Military ranges and training areas are used primarily to test weapon systems and train military forces. Required facilities include air ranges for air-to-air, air-to-ground, drop zone, and electronic combat training; live-fire ranges for artillery, armor, small arms, and munitions training; ground maneuver ranges to conduct realistic force-on-force and live-fire training at various unit levels; and sea ranges to conduct ship maneuvers for training. According to DOD officials, there has been a slow but steady increase in encroachment issues that have limited the use of training facilities, and the gradual accumulation of these issues increasingly threatens training readiness. DOD has identified eight such encroachment issues: Designation of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Under the Act, agencies are required to ensure that their actions do not destroy or adversely modify habitat that has been designated for endangered or threatened species. Currently, over 300 such species are found on military installations. In 1994, under the previous administration 14 agencies signed a federal memorandum of understanding for implementing the Endangered Species Act. The agencies agreed to establish or use existing regional interagency working groups to identify geographic areas within which the groups would coordinate agency actions and overcome barriers to conserve endangered species and their ecosystems. Such cooperative management could help DOD share the burden of land use restrictions on military installations that are caused by encroachment issues, but implementation of this approach has been limited. We are currently reviewing this issue. Application of environmental statutes to military munitions. DOD believes that the Environmental Protection Agency could apply environmental statutes to the use of military munitions, shutting down or disrupting military training. According to DOD officials, uncertainties about future application and enforcement of these statutes limit their ability to plan, program, and budget for compliance requirements. Competition for radio frequency spectrum. The telecommunications industry is pressuring for the reallocation of some of the radio frequency spectrum from DOD to commercial control. DOD reports that over the past decade, it has lost about 27 percent of the frequency spectrum allocated for aircraft telemetry. And we previously reported additional allocation of spectrum could affect space systems, tactical communications, and combat training. Marine regulatory laws that require consultation with regulators when a proposed action may affect a protected resource. Defense officials say that the process empowers regulators to impose potentially stringent measures to protect the environment from the effects of proposed training in marine environments. Competition for airspace. Increased airspace congestion limits the ability of pilots to train as they would fly in combat. Clean Air Act requirements for air quality. DOD officials believe the Act requires controls over emissions generated on Defense installations. New or significant changes in range operations also require emissions analyses, and if emissions exceed specified thresholds, they must be offset with reductions elsewhere. Laws and regulations mandating noise abatement. DOD officials stated that weapon systems are exempt from the Noise Control Act of 1972, but DOD must assess noise impact under the National Environmental Policy Act. As community developments have expanded closer to military installations, concerns over noise from military operations have increased. Urban growth. DOD says that unplanned or “incompatible” commercial or residential development near training ranges compromises the effectiveness of training activities. Local residents have filed lawsuits charging that military operations lowered the value or limited the use of their property. To the extent that encroachment adversely affects training readiness, opportunities exist for the problems to be reported in departmental and military service readiness reports. The Global Status of Resources and Training System is the primary means units use to compare readiness against designed operational goals. The system’s database indicates, at selected points in time, the extent to which units possess the required resources and training to undertake their wartime missions. In addition, DOD is required under 10 U.S.C. 117 to prepare quarterly readiness reports to Congress. The reports are based on briefings to the Senior Readiness Oversight Council, a forum assisted by the Defense Test and Training Steering Group. In June 2000, the council directed the steering group to investigate encroachment issues and develop a comprehensive plan of action. The secretaries of the military services are responsible for training personnel and for maintaining their respective training ranges and facilities. Within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness develops policies, plans, and programs to ensure the readiness of the force and provides oversight on training; the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment develops policies, plans, and programs for DOD’s environmental, safety, and occupational health programs, including compliance with environmental laws, conservation of natural and cultural resources, pollution prevention, and explosive safety; and the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, provides advice on tests and evaluations. On the basis of what we have seen, the impact of encroachment on training ranges has gradually increased over time, reducing some training capabilities. Because most encroachment problems are caused by urban development and population growth, these problems are expected to increase in the future. Although the effects vary by service and by individual installation, encroachment has generally limited the extent to which training ranges are available or the types of training that can be conducted. This limits units’ ability to train as they would expect to fight and causes workarounds that may limit the amount or quality of training. Installations overseas all reported facing similar training constraints. Some of the problems reported by installations we visited last year were those related to urban growth, radio frequency spectrum interference, air quality, noise, air space, and endangered species habitat. For example, in response to local complaints, Fort Lewis, Washington, voluntarily ceased some demolitions training. Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, officials reported the base’s major target control system received radio frequency spectrum interference from nearby commercial operators. Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, officials reported that urban growth near the base and related safety concerns had restricted flight patterns of armed aircraft, causing mission delays and cancellations. They also reported that they receive approximately 250 complaints about noise each year. About 10 percent of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, had been designated as critical habitat for endangered species. Atlantic Fleet officials reported encroachment problems stemming from endangered marine mammals and noise. They said that the fleet’s live-fire exercises at sea were restricted, and night live-fire training was not allowed. More recently, in January 2003, DOD’s Special Operations Command reported that its units encounter a number of obstacles when scheduling or using training ranges. According to the report, the presence of endangered species and marine mammals on or near ranges result in restrictions on training for at least part of the year—closing the area to training, prohibiting live fire, or requiring modified operations. For example, a variety of endangered species live on the training areas of the Navy Special Warfare Command in California, particularly on Coronado and San Clemente islands. Due to environmental restrictions, Navy Special Warfare units report that they can no longer practice immediate action drills on Coronado beaches; they cannot use training areas in Coronado for combat swimmer training; and they cannot conduct live-fire and maneuver exercises on much of San Clemente Island during some seasons. In addition, the Special Operations Command owns no training ranges of its own and largely depends on others for the use of their training ranges. As a result, command officials advised us that they must train under operational and scheduling restrictions imposed by its host commands. For example, the command normally trains at night; and because range management personnel are not often available at night, this prevents such training. Also, on many ranges, the command reported that priority is given to larger units than special operations units causing it to postpone or cancel training. According to the report, ranges are also inadequately funded for construction, maintenance, repairs, and upgrades. This results in some commanders using their own funds in order to prevent the ranges from becoming dangerous or unusable. The Special Operations Command, while expressing concern for the future, reported that none of the eight encroachment issues identified by DOD had yet stopped military training, due mostly to the creativity and flexibility of its commanders and noncommissioned officers. In general, when obstacles threaten training, the unit will find a workaround to accomplish the training. In some instances, the unit may travel to another training facility, costing additional money for transportation and potentially requiring an extended stay at the training site. By sending units away to train, the command limits its ability to send people on future travel for training or missions due to efforts to control the number of days per year that servicemembers are deployed away from home. Other workarounds consist of commands using different equipment, such as plastic-tipped bullets; changing maneuvering, firing, and training methods to overcome training obstacles; and using facilities that need repair. According to the Special Operations Command, all of these workarounds expend more funds and manpower in order to accomplish its training mission. DOD and military service officials said that many encroachment issues are related to urban growth around military installations. They noted that most, if not all, encroachment issues result from urban and population growth and that around DOD installations this is increasing at a rate higher than the national average. Figure 1 illustrates the increase in urban growth encroachment near Fort Benning, Georgia, while the fort has remained relatively unchanged. According to DOD officials, new residents near installations often view military activities as an infringement on their rights, and some groups have organized in efforts to reduce operations such as aircraft and munitions training. At the same time, according to Defense officials, the increased speed and range of weapon systems are expected to increase training range requirements. Despite the loss of some training range capabilities, service readiness data did not show the impact of encroachment on training readiness. However, DOD’s January 2003 quarterly report to Congress did tie an Air Force training issue directly to encroachment.