[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 3407-3408]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    A BILL TO AMEND THE SIKES ACT TO PROMOTE THE USE OF COOPERATIVE 
AGREEMENTS UNDER SUCH ACT FOR LAND MANAGEMENT RELATED TO DEPARTMENT OF 
DEFENSE READINESS ACTIVITIES AND TO AMEND TITLE 10, UNITED STATES CODE, 
TO FACILITATE INTERAGENCY COOPERATION IN CONSERVATION PROGRAMS TO AVOID 
       OR REDUCE ADVERSE IMPACTS ON MILITARY READINESS ACTIVITIES

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 12, 2013

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I have introduced a bill to amend the 
Sikes Act to promote the use of cooperative agreements for land 
management related to the Department of Defense (DoD) readiness 
activities and to facilitate interagency cooperation in conservation 
programs to avoid or reduce adverse impacts on military readiness 
activities. The bill provides common sense reforms to the Sikes Act and 
DoD Readiness Environmental Protection Initiative (REPI). These reforms 
afford both programs with greater flexibility to leverage cooperative 
agreements and other federal funds to meet program requirements.
  In particular, section 1 of the bill would provide additional 
enhancements to the authorities provided to DoD under the Sikes Act and 
parallels a similar amendment made in the FY 2012 National Defense 
Authorization Act to the REPI program. Specifically, the provision 
would authorize DoD, pursuant to a cooperative agreement under the 
Sikes Act, to provide funds for the long term maintenance and 
improvement of natural resources on non-DoD lands without first having 
to protect such lands through acquisition of easements. This will 
greatly enhance the ability of DoD to take action to relieve or 
eliminate current or anticipated challenges that could restrict, 
impede, or otherwise interfere with, whether directly or indirectly, 
current or anticipated military activities. For example, this provision 
would help DoD meet its obligations under the Endangered Species Act 
and other applicable statutory and regulatory requirements through 
actions on non-DoD lands pursuant to a cooperative agreement with a 
state or local agency or a private landowner. This authority would help 
avoid or reduce the need to restrict training and testing activities on 
DoD lands.
  Section 2 of the bill would help DoD better protect military 
installations and ranges from encroachment under REPI and the Sikes Act 
by enhancing cooperation with the Departments of Agriculture and the 
Interior. Sustainability and the long-term viability of many DoD 
installations and ranges continue to be threatened by incompatible 
development and loss of habitat in areas in the vicinity of, or 
ecologically related to, those installations and ranges. Current law 
allows funds from non-DoD federal programs to be used by REPI partners 
as contributions under a REPI agreement. Greater partnership and 
cooperation is enhanced under this provision by allowing

[[Page 3408]]

funds provided by the DoD to protect bases from encroachment to qualify 
as match or cost share in the conservation programs of the Departments 
of Agriculture and Interior. For example, prior to the 2008 Farm Bill 
enactment, DoD, through the REPI program, was able to protect 
installations in Oklahoma, Kansas, and South Carolina from encroachment 
while at the same time assisting state and local governments and 
willing landowners in meeting the matching funds requirements of the 
Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP, now the Farmland 
Protection Program (FRP)). However, technical changes to this program 
in the 2008 Farm Bill had the unintended result of terminating the 
authority for DoD funds to be used as matching or cost-share 
requirements for that program. The provision reverses that unintended 
consequence and addresses the broader issue of allowing the DoD funds 
to be used as a match to other federal programs to help address 
encroachment issues at military installations. This provision is 
important to improving the readiness of our forces and ensuring their 
installations and ranges can be sustained.
  Again, the bill is a common sense approach to better enabling DoD to 
meet its conservation goals and requirements while protecting its 
ability to meet readiness requirements. In a time of fiscal austerity, 
it is important for Congress to provide the Administration with the 
tools and authorities to be flexible and adaptable to challenges with 
innovative thinking and minimal investment. I urge my colleagues to 
support this measure.

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