DoD primarily conducts environmental restoration activities in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund. The Department began cleaning up contamination in 1975 under the Installation Restoration Program (IRP). The IRP addresses contamination from a hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant. In 2001, DoD established the Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) to address sites (referred to munitions response sites or MRSs) known or suspected to contain unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions, or munitions constituents. Through the IRP and MMRP, DoD complies with environmental cleanup laws, such as CERCLA.
Under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP), DoD conducts cleanup at active installations, Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS), and Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) locations. The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defense Logistics Agency manage the cleanup programs at their active installations and BRAC locations. The Army oversees the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ execution of the FUDS cleanup program. The Office of the Secretary of Defense, through the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment, Environment, Safety, and Occupational Health Directorate, manages and oversees the DERP and provides program guidance.
For more information on the types of cleanup activities that are eligible for the DERP, see pages 16-18 in DoD Manual 4715.20, “Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) Management,” March 9, 2012.
For more information on the DERP, refer to the FY 2013 Department of Defense Environmental Programs Annual Report to Congress at https://www.denix.osd.mil/arc/ARCFY2013.cfm