Environmental Security Technical Certification Program

Funds are programmed to develop cutting-edge technologies that enable the Department of Defense to deploy its most critical modernization initiatives on DoD-controlled installations. These innovations create the foundation for nuclear deterrence, missile defense, Indo-Pacific posture, and industrial base readiness across DoD's 28 million acres. Funding drives the most innovative solutions from industry, academia, and federal government partners addressing key priorities: tackling emerging and persistent land impact challenges, particularly from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); addressing live-site unexploded ordnance (UXO) in underwater environments; advancing conservation and range sustainment technologies; and minimizing DoD weapons systems' lifecycle costs through hazardous materials elimination. These solutions ensure DoD maintains the contiguous, unencumbered spaces needed to effectively deploy, test, and operate new capabilities. By maximizing available training days, reducing regulatory burden, and enhancing land management, these technologies create the conditions necessary for DoD to install and operate next-generation systems on its installations while ensuring military readiness for multiple training units over time. FY 2024 Accomplishments: Initiated large-scale PFAS treatment and destruction field testing at military installations. Demonstrated underwater munitions response technologies and tested autonomous Remotely Operated Vehicles for underwater geophysical classification. Demonstrated cultural resource survey capabilities to reduce compliance costs. Deployed advanced laser-based forest and fire monitoring technologies to installations. Developed chemical-free water mist fire suppression for hangars. Validated non-toxic plating alternatives to eliminate cadmium and corrosion-resistant primers to reduce hexavalent chromium use. Demonstrated sustainable alternatives for F-16 emergency power units and heavy metal-free fuzes for grenades.

Funds are programmed to evaluate and deploy advanced energy and water technologies across DoD installations. This program directly supports Executive Order 14154 (Unleashing American Energy) and Executive Order 14156 (Declaring a National Energy Emergency) by enhancing the security and resilience of military installation infrastructure while improving operational efficiency and reducing costs. Military installations remain largely dependent on commercial power grids vulnerable to disruption from cyber-attacks, aging infrastructure, severe weather events, and potential direct attacks. As electricity outage frequency and duration increase, these investments enable DoD to withstand and rapidly recover from energy disruptions while ensuring mission continuity, addressing key vulnerabilities identified in Executive Order 14262 (Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid). The program leverages DoD's diverse built infrastructure to evaluate promising commercial technologies under varied environmental conditions and building types. By conducting demonstrations at actual installations, the program provides technology developers low-risk opportunities to validate performance when integrated with legacy systems under real-world conditions. This approach accelerates technology adoption by generating critical cost and performance data while giving installation managers hands-on experience with innovative solutions without the financial risk of full procurement. FY 2024 Accomplishments: Completed a successful demonstration of an on-site atmospheric water generation system resulting in a follow-on project to integrate the system at a live training site to supply military training exercises. Demonstrated and validated three microgrid design tools to support a more consistent and repeatable microgrid design approach to establish a basis from which to measure microgrid performance and process improvement. Completed electrical vehicle integration studies used to inform the Services charging infrastructure planning and follow-on projects to demonstrate applications for mobile energy storage to supply emergency backup power to critical facilities. Created and posted training materials for advanced lighting and controls technologies for DoD designers, acquisition professionals and energy managers. Completed demonstrations of advanced heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) controls resulting in over $100k annual energy cost savings and approximately 15% reduction in peak electrical demand.

The Sustainable Technologies Evaluation and Demonstration (STED) Program evaluates and demonstrates innovative technologies that meet current mission requirements while enhancing operational readiness, resilience, and security. STED validates cost-effective alternatives to widely implemented technologies across the Department and federal agencies, focusing on domestic solutions that reduce supply chain vulnerabilities. The program identifies, evaluates, and demonstrates technologies in operational environments to verify their ability to enhance mission performance, protect human health, and cost-effectively support DoD priorities.

Funds are programmed to develop and demonstrate hardened infrastructure, physical systems, and decision support tools that protect DoD installations from natural hazards and enhance mission resilience. The program delivers technologies that strengthen critical infrastructure, harden facilities, and improve operational capabilities during extreme weather events. These investments directly impact EO 14153 (Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential) as it relates to infrastructure, permafrost, critical minerals, and potential subsidence. Natural disasters hinder DoD mission readiness and have proven costly to installation infrastructure with billions in damage repair in recent years. As natural hazards increase in frequency and severity, SERDP and ESTCP investments provide tangible solutions to enhance installation resilience and protect mission-critical operations. FY 2024 Accomplishments: Established the highly successful Innovation Landscape Network (ILN) to efficiently transition research and technology to installation end-user communities. The Arctic Innovation Landscape Network (AILN) provided direct mission support to NORTHCOM by extending R&D advances in linear infrastructure construction on degraded permafrost throughout Alaska. The program selected projects to advance near-term (1-10 years) weather predictions to enhance environmental security assessments, particularly wildfire risk and tropical cyclone predictions.