850 on active installations
197 on closed or realigned (i.e., BRAC) installations
1,753 on Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) properties
Working with States and Tribes to identify additional sites and refine inventory
We’ve got a pretty well-populated inventory to date, but with continued input from States and Tribes and other stakeholders we’ll really get a good handle on the areas we haven’t yet gotten tracked down that still pose a potential threat because of UXO and munitions constituents. So far we’ve identified 2,800 sites where we believe military munitions is going to need to be addressed; as the inventory gets refined that number will likely go up, but one key point to remember when you see that in the future –
THE NUMBER OF SITES INCREASING DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THE TOTAL AREA AFFECTED BY MUNITIONS IS GOING UP. What’s happening is, as we further investigate sites we are breaking down them down into smaller and more discrete parcels of land requiring MMRP work – so the overall area needing to be addressed will likely be decreasing at the same time the number of sites is increasing.
Is this point clear to everyone? It’s an important one, so I want to be sure…
(Yes, the number of sites will also increase with new – NOT smaller pieces of larger existing sites – previously not-identified sites, but over the life of the program the site count will grow much more significantly as a result of the above explanation, and less overall from new not-identified sites.)
As I’ve already stated, we’re going to need your continued help in refining this inventory.

5. MMRP: Site Prioritization Protocol
Assigns relative priority
Developed in consultation with States and Tribes
Proposal published in Federal Register
Addressing public comments
Also touched on earlier, in collaboration with States and Tribes, DoD developed a proposed protocol for assigning to each munitions response site a relative priority for response activities related to UXO, discarded military munitions, and munitions constituents.
DoD published the proposed Protocol in the Federal Register on August 22, 2003, at 68 FR and requested public comments.
We’re working to address the over 200 comments we’ve received on the protocol and hope to have it finalized this year and ready for implementation.

6. MMRP: Goals Near-term goals: Long-term goals under development
Active Installations and FUDS
Preliminary Assessments by FY07
Site Inspections by the end of FY09
BRAC sites complete by FY09
Long-term goals under development
Goals and metrics are crucial to the success of any government program, and they certainly will be instrumental in ensuring we get the funding we’re going to need to address the risks posed by MMRP sites. To get us going, we’ve set some initial goals for completing assessments and investigations. As we get more underway, we’re going to be looking at other cleanup goals and at building some concrete performance metrics.
These are also both important tools in sharing with stakeholders what’s being done to protect them from these hazards; transparency of the program and the ability for stakeholders to be informed and participate are key elements for us.

7. MMRP: Munitions Response Committee (MRC)
Purpose is to ensure munitions responses are protective of human health and the environment while allowing DoD to fulfill its mission
Includes representatives from DoD, EPA, State regulators, Federal Land Managers, and Tribes
Emphasis on collaborative decision-making based on mutual agreement
When the MMRP was first put into place, DoD set up the Munitions Response Committee, or MRC, to be a forum for involvement in the MMRP by folks outside of DoD. This group was chartered with emphasis on collaborative group decision-making – the MRC wants to be sure that all parties involved are both on the same page and in general agreement as the program develops.
The MRC has adopted the development of white papers as the means for capturing their thoughts and suggestions for critical policy areas. We are currently working on reconciliation of the inventory, emergency responses, Destroy-in-Place methods, and How Clean is Clean?
These papers will serve as policy benchmarks for the decisions we’ll likely be facing here in the near future. We believe the MRC is a positive venue for collaboration, and really look forward to continued input from the members on the development of the MMRP.
This group has representatives from OSD, the Services, EPA, Tribes, States, Dept. of Interior, and the Dept. of Agriculture.

8. MMRP: Next Steps Continue to refine the inventory of MMRP sites
Ensure adequate funding and complete near-term cleanup goals
Further develop and implement program goals and performance metrics
Continue collaborative process with EPA, States, Federal Land Managers, and Tribes through MRC
There’s always more to be done. We’ve got to continue to refine the inventory with your help. We’ve got to make sure that we’re getting enough money from Congress to address all the hazards we need to address as soon as possible – to reduce those risks to human health and the environment.
We’ve got to continue working on goals and metrics – what’s the right measure for determining whether our actions are successful, or if there need to be some adjustments made in the program? How do we know if we’re doing a good job? We’ve got to answer those questions as we go forward.
Involvement of Federal Land Managers, State, and Tribal personnel is better than ever before, and we’re looking forward to continuing and building upon these relationships. When we’re working together, only good things can happen, right?

9. Additional information is available at:
MMRP: Summary
Program continues to develop through inventory and protocol
DERP funding will be available, separate from IRP funding needs
Collaborative decision-making process with EPA, States, Federal Land Managers, and Tribes the foundation of MMRP progress
To sum it all up, this program is still developing – and will continue to evolve for some time. Once the inventory and protocol are squared away, we’ll be able to better establish a long-range plan. We’re going to make every effort to ensure these sites get the funding they need, without sacrificing cleanup of hazardous wastes under the IRP.
And of course, the overarching message here is that we look forward to and anticipate your continued support and participation in all of these activities. The views and ideas of stakeholders are invaluable, especially at these early stages of program development. If we can accurately address some of these issues here at the beginning, and can gain your support and buy-in for the MMRP and its implementation, we’re already ahead of schedule.
I went through some of this pretty fast, and we have some time for questions – but if you want to find more information on the MMRP once you get home, you can find it through DENIX.
Additional information is available at: