Integrating Predictive Modeling in DoD Cultural Resource Compliance
RC-200720
Objective
On Department of Defense (DoD) installations, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) compliance currently are carried out on a project-by-project and historic property-by-historic property basis. Such an approach is time-consuming and inefficient when dealing with more than 150,000 documented archaeological sites. With the military's shift toward intensive joint operations, these inefficiencies have the potential of jeopardizing mission readiness and range sustainability. Installations routinely create models that attempt to accurately predict the types of archaeological sites that will be encountered and the environmental settings where they will be found. No centralized guidance exists, however, on how to create and validate models or how to use them to achieve range sustainability and other military objectives. The objective of this project is to demonstrate the effectiveness of archaeological modeling to support cost-effective and streamlined compliance with Federal environmental and historic preservation laws.
Technology Description
Archaeological models are techniques for estimating, in an objective and replicable manner, the nature, distribution, and significance of archaeological sites. Many military installations have archaeological models, but most are not well integrated with management and compliance nor validated as to their accuracy. This project will provide centralized guidance on efficient and effective development and use of archaeological models for compliance and planning. The project team will demonstrate validation procedures for locational predictive models and provide centralized guidance on improving existing models. Further, the team will demonstrate applications of archaeological models as mechanisms for facilitating and streamlining NHPA and NEPA compliance and provide centralized guidance on these applications and on securing stakeholder buy-in.
Benefits
DoD currently spends more than $30 million annually for cultural resource compliance. This expenditure is likely to increase as the emphasis shifts from inventory to evaluation and treatment. The adoption of programmatic compliance approaches that use predictive modeling as a foundation will decrease the magnitude of projected DoD cultural resource expenditures by providing better planning information. As a result, military activities can avoid sites and installations can decrease the per unit cost of evaluation for most site types. This project also has benefits that pertain to both time savings and streamlining of the compliance process. If DoD installations use a programmatic approach to fulfill Section 106 requirements rather than dealing with each undertaking on a case-by-case basis, then the compliance process is abbreviated and has less potential to delay important military missions. (Anticipated Project Completion - 2011)
Project Documents
Symposium & Workshop
FY 2013 New Start Project Selections
Points of Contact
Principal Investigator
Dr. Paul Green
USAF, HQ Air Combat Command
Phone: 757-764-9335
Fax: 757-764-9305
Program Manager
Resource Conservation and Climate Change
SERDP and ESTCP
Project Documents
Document Types
- Fact Sheet - Brief project summary with links to related documents and points of contact.
- Final Report - Comprehensive report for every completed SERDP and ESTCP project that contains all technical results.
- Cost & Performance Report - Overview of ESTCP demonstration activities, results, and conclusions, standardized to facilitate implementation decisions.
- Technical Report - Additional interim reports, laboratory reports, demonstration reports, and technology survey reports.
- Guidance - Instructional information on technical topics such as protocols and user’s guides.
- Workshop Report - Summary of workshop discussion and findings.
- Multimedia - On demand videos, animations, and webcasts highlighting featured initiatives or technologies.
- Model/Software - Computer programs and applications available for download.
- Database - Digitally organized collection of data available to search and access.
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