The Legal Authority

In FY 2003, Congress gave the Military Services the authority to enter into agreements with qualified organizations and non-federal agencies to limit encroachment by enacting Section 2684a of Title 10 of the U.S.C. Congress expanded the 2684a authority in the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act to include agreements that enhance or improve military installation resilience. Under this authority, qualified partners include state or local governments or private conservation organizations. These partners share the cost of purchasing easements or other interests in land, or water rights, from willing sellers. The authority allows these cost-sharing partnerships to acquire a real property interest for one of three purposes:

• To limit any development or use that is incompatible with the mission of the installation;

• To preserve habitat to relieve current or anticipated restrictions on military activities; or

• To enhance or improve military installation resilience from extreme weather events or from changes in environmental conditions that may impact military activities.

DOD Roles and Responsibilities

While OSD provides program guidance, interpretation of the law, funding through the REPI proposal process (Congressional funding), internal and external coordination, and reports accomplishments to Congress, each Military Service manages its own encroachment management program.

Understanding that REPI is just one tool in the Military Service’s encroachment management toolbox, they identify mission priorities, submit projects for funding, identify partners and willing sellers, establish and maintain partner agreements, conduct transactions, maintain real property interests, and report accomplishments to OSD.

The Military Services can also fund projects independent of REPI Program funding. For more information on the individual Military Service implementation programs, see the appendix.

REPI Funding Sources

Most encroachment management projects are multi-year efforts, and the ability to leverage funds and resources is a key to building a solid foundation for success. Funding for these projects comes from DOD and our partners. Under the legal authority, the DOD contribution must come out of annual Operations and Maintenance (O&M) funding. DOD funding can include Research, Development, Test, & Evaluation (RDT&E) if the installation’s operations are primarily funded using RDT&E funds rather than O&M.

There are two types of DOD funding for REPI projects: (1) Military Service funds or (2) REPI Program funds that are identified by Congress in a line-item in the DOD budget. The OSD oversees and administers the REPI Program by issuing guidance, defining DOD-wide policies and priorities, and providing the congressional funds to the Military Services, who then implement the projects.

REPI Program funds are multiplied by cost share from outside funds, which account for approximately 47 percent of total project costs since Fiscal Year 2003. While there is no cost share minimum requirement, the individual Military Services may have their own targets. Partner contributions include other federal grants, state and local grants or cost share programs, private capital from conservation partners, bargain sales or donations from willing landowners, and in-kind services from our partners. Additionally, the REPI statute (10 USC § 2648(a)(h), as amended by the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act), now allows the recipient of REPI funds to use such funds as the match or cost-sharing requirement of any conservation or resilience program of any federal agency (previously limited to U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Interior). Leveraging funding from partners is important because the total Military Service funding requirements greatly exceed available funding. This cost share continues to demonstrate the value of REPI partnerships to Congress and the taxpayers.

REPI projects are typically funded through three channels:

1. Military Service Fund are any Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Air Force Operations and Maintenance funding or exchanged excess for Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) real property.

2. REPI Program Funds are provided by Congress in DOD’s annual budget.

3. Partner Funds include other federal grants, State and local grants or cost share programs, private capital from conservation organizations, bargain sales or donations from willing landowners, and in-kind services from partners. Partner contributions do not need to be cash funds.

REPI Program funds are multiplied by cost share from outside funds, which account for approximately 47 percent of total project costs since Fiscal Year 2003. While there is no cost share minimum requirement, the individual Military Services may have their own targets. Partner contributions include other federal grants, state and local grants or cost share programs, private capital from conservation partners, bargain sales or donations from willing landowners, and in-kind services from our partners. Additionally, 10 U.S.C. § 2648(a)(h) now allows the recipient of REPI funds to use such funds as the match or cost-sharing requirement of any conservation or resilience program of any federal agency (previously limited to U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Interior). Leveraging funding from partners is important because the total Military Service funding requirements greatly exceed available funding. This cost share continues to demonstrate the value of REPI partnerships to Congress and the taxpayers.

REPI Projects Across the Country

From Fiscal Year 2003 through Fiscal Year 2023, DOD has established REPI projects at 124 locations in 37 states and territories across the country. Each project includes one or more parcels protected through a REPI partnership. Most projects have received funding over multiple years. All DOD installations in the United States and territories are eligible for REPI Program funds. If you do not see your neighboring installation on this map, you can still develop a partnership. Refer to Section 7 for more information on how to pursue partnership opportunities. Discover spatial attributes related to each project using the REPI Interactive Map.

Project Implementation, Monitoring, and Reporting

While the focus of REPI projects is to acquire easements or other interests in land, partnerships do not end there. To sustain our ongoing training, testing, and operational capabilities, protection of land and habitat through REPI projects is usually perpetual. To ensure permanence, a partner must plan for easement monitoring, enforcement, and, in some cases, long-term natural resources management. Future costs for natural resources management, monitoring, and enforcement may be placed as a lump sum in an interest-bearing or other investment account.

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Reporting Requirements

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Reporting Requirements

Military Service representatives work closely with partners to implement projects and close transactions. Specific reporting requirements vary among the Military Services, depending upon the types of agreements used to obligate funds. Partners should expect to do at least annual reporting to the installation on project status and to carry on long-term partnerships with installations. DOD, meanwhile, provides an annual Report to Congress on the use of 10 U.S.C. § 2684a and 10 U.S.C. § 670c-1. The Military Services provide OSD with information related to all transactions under the authority and project cost shares, and OSD details project accomplishments and benefits. If funds are placed in an interest-bearing account for natural resources management and monitoring and enforcement, the Military Service is required to account for interest or other income earned and report on the disposition of these funds biennially to OSD.

Natural Resource Management & Restoration

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Natural Resource Management & Restoration

Many REPI projects that preserve habitat require more than just protecting the land from being developed. Projects often involve long-term management of natural resources, including habitat restoration and enhancement and species monitoring. REPI Program funds may be used for these purposes, even as a one-time, upfront payment placed into an interest bearing or other investment account; however, there are limitations. Coordinate with your Military Service representative to determine whether specific activities are eligible or ineligible for REPI funding.

Easement Monitoring & Enforcement

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Easement Monitoring & Enforcement

REPI partnerships should plan for and institute procedures to review, monitor, and, as necessary, enforce the terms of all easements or other real estate interests acquired. Partnerships should perform these services at least annually, such as through visual inspections of the properties according to the Land Trust Alliance’s Land Trust Standards and Practices.

Note: REPI Program funds are appropriated annually by Congress. This means that all funds MUST be contractually obligated during the Federal FY (ends on September 30) in which they are appropriated by Congress. All transactions must be completed as soon as possible after that obligation, with an expectation of expending all funds no later than 18 months after obligation. Funds must be fully spent within five years of obligation.

Other Complementary Land Use Tools

REPI partnerships are one of many tools in the encroachment management toolbox. Integrating REPI partnerships with some of the other DOD tools and strategies can help further increase land protection, conservation, and cost savings. A few other examples:

• AICUZ & RAICUZ
• Land Exchange Authority
• OLDCC
• DOD Siting Clearinghouse
• Conservation Credits

Through the Air Installations Compatible Use Zone (AICUZ) and Range Air Installations Compatible Use Zone (RAICUZ) program, air installations work with local governments and the community to educate stakeholders on the air installation’s mission and develop compatible land use recommendations that can inform zoning and local ordinances with the aim of reducing potential accidents and noise impacts to the community. This program designates Accident Potential Zones, Clear Zones, and noise zones at the end of military runways. These are areas of land that need to be compatible with air operations while preserving the health and safety of on-base personnel and the community. The Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force all use AICUZ criteria to strategically identify parcels in the vicinity of air stations and bases to be protected.

Instead of using REPI Program or O&M funds for DOD contributions to a REPI project transaction, the Military Services can use a property exchange under the authority of 10 U.S.C. § 2869. The 2869 authority allows DOD to convey excess or closed Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) property in exchange for an agreement to acquire real property under the 2684a authority. Excess land can be directly exchanged for land of equal value that will be protected through a REPI partnership, or the excess land can be transferred to a partner who agrees to make a contribution of equivalent value to a REPI project transaction. A land exchange provides DOD the ability to efficiently use limited resources to benefit its mission. Meanwhile, the excess DOD property is returned to the tax rolls or otherwise used for community benefit.

The Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) (formerly Office of Economic Adjustment) Compatible Use Program is the only program of direct Federal assistance to help states and communities work with the Military Services to promote compatible civilian development in support of the long-term sustainability and operability of military installations, including ranges, special use airspace, military operations areas, and military training routes. OLDCC provides technical and financial assistance to state and local governments to develop a Compatible Use Plan and carry out the recommended strategies to promote compatible civilian development. Through the community-driven Compatible Use Plan development process, adjacent communities and often the state, in partnership with the installation, identify and evaluate a wide range of existing and potential future compatibility challenges that may impair the military mission. The affected communities then develop a strategic action plan to identify specific actions, responsible parties, a proposed timeline, and possible funding sources to address the compatibility challenges. Through a Compatible Use Plan, a Military Service and/or the affected communities may identify an issue for which a REPI project can provide resolution. Thus, the Compatible Use Program serves as a powerful tool for the REPI Program in bringing communities and the military together to address compatible land use issues and needs. More information is available at https://oldcc.gov.

DOD Siting Clearinghouse was established in 2010 to provide a timely, transparent, and repeatable process that can evaluate potential impacts from energy development as well as explore mitigation options that preserve the DOD mission. With the rapid expansion of alternative energy, DOD is increasingly called on to review the compatibility of proposed wind, solar, transmission, and other projects with military activities.

DOD has a structured process for developers to request that DOD conduct mission compatibility evaluations, documented in 32 C.F.R. Part 211. The Clearinghouse's formal review process applies to projects filed with the Secretary of Transportation, under 49 U.S.C. § 44718 (Federal Aviation Administration obstruction evaluation process), as well as other projects proposed for construction within military training routes or special use airspace, whether on private, state, or Federal property, such as Bureau of Land Management lands. The Clearinghouse also provides informal reviews, when requested. This means that a developer, landowner, state, tribal, or other local official may request a preliminary determination in advance of the filing of an application with the Secretary of Transportation. More information can be found on the Clearinghouse website.

Installations work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state fish and wildlife agencies to ensure natural resources are managed consistent with proper stewardship and sound science, while complying with legal requirements. To alleviate restrictions on threatened and endangered species habitat, our installations are working beyond their boundaries to attain credits for promoting the conservation and recovery of a listed or potentially listed or its habitat. Installations can consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service according to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act to accrue credits and alleviate restrictions by showing a measurable contribution to a species’ recovery through equivalent protection on non-DOD lands.

Additionally, DOD has specific regulatory authority to purchase credits directly from conservation banks, mitigation banks, and in-lieu fee programs (10 U.S.C. § 2694c and 10 U.S.C. § 2694d). Mitigation banks and in-lieu fee programs provide compensatory mitigation credits for impacts to wetlands and other aquatic resources. Banks issue credits prior to the impact, while in-lieu fee mitigation is implemented after the impact from the DOD activity. Under recovery credit systems, DOD serves as the bank. Recognition of DOD’s authority to use recovery credit systems is provided in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service guidance (73 Fed. Reg. 148, p. 44761-44772).

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The red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) is an endangered bird that inhabits the open pine forests (mainly longleaf pine) of the Southeast from New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia to Florida, West to Texas and North to portions of Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky. The RCW is a non-migratory species that makes its home (cavities) in mature pine forests. These birds are considered ‘keystone’ species because the use of their cavities by other species contributes to the richness of the pine forest.

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Gopher tortoises are currently endangered in the Southeast Region of the U.S. and threatened in other parts across the country. Each tortoise will dig and use many burrows throughout the active season; these burrows also provide refuge for about 360 other species throughout its range. Gopher tortoises thrive in relatively deep, sandy, soils and in longleaf pine forests. Threats include habitat fragmentation and degradation, predation, inadequacy of regulatory mechanisms, road kill, and incompatible use of herbicides in forest management.

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The checkerspot butterfly is currently a threatened species in the Northwest region of the U.S. that likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. Checkerspot butterflies exist on shallow, serpentine-derived soil. Threats include habitat loss and fragmentation, invasion of exotic/invasive plants, nitrogen deposition, pesticide application (including drift), illegal collecting, fire, overgrazing, and gopher control.

The following are 10 key steps to help develop a successful partnership:

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1. Find information, training, primers, policy and guidance on REPI projects and the respective Military Service programs. Information on REPI is available on the REPI website.

Partners learn and work together. At Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, an organized range tour allowed local partners to further understand the environment and needs of the military, while the military learns about the perspective and concerns of local partners.

2. Installations should identify potential partners; if you are a land trust or other organization interested in becoming a potential partner, you should contact the local or regional installation office. The following are some of the military representatives and offices that could be of assistance:

1. Community Planning & Liaison Officers (Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force)
2. Plans, Analysis and Integration Office (Army)
3. DOD REPI Program (OSD)
4. Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OSD)
5. Public Affairs Office (all Military Services)

3. Installations and partners should meet to discuss the possibility of learning more about the installation mission and operations, identify areas of mutual interest, and discuss if there is need for a Compatible Use Plan. This meeting may, with prior coordination, include a site visit of training ranges and facilities. Contact the installation for more information on seeking a site visit.

Encroachment from population growth, urban development and environmental requirements limits the Army’s ability to fully utilize it's installations for realistic combat training. Congress acknowledged the threat of encroachment to military readiness and provided a legislative tool that allows the Army to work with other government or private partners to establish buffer areas around active ranges and training lands.

4. Share key information early in the project development process. Installations should evaluate mission capabilities at risk from encroachment, analyze the threat, and develop potential solutions for inclusion in comprehensive planning and proposal development. Partners should be involved and provide input early and often. Together, partnerships should work to:

1. Prepare and provide maps of your focus area with parcel information
2. Understand the military’s mission footprint
3. Identify common land-use and conservation goals and partnerships
4. Identify state and regional goals
5. Identify overlapping partner areas of interest with the installation
6. Inventory surrounding land uses and current zoning
7. Identify, survey, and map the ecological landscape
8. Identify or survey landowner interests

5. Contact and meet with other potentially interested partners and seek multiple funding sources, such as:

1. Federal grants programs like National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, or National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund grants
2. State and local grant programs such as the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund or the Virginia Land Conservation Fund
3. State military planning commission funds
4. Donations of land in fee or conservation easements
5. Land exchanges (as authorized for DOD under 10 U.S.C. § 2869)
6. Crediting or banking opportunities

6. Agree on a long-term strategy and work together to prepare plans or proposals. The REPI project process takes time and may take years to see through. Develop land protection strategies that provide the maximum flexibility to meet landowner needs and partner missions, protect the military mission, and leverage the greatest number of other resources.

U.S. Army Soldiers must be prepared to operate in any terrain, bringing the fight to those that threaten the safety of our nation or our allies.

7. Raise matching funds. There is no minimum cost share requirement but the Military Services may have varying targets.

Paratroopers from the 1st Battalion (Airborne) 143rd Infantry Regiment and Charlie Troop (LRS) 3rd Squadron, 124th Cavalry Regiment conduct airborne operations at Fort Hood's Rapido Drop Zone.

8. Continuously canvass the community for interested landowners and be active in community outreach.

Rod Moyer, owner of Moyer Ranch near Fort Riley, Kan., speaks to attendees of the conservation easement signing. The agreement protects Moyer's land from future development.

9. Work together closely and keep each other fully informed of ongoing process and status of the transaction.

Camp Blanding's Environmental Program Manager, inspects the project to gauge success while monitoring for potential invasive species infestation. Future management of the newly forested sites will involve reintroduction of fire management and eventually even timber harvesting to support forest health and training use.

10. Celebrate success with signing ceremonies and other special events, and carry that momentum forward to project implementation and other successes!

A river of national economic and ecological significance, the Mississippi River flows through the Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape. Efforts to conserve working and open lands around Camp Ripley are helping to protect seven sub-watersheds of the Mississippi River, improving water quality and vital habitat for numerous species.

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REPI partnerships are one solution for combating encroachment and supporting our Nation’s long-term military readiness, while delivering mutual, multiple benefits to communities and stakeholders.

Through REPI projects, you can support the men and women in uniform who defend our nation as well as their families and communities, enhance military readiness, conserve valuable habitat, preserve working farms and forestland, foster sustainable economies, and protect your local heritage. The REPI Program also provides new opportunities to collaborate with other federal land conservation programs and landscape-scale initiatives. There are many opportunities to come together in partnership with the REPI Program and make a difference.

Take the time to celebrate success. Getting together to celebrate the success of your REPI partnership is a small but important way to acknowledge everyone’s hard work, build more meaningful relationships, and carry the momentum forward. U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii’s partners and the local community held a special event to celebrate the protection of a 1,129- acre coastal bluff at Pupukea-Paumalu near the Army’s Kahuku Training Area on the North Shore of the island of Oahu. Partners from the Army, The Trust for Public Land, and the North Shore Community Land Trust attended the community ceremony.

The Primer Series Includes:

Collaborative Land Use Planning: A Guide for Military Installations and Local Governments

Commander’s Guide to Community Involvement

Commander’s Guide to Renewable Energy

Commander’s Guide to Understanding and Supporting Working Forests

Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program Encroachment Management Partnerships: A Guide for State, Local, and Private Partners

Outreach for Mission Sustainability: Working to Balance Military and Civilian Community Needs

Working to Preserve Farm, Forest and Ranch Lands: A Guide for Military Installations

Working with Conservation Districts: A Guide for Military Installations

Working with Land Trusts: A Guide for Military Installations and Land Trusts

Working with Local Governments: A Practical Guide for Installations

Working with Regional Councils: A Guide for Installations

Working with State Legislatures: A Guide for Military Installations and State Legislatures