Federal Facilities Cleanup Program Overview
The NCSL Federal Facilities Oversight Program focuses its efforts on one of the largest and most difficult environmental projects in the world-the cleanup of the former nuclear weapons complex. Many states, tribes, and local communities are uniquely affected by the public health and environmental impacts associated with the federal government's weapons production, research, and development spanning from the Manhattan Project to the Cold War. As a result, states, tribes, and other stakeholder groups play an important regulatory oversight role to ensure that their best interests are being satisfied, while partnering with Department of Energy to achieve cleanup goals.
Our Federal Facilities Oversight Program also focuses on the realignment and closure of military installations. Although the military Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, authorized under federal law, has resulted in many federal facility closures or reductions for some communities, others have experienced unprecedented military growth. State legislatures can play an active role in partnering with local communities to sustain their state's military installations and the benefits they bring by ensuring that economic, infrastructure, and environmental needs related to mission change are effectively met.
NCSL offers a number of services related to the oversight of federal facilities, including legal and policy analysis, testimony before state legislative bodies, and meeting coordination and planning. Our objectives are to improve the quality and effectiveness of state legislatures, state executive branch agencies, and tribal governments by promoting policy innovation, communicating among our constituents, and ensuring state and tribal governments a strong and cohesive voice in the federal system.
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