Military Affairs

The US military plays an important role in California. It is steward to approximately ten percent of California’s land, its operations and personnel contribute billions of dollars to our state economy and its military bases provide critical training for our national defense. 

Executive Order S-16-06 established the Governor’s Advisor for Military Affairs within OPR. Under this executive order, OPR coordinates state policies that affect the military, including land use planning, regulatory activities by state agencies, and state legislation. OPR is working to improve communication and encourage collaboration between local governments and the United States Military on land use planning and development issues in California. The Governor’s Advisor for Military Affairs works closely with all branches of the military on areas of mutual concern and priority. Areas of focus include:

Land Use: OPR works with active military installations in California and local communities to reduce potential land use conflicts. This function enables appropriate growth and local economic vitality, ongoing military training and military readiness and public health and safety.

Energy: OPR and other state agencies actively partner with the military to advance shared energy goals, including the expansion of energy efficiency and renewable energy. The US military is providing important leadership in our national effort to advance clean energy and achieve energy independence. Likewise, California has demonstrated international leadership and innovation in the area of energy policy. OPR collaborates with the military on a wide range of energy policy and projects.

Resources

The California Advisory Handbook for Community and Military Compatibility Planning provides guidance to local governments, the military and developers on how to address land use activities near military installations and activities.

OPR developed the California Military Land Use Compatibility Analyst (CMLUCA), which is a mapping tool that local governments and developers can use to identify whether proposed planning projects are located in the vicinity of military bases and military airspace. This mapping tool helps local governments and developers comply with legislation that requires the military to be notified of certain development applications and general plan actions.

The Community and Military Compatibility Planning, Supplement to the General Plan Guidelines, is intended to assist cities and counties in addressing military compatibility issues when developing, updating or significantly amending their general plans. These guidelines are the result of the passage of SB 1468 (Knight, 2002) and SB 1462 (Kuehl, 2003), which outline the responsibilities of cities and counties regarding the military in the planning and land use decision-making process.

The Beale Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) and R-2508 JLUS were released in 2008. The overall goal of each JLUS was to reduce potential conflicts while accommodating growth, sustaining the economic health of the respective region, and protecting public health and safety. Active military installations, surrounding counties and cities, and other affected agencies collaborated to produce the studies.