Stepping up realignment
(From The Japan Times May 26 issue)

「米軍再編促進法」の問題点

    The law's "carrot and stick" approach to municipalities hosting U.S. military facilities, however, carries the danger of undermining the principle of local autonomy and is likely to cause resentment among some municipalities. The law also leaves room for the government to use discretionary power to determine how the law should be applied to particular situations.

    Under the new law, the government-affiliated Japan Bank for International Cooperation can provide investment and loans for the planned transfer of the headquarters of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, together with about 8,000 U.S. Marines and 9,000 dependents, from Okinawa to Guam. It was earlier reported that Japan would shoulder ¥730 billion of the total cost of ¥1.2 trillion, which would include the cost of building houses for the Marines and their families. During the Diet discussions, the government was unable to say how much Japan will have to shoulder or give details of the cost. This is regrettable since paying for construction of a U.S. military facility abroad is an unusual step and the project involves a huge sum of money.

    The law's main feature is the use of subsidies as bait for inducing municipalities to cooperate with the realignment plan. The government will provide state subsidies to municipalities conditionally and incrementally in four stages by taking into account their degree of cooperation. Under the law, the defense minister will designate municipalities eligible for the subsidies due to the added burdens that realignment will place on them.

    The government will increase the amount of subsidies as the municipalities go through the following four stages: (1) the announcement by the municipalities of their readiness to accept a realignment project; (2) the start of environmental impact assessment; (3) the start of facility construction work; and (4) the completion of the work and the start of the operation of the facility. When the burden of municipalities is especially high, the central government will additionally beef up subsidies for their public works. The law will be in effect through the end of March 2017. But if the realignment hits a snag, the subsidies may be continued for up to five more years

    The new approach is a departure from the government's traditional approach to municipalities hosting or located near U.S. military facilities. The government used to provide uniform subsidies to municipalities that accepted U.S. facilities. The change in the approach was prompted by the government's experience with the 1996 report of the Japan-U.S. Special Action Committee on Okinawa. The SACO report contained a plan to return or transfer 11 U.S. facilities in Okinawa, including the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in the city of Ginowan on Okinawa Island.

    Generous regional development programs were carried out in the northern part of the island in anticipation of local cooperation for the smooth implemntation of the report, but realignment measures did not materialize.

    One problem with the law is that the criteria for choosing municipalities as subsidy recipients are unclear. This ambiguity concerns Nago, in northern Okinawa. The realignment plan calls for the relocation of Futenma Air Station to Camp Schwab at Cape Henoko in Nago, where two runways will be built in a V shape on part of the camp and on reclaimed land in adjacent waters. The city, however, has asked that the runways be built further offshore. While Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma is of the opinion that the city is still eligible for the subsidies, some Defense Ministry officials disagree.

    Another problem is that the law could divide a municipality's residents.

    Even though the law has been enacted, the government should refrain from a highhanded approach that would only increase the schism between it and local governments concerned, and cause uneasiness among local residents.

The Japan Times Weekly: June 2, 2007
(C) All rights reserved

    米軍基地を抱える地方自治体に対する「アメとムチ」方式に基づく新法は、地方自治の原則を傷つけ、関係自治体の反感を招く可能性がある。

    改正法の下で、政府系の国際協力銀行は、在沖縄の第3海兵遠征軍司令部（約8,000人、家族9,000人）のグアム移転の費用について投融資を行うことができる。総費用2兆円のうち、日本側は軍用住宅建設費用を含む300億円を支出すると報じられているが、海外の米軍基地建設の費用を日本が負担するのは異常である。

    新法はまた、自治体が再編に協力する程度に応じて、4段階の交付金を支給する制度を盛り込んでおり、防衛大臣が関係自治体を指定する。

    政府はこれまで、米軍基地を抱える自治体に対し定額の交付金を支給してきたが、沖縄に関する日米特別行動委員会(SACO)が1996年に発表した報告書に基づく経験を基に方針を変更した。報告書は、沖縄・宜野湾市の普天間飛行場を含む11米軍基地を返還・移転する計画を含んでいたが、再編案は予定通り実行されなかった。

    新法の再編計画では普天間基地を、名護市にあるキャンプシュワブ沿岸にV字型滑走路2本を建設して移転することになっている。名護市当局は滑走路を沖合にずらすよう求めているが、久間防衛大臣は、名護市に対する給付金支給を支持している。事務当局は反対している。

    もうひとつの問題は、新法で住民が分裂する不安だ。政府は、地域住民に不安を与えるような横暴な手段を避けるべきである。