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C. Kutak Rock Base Realignment

and Reuse Team

The Kutak Rock base realignment and reuse team members are uniquely qualified to work on all aspects of base realignment and base reuse activities. Each has counseled numerous communities on the various aspects of base realignment and closure. Kutak Rock's team members speak regularly at national conferences and publish articles on base realignment and reuse.

The following is a list of the primary Kutak Rock Base Realignment and Reuse team members:

George Schlossberg

For full bio, see GRS

See also: Kutak Rock Attorneys

• A partner at Kutak Rock and its base closure team leader; former Senior Counsel in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where his responsibilities included drafting and policy implementation of the original 1988 Base Closure Act, the Defense Authorization Amendments, and the Base Closure and Realignment Act, as amended.

• Served as Counsel to the Office of Economic Adjustment ("OEA"), Counsel to the President's Economic Adjustment Committee, Counsel to the President's Commission on Alternative Utilization of Military Facilities, and Counsel to the Department of Defense's Bureau of Prisons Assistance Council.

• Currently serves as the General Counsel to the National Association of Installation Developers (NAID), the national organization representing state and local communities affected by military base closures.

• Practice focuses on Department of Defense installations, base closures and community reuse matters. [SEE GRS BIO.]

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Contact: barry.steinberg@kutakrock.com or: bps@bpsrss.net

Barry P. Steinberg

For full bio, see BPS

See also: Kutak Rock Attorneys

• Partner at Kutak Rock LLP, and managing partner of the DC branch; specializes in military installation and environmental issues, including base reuse, base closure, contractor indemnification, environmental compliance and enforcement, and NEPA.

• At the time of his retirement from active duty in the Army, Mr. Steinberg held the rank of colonel in The Judge Advocate General's Corps and served as Chief of the Army's Environmental Law Division in the Pentagon.

• Previously, Colonel Steinberg served as the Chief of the Army's Litigation Division, where he was responsible for contract, military and civilian personnel and tort litigation brought against the Army and its agents.

• Colonel Steinberg was the senior uniformed lawyer responsible for environmental litigation involving Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant and other civil and criminal litigation, including toxic torts, environmental crimes, environmental liability of government contractors, and state environmental enforcement authority concerning federal facilities.

• Mr. Steinberg has been actively involved in the economic development of real estate at closed Federal facilities. [SEE BPS BIO.]

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Joseph L. Fuller

For full bio, see JLF

See also: Kutak Rock Attorneys

• An associate at Kutak Rock, works with Kutak Rock clients in structuring, negotiating and interpreting contract language peculiar to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and the Department of Defense version of the FAR, as well as other issues rising out of contract law.

• Mr. Fuller's expertise is particularly helpful in drafting real and personal property transfer documents associated with Base Closure property transfers.

• Mr. Fuller was formerly an active duty Army Judge Advocate Contract Appeals Division attorney.
• (to be continued)

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Seth Kirshenberg

For full bio, see SDK

See also: Kutak Rock Attorneys

• An associate with Kutak Rock; specializes in assisting local authorities to obtain federal facility property. He has extensive experience counseling city and county governments on various aspects of military base realignment and reuse and Department of Energy property acquisition.

• Through his knowledge of the current administration and Congress, he regularly assists local authorities to obtain federal approval and funding for projects.

• As the former Director of Economic Development for the International City/County Management Association, he published several articles and co-authored books on reusing and acquiring former Federal property, fighting base closures, and brownfields reuse. [SEE SDK BIO.]

Together Messrs. Schlossberg, Steinberg, and Kirshenberg have represented numerous communities with regard to base realignment and reuse matters.

D. Kutak Rock Selected Team Related

Base Realignment

and Reuse Experience:

FORT SHERIDAN, Highland Park, Illinois

Kutak Rock is counsel to the City of Highland Park and the City of Highwood Local Redevelopment Authority in their acquisition and future resale of property to the private sector.

FORT BENJAMIN HARRISON, Lawrence, Indiana

Mr. Schlossberg served as counsel to the City of Lawrence, Indiana, for the reuse of Fort Benjamin Harrison; Mr. Schlossberg advised the Reuse Authority on organizational and land transfer issues as well as the proper procedures for negotiated purchases and Economic Development Conveyances.

FORT ORD, California

Kutak Rock is counsel to the City of Seaside, California, for the reuse of Fort Ord, California; the firm advises the Mayor, City Manager and City Redevelopment Authority as to base closure, base reuse and land transfer issues. The City completed negotiations with the Army and acquired and now operates the two championship Fort Ord golf courses in advance of consummating a negotiated purchase of significant portions of the housing areas.

In addition, Kutak Rock is counsel to the Fort Ord Reuse Authority ("FORA") and is assisting them in completing and negotiating an Economic Development Conveyance with the Department of the Army.

VINT HILL FARMS STATION, Warrenton, Virginia

Messrs. Schlossberg and Steinberg advised the Reuse Authority responsible for the economic development of a former Army installation located 40 miles west of Washington, D.C. Responsibilities included analyzing the appropriate organizational response to the closure; community representation as a Cooperating Agency (or the functional equivalent) in the preparation of the EIS; and protection of community interests with respect to the timing, effectiveness, priority and remedy selection for remediation of contamination. Advised community leaders on implications of different types of conveyances of property, wetlands, endangered species, underground storage tanks, asbestos and lead-based paint.

NAVAL TRAINING CENTER ORLANDO, Orlando, Florida

Kutak Rock is counsel to the City of Orlando for the realignment and reuse of Naval Training Center Orlando. The firm is actively involved in negotiations with the Navy for the acquisition of property through an Economic Development Conveyance.

NAVAL AIR STATION ALAMEDA, City of Alameda, California

Kutak Rock is counsel to the City of Alameda, California, for the reuse of Naval Air Station, Alameda. This role involves advising the Mayor, the City Attorney, and Redevelopment Authority members as to all proper procedures for the reuse and disposition of this large coastal installation.

O'HARE AIR RESERVE STATION, Chicago, Illinois

Kutak Rock is counsel to the City of Chicago for the realignment and reuse of the O'Hare Air Reserve Station; this unique transaction is the result of several years of effort to convince the Department of the Air Force to vacate the valuable O'Hare property and relocate to another installation in Illinois. The firm advises the Chicago Department of Aviation as to the best way to acquire and redevelop the O'Hare property.

EL TORO MARINE CORPS AIR STATION, Irvine, California

Mr. Steinberg served as environmental counsel to the team selected to evaluate the condition of the Air Station, develop marketing initiatives for future use, and identify environmental prerequisites to reuse, including the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

NAVAL AIR STATION GLENVIEW, Glenview, Illinois

Kutak Rock is counsel to the Village of Glenview for the reuse of NAS Glenview; the firm advises the Mayor, Village Manager and Village Attorney on base closure and property disposal procedures with particular emphasis on Economic Development Conveyances.

MEMPHIS NAVAL AIR STATION, Millington, Tennessee

Mr. Steinberg served as environmental counsel to the Local Reuse Authority in planning the economic development of a realigned Naval Air Station. Responsibilities include integration of reuse plans into the environmental impact statement; negotiation with Navy and Department of Defense officials concerning environmental liability and possible indemnification associated with transferred real property and associated personal property (i.e., underground storage tanks); negotiation of community priorities in the Federal Remediation Program; coordination with State and Regional EPA authorities concerning Defense Department findings of suitability to lease and transfer; and representation of community interests in the allocation of environmental risk associated with interim leases before all contamination has been remediated.

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION, TUSTIN, Tustin, California

Kutak Rock represents the City of Tustin, California, in the realignment and reuse of MCAS Tustin, California. This representation involves all aspects of the closure, reuse and redevelopment of a highly attractive parcel of prime development property in Orange County, California. Issues associated with environmental remediation, limitations on future use, exercise of easement rights and Marine Corps deference to community reuse plans are involved in the redevelopment of this property.

CITY OF LAKEWOOD, California

Mr. Steinberg served as environmental counsel to a community adjacent to a former Naval Hospital (Long Beach). This community had been excluded from the reuse process and viewed reuse plans as a detriment to their interests. Responsibilities included crafting the community position for input into the Draft EIS, EPA Region IX review of the EIS pursuant to Section 309 of the Clean Air Act, and possible litigation challenging the EIS. Issues included air, water environmental justice, as well as procedural violations of the National Environmental Policy Act.

WHITE OAK, Virginia

Mr. Steinberg serves as counsel to the General Services Administration (GSA) for its acquisition and reuse of former military property from the Navy. He prepared the Memorandum of Agreement which controls risk allocation between the Navy and GSA after GSA acquired administrative jurisdiction. He continues to work with GSA on issues associated with the environment and a public/private partnership at White Oak, as well as management and operation of the golf courses by the local Park Commission.

Other base closure related client matters involve the representation of:

Jacksonville, Florida; San Diego, California; Hampton Roads, Virginia; Blackstone, Virginia; Rapid City, South Dakota; Grand Forks, North Dakota; the State of Alabama; Anniston, Alabama; New Orleans, Louisiana; Junction City, Kansas; Fort Worth, Texas; and the Economic Development Council of Northeast Pennsylvania.

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E. Base Realignment and Reuse Articles

• (to be continued)
  
  
  

II. Federal Property Acquisition

In addition to Kutak Rock's experience assisting communities to acquire former military base property, the FPNS team works with numerous communities and states to obtain property from other Federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), military departments and the General Services Administration (GSA).

Kutak Rock assists communities in understanding the applicable federal process, developing the appropriate transfer documents, and negotiating with the federal agency over terms and price. The terms and price of a federal parcel of property are dependent on numerous nontraditional real estate factors. Counsel for a community must not only be extremely conversant with the applicable laws and policies, but must know the people within the agencies who make the property disposal decisions. Kutak Rock's team has contacts throughout the federal property disposal network and can negotiate effectively to ensure the best price and terms.

The environmental components that go into the acquisition of federal property can be complex. Federal agencies are responsible for the collection and evaluation of environmental data in order to meet their statutory and regulatory responsibilities. The ultimate objective of these statutory and regulatory requirements is the protection of human health and the environment. The function of the FPNS team, where environmental issues are relevant, is to evaluate the data, cleanup schedule and level of cleanup required in order to integrate the information provided by the federal agency. This data will influence which parcels will be available at what time and in what condition.

Armed with the Kutak Rock team's advice on these issues, the community will be in a position to time phase its development program with full understanding of the potential for certain parcels; the impact of residual contamination on institutional controls, which can limit reuse; whether environmental insurance is required; and the impact of subsequent state environmental regulatory enforcement at former Federal property. Where a federal agency is transferring property to a community for no-cost or below-market value, where environmental issues exist, Kutak Rock has knowledgeable attorneys who have the experience and expertise to ensure that environmental liability and risk is carefully managed.

III. Military Personnel Representation

Military personnel are subject to a myriad of unique administrative, disciplinary and personnel practices. These include promotion, separation, discharge characterization, retirement, performance evaluations and courts martial. In over 26 years of active federal commissioned service as an active duty Army Judge Advocate Officer, Mr. Barry Steinberg, a partner with Kutak Rock, served as a military judge (presiding over several thousand courts-martial). In two assignments at the Pentagon, Mr. Steinberg served as personnel officer, litigation branch chief for military personnel civil litigation, Chief of the Army's Litigation Division and Chief of the Environmental Law Division.

Mr. Steinberg's practice includes discharge upgrades, appeals to each service's Board for Correction of Military Records, and civil litigation challenging personnel decisions affecting promotion, retirement and disciplinary issues. Kutak Rock has represented multiple clients before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Court of Veterans Appeals, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and various correction boards concerning military personnel issues.

Kutak Rock LLP