The Secretary of Defense shall develop and maintain an inventory of defense sites that are known or suspected to contain unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions, or munitions constituents.

The Secretary shall develop, in consultation with representatives of the States and Indian Tribes, a proposed protocol for assigning to each defense site a relative priority for response activities related to unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions, and munitions constituents based on the overall conditions at the defense site. After public notice and comment on the proposed protocol, the Secretary shall issue a final protocol and shall apply the protocol to defense sites listed on the inventory. The level of response priority assigned the site shall be included with the information required by subsection (a)(2).

The priority assigned to a defense site included on the inventory shall not impair, alter, or diminish any applicable Federal or State authority to establish requirements for the investigation of, and response to, environmental problems at the defense site.

The Secretary shall annually update the inventory and site prioritization list to reflect new information that becomes available. The inventory shall be available in published and electronic form.

The Secretary shall work with communities adjacent to a defense site to provide information concerning conditions at the site and response activities. At a minimum, the Secretary shall provide the site inventory information and site prioritization list to appropriate Federal, State, tribal, and local officials, and, to the extent the Secretary considers appropriate, to civil defense or emergency management agencies and the public.

Any locations outside the United States.

The presence of military munitions resulting from combat operations.

Operating storage and manufacturing facilities.

Operational ranges.

The term “defense site” applies to locations that are or were owned by, leased to, or otherwise possessed or used by the Department of Defense. The term does not include any operational range, operating storage or manufacturing facility, or facility that is used for or was permitted for the treatment or disposal of military munitions.

The term “discarded military munitions” means military munitions that have been abandoned without proper disposal or removed from storage in a military magazine or other storage area for the purpose of disposal. The term does not include unexploded ordnance, military munitions that are being held for future use or planned disposal, or military munitions that have been properly disposed of, consistent with applicable environmental laws and regulations.

The term “munitions constituents” means any materials originating from unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions, or other military munitions, including explosive and nonexplosive materials, and emission, degradation, or breakdown elements of such ordnance or munitions.

The term “possessions” includes Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Island, Nassau Island, Palmyra Island, and Wake Island.

The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Defense.

The term “State” means the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the territories and possessions.

The term “United States”, in a geographic sense, means the States, territories, and possessions and associated navigable waters, contiguous zones, and ocean waters of which the natural resources are under the exclusive management authority of the United States.