Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP)
Background
The DoD recognizes its responsibility to protect the public from the potential hazards associated with military operations, both past and present. This is particularly true with regard to the DoD's use of military munitions in training and testing. The DoD developed the Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) in 2001 to addresses munitions-related concerns, including explosive safety, environmental, and health hazards from releases of unexploded ordnance (UXO), discarded military munitions (DDM), and munitions constituents (MC) found at locations other than operational ranges on active and Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) installations and Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) properties. The MMRP addresses non-operational range lands with suspected or known hazards from m munitions and explosives of concern (MEC) which occurred prior to September 2002, but are not already included with an Installation Response Program (IRP) site cleanup activity.
Program Drivers
- 32 CFR Part 179, Munitions Response Site Prioritization Protocol Final Rule (5 October 2005).
- 40 CFR Parts 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, and 270 Vol. 62 No. 29, Military Munitions Final Rule: Hazardous Waste Identification and Management; Explosives Emergencies; Manifest Exemption for Transport of Hazardous Waste on Right-of-Ways on Contiguous Properties (12 February 1997).
- Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly referred to as Superfund (11 December 1980).
- The National Defense Authorization Act established the MMRP inventory effort which included developing a response prioritization protocol for each MMRP site (Fiscal Year 2002).
Program Oversight
The Army assigned the U.S. Army Environmental Center (USAEC) the primary responsibility for completing the inventory for all active, BRAC, excess property, FUDS, and state-owned-and-operated National Guard Bureau installations, as required by the 2002 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the executing manager for the inventory project.
Program Management Manual for MMRP for Active Installations (September 2009) developed by U.S. Army Environmental Command (USAEC) provides information, resources, and tools to implement the MMRP at U.S. Army active installations.
Program Activities
The MMRP program prioritizes sites for cleanup based on risk to human health and the environment. The Army maintains an inventory of its munitions response sites and assigns a relative priority to each.
Munitions response sites within the DoD's MMRP will not be completed for several decades. The Army 3Rs (Recognize, Retreat, Report) Explosives Safety Education Program will be part of the interim Explosives Safety Management efforts for these sites.
Additional information can be found on MMRP in the Defense Environmental Programs Annual Report to Congress (DEP ARC). Current and previous DEP ARC documents are located on the DoD Environment, Safety and Occupational Health Network and Information Exchange (DENIX) website. Information can also be searched using the Knowledge-Based Corporate Reporting System (KBCRS). This web site serves as an additional resource to the DEP ARC, by providing a variety of helpful fact sheets on DEP status and progress.
The Munitions Inventory Module of the KBCRS gives DoD the ability to reconcile defense sites with states, Native American tribes, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Federal land managers. The module offers a wide range of search vehicles to generate reports, maps, and inventories of the MMRP. The Munitions module also allows the reviewers to comment on concerns they have regarding the munitions sites listed or sites that should be included, but were omitted.
Guidance Documents:
- U.S. Department of Army (DA). Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) - Application of the Military Munitions Response Site Prioritization Protocol (MRSPP) to Munitions Response Sites (MRS) on Active Installations (12 September 2007).
- DA. Army Policy for Application of the Military Munitions Response Iste Prioritization Protocol (MRSPP) - Corrected Copy (20 February 2009).
- Office of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (ODUSD) Installations and Environment (I&E), Munitions Response Site Prioritization Protocol Primer (April 2007)
- U.S. Army Environmental Command (USAEC). Program Management Manual for Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) Active Installations (September 2009).
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), EPA Munitions Response Guidelines (27 July 2010).
- USEPA. Munitions and Explosives of Concern Hazard Assessment (MEC HA) Methodology (Interim) (October 2008). This guidance was developed as a tool to assist site managers and regulators in evaluating explosive safety hazards to people at munitions response sites (MRS) consistent with the (CERCLA) - the federal law governing the cleanup of contaminated sites.
- USEPA. Handbook on Management of Munitions Response Actions (Interim Final) (May 2005).
- USEPA.Recommendations for EPA Regional Offices on Preliminary Assessments and Site Inspections for the Department of Defense Military Munitions Response Program (5 April 2010).