186 



SmENCTHENING THE MtD INFRAmiUCTVIIE 89 



Ccnainly it can modify its mission to address the major environmental chal- 

 lenges now facing the nation. 



DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 



■ Department of Defense enviTonment-related research and development 

 efforts should be integrated with those of other federal departments and 

 agencies. Alternatively, some of these activities could be transferred to en- 

 vironmental R&D programs within other departments and agencies. 



The Department of Defense (DoD) laboratory structure possesses 

 significant capabilities for conducting environmental research. In fact, the 

 depanment has funded natural science research targeted on environmenul 

 issues for many years. The Office of Naval Research has played a major role 

 in developing the nation's occanographic capabilities, and the Army, through 

 a variety of programs, has funded imponant computer-based research as 

 well as studies of the lower atmosphere. For many years, the Air Force has 

 maintained a sizeable program in upper atmospheric research. Like the De- 

 partment of Energy, however, the Department of Defense is responsible for 

 a substantial proponion of the nation's hazardous waste, and it has, until 

 recently, devoted few resources to this problem. 



Environmental research within the Department of Defense is, as 

 it should be, highly jnission-oriented. However, new opf>ortunities are de- 

 veloping for the department to conuibute directly to the research activities 

 of civilian federal agencies. DoD is facing major cleanup problems at its 

 bales' and installations. Research directed at solving these problems should 

 contribute as well to the national hazardous waste cleanup effort centered 

 in EPA's Superfund activities. The Defense Department also faces the major 

 task of disposing of old chemical weapons, and the development of tech- 

 nologies to deal with obsolete highly toxic substances will have applicability 

 to the disposal of other hazardous waste. In addition, the services and vari- 

 ous agencies of the Defense Department have recently begun to focus on 

 ways to minimize waste. Here again, technologies, procedures, and manu- 

 facturing systems that conserve resources could be shared with the civilian 

 agencies. 



Future environmental proteaion efforts will depend heavily on moni- 

 toring and mapping systems. The Defense Mapping Agency produces data- 

 bases on topography that are essential to the implementation of geographic 

 information systems. Similar databases are vital to addressing many envi- 

 ronmental concerns. Defense databases could be expanded and, in some 

 cases, integrated with those of civilian agencies to enhance national and 

 international environmental monitoring efforts. 



