A Systematic Approach to Environmental Compliance on Ranges

The vastness of the Army's ranges (millions of acres), the variety of physical settings, and the complexity and degree of interaction between Army range activities is a notable challenge for operators, trainers, and installation managers. In order to effectively and proactively address environmental requirements on training and test ranges, an organized or systematic approach to the management of range environmental compliance requirements is essential.

The scope of the Range Compliance Initiative is to develop a template that Army installations and range managers will use to prepare the environmental compliance portion of the Sustainable Range Management Plan. This template is intended to:

• Clearly present the Army's environmental compliance policies in a manner specific to ranges;
• Provide guidelines to
  1. determine and document installation Compliance Program objectives and targets,
  2. identify programs to develop and achieve objectives and targets, and
  3. establish roles and responsibilities for each program.
• Articulate EMS training requirements across all levels of the installation organization, to include decision makers (e.g., commanders), general staff, and personnel whose range operational activities may impact the environment.
• Provide installation personnel guidance on monitoring and identifying applicable laws and regulations (this is important since many States are delegated responsibility for running environmental programs);
• Provide a process/management tool to assist the installations in assessing the activities that occur on the range that interact with the environment, and further determine the requirements of applicable laws and regulations for these range activities;
• Provide guidelines for
1. use of current auditing practices to document areas of nonconformance with existing environmental regulations and laws, and
2. developing corrective actions to the EMS;
• Provide a standardized format for processing recommended corrective actions for approval and action by decision makers. The overall EMS template will identify the tools and/or resources(e.g., checklists, guidance, information management systems) available to the installation for use to ensure appropriate information exchange regarding environmental compliance needs for their ranges.
• Provide guidance on the process to seek the resources to achieve and maintain compliance for sustaining range operations.

The Army operates training ranges in many locations across the United States. These include ranges located in a wide variety of climatic, geologic and ecological settings. The US Army Environmental Command (USAEC) plans on conducting environmental studies at a carefully selected number of ranges that represent a good cross section of the conditions found on CONUS wide Army ranges. Impact areas and firing points will be the primary focus of the study. The data gathered from the study will allow the Army to present creditable, realistic information regarding the environmental impacts of live fire training/testing under a variety of climatic, geologic and ecological settings. This , in turn, will allow the Army to prioritize its remaining ranges for assessment in the event such assessments are required. The information developed will also significantly expand the Army's ability to understand and address range issues related to potential environmental compliance, stewardship, and public outreach. Specifically, the study's data will support range sustainment in the following manner:

• Compliance - The Regional Range Study, in conjunction with the implementation of Environmental Management Systems, will enhance the Army's ability to ensure its ranges remain in compliance status and are available for training and testing. This contributes significantly to the Army's readiness.
• Stewardship - Information developed during the study will potentially assist the Army in its efforts to protect the threatened and endangered species that inhabit its ranges.
• Outreach - This information will allow the Army to proactively address the public's concerns regarding the affect ranges activities have on human health and the environment.
• Guidance - The Regional Range Study and subsequent range assessments conducted under the guidance and protocols developed as a result of these studies will provide creditable data.

Twelve ranges around the Continental United States (CONUS) will be assessed in this study. Soil, surface water, ground water, and sediment samples will be analyzed

Currently, USAEC has published Prevention of Lead Migration and Erosion from Small Arms Ranges (1.71mb PDF).

This manual was developed to help installation range managers and environmental staffs' access, develop and implement management practices that minimize adverse impact to human health and the environment from small arms range operations.

The manual provides a practical guide for identifying environmental issues on small arms ranges related to water and soil quality, evaluating risk to surface and groundwater from lead migration and soil erosion, and identifying best management practices that will aid in reducing the impacts of operating small arms ranges.

USAEC is preparing a strategic plan for the Director of Environmental Programs showing how the Army provides Environmental Support to Ranges and Munitions (ESRM). The ESRM Strategic Plan ties together the goals and objectives from the overarching documents, Environmental Campaign Plan, Sustainable Range Management Plan, Installation Strategic Action Plan, and the DoD Munitions Action Plan, to provide focus to environmental support to range and munitions management. The ERSM Strategic Plan develops the environmental needs to support operational goals and objectives.