MCO 3550.12A governs the Marine Corps Operational Range Clearance Program and the safe, sustainable use of operational ranges.
View MCO 3550.12A on armypubs.army.mil
It defines range clearance, identifies covered military munitions and range-related debris, and distinguishes clearance from environmental cleanup actions. It requires commanders to establish and execute programs, addresses range clearance analysis, subsurface clearance, and low level radioactive waste.
Range clearance is the destruction, removal, and proper disposition of military munitions (i.e. Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) and munitions debris). (paragraph 1)
Range clearance does not include treatment or remediation of chemical residues, munitions constituents from environmental media, actions to address buried or discarded military munitions (e.g., burial pits), nor management programs to prevent the migration of munition constituents off operational ranges. (paragraph 1)
Commanders of bases and stations with operational ranges will establish and execute ORC programs per this Order and references (a) through (n) in order to ensure safe and sustainable ranges for their intended purpose. (paragraph 3)
For range clearance activities, munitions expenditure information will be analyzed using the Range Clearance Tool (RCT) within the Range Managers Tool Kit (RMTK), in conjunction with the results of visual assessments of the range. (paragraph 4)
Subsurface clearance shall be considered only when needed to mitigate risk for a specific area (proximity to roadways, movement to / from targets, target construction and training device installation sites, etc.). (paragraph 4)