A new policy will officially rename the Army Compatible Use Buffer (ACUB) program as the Army Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program, Achieving Readiness Through Conservation. The new policy will implement updated authorities and promote new opportunities to protect Army installations and training ranges by enhancing installation resilience. It will not affect any past ACUB plans, agreements, or reporting.
The Army manages more than 13 million acres worldwide, and its ability to successfully manage that land and the habitat it hosts is critical to the resilience of Army installations and the readiness of the force. Unfortunately, pressure on land and critical habitat has increased due to commercial and residential development, as well as degradation from climate change hazards such as drought, extreme heat, and wildfires. These trends threaten to constrain the Army’s freedom of maneuver and training on and around its installations, putting Army readiness at risk.
Congress, after recognizing the complexity of encroachment challenges around military installations, expanded the Department of Defense’s authorities to address these threats. In 2021, Congress amended Title 10, section 2864, of the U.S. Code, which governs master plans for major military installations. Congress specifically required installations to address risks and threats to military installation resilience, including from extreme weather events, sea level fluctuation, wildfires, flooding, and other changes in environmental conditions.
“The Army’s ability to test and train depends on our ability to use our installations to the fullest extent possible, and that means adapting against all possible encroachment threats,” said Rachel Jacobson, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment. “The Army REPI program positions the Army to work with community partners to safeguard our facilities for secure and sustained use in the face of climate change and any other encroachment threats. It also promotes shared conservation outcomes with full stakeholder collaboration.”
Before this policy update, Army installations prioritized easements or buffer projects that minimized threats from incompatible development, or restricted land use to protect threatened and endangered species, wetlands, and cultural resources. The new Army policy authorizes and encourages Army installations to identify and fund projects with other federal agencies and landholding partners. These projects will be designed to mitigate the Army’s risks against all threats to the installation, including extreme weather, flooding, wildfires, drought, and other climate change hazards.
Among the approaches the Army is championing in the updated policy is the use of off-post, nature-based solutions as an alternative to help protect critical infrastructure, military personnel, testing operations, and training operations from climate change impacts.
“The Army must continue to implement innovative solutions as part of the Army REPI program, such as nature-based infrastructure projects, to help installations build resilience in the face of all encroachment hazards,” Jacobson said.
Since 2003, 760,000 acres of land have been protected, managed, or improved through the investment of $740 million from the Army and DoD, and close to $530 million from partner entities.
The Army has a proud history of coordinating closely among a diverse set of community stakeholders to advance readiness and natural resource management. Soldiers and civilians work tirelessly to ensure that land and resources adjacent to installations are protected from incompatible development and are sustained for mutual benefits through the Army REPI program. The Army manages lands and implements solutions that drive resilience for installations while enhancing ecosystem services and generating economic and social benefits for communities. Under the new Army REPI program policy, installation staffs will continue to work with local partners to preserve Army missions by supporting and developing cost-sharing agreements, while devising solutions that serve the needs of the community.
As REPI projects are identified, the Army will conduct an analysis of environmental, ecological, socioeconomic, environmental justice, and other impacts before undertaking any action. The Army will also continue to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and all other applicable Federal, State and local requirements.
Each year the Secretary of Defense provides a report to Congress with information on DoD’s REPI program and on other DoD efforts to conserve land and address encroachment threats to military readiness. These annual reports are available online at https://www.repi.mil/Resources/Reports-and-Fact-Sheets/.
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