II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1478 

To improve the Defense Siting Clearinghouse. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 29, 2017 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. INHOFE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To improve the Defense Siting Clearinghouse. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Defense Siting Clear5 inghouse Improvement Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFENSE SITING CLEARINGHOUSE. 

7 (a) CODIFICATION.—Chapter 7 of title 10, United 

8 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 183 the 

9 following new section: 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1478 IS

1 ‘‘§ 183a. Defense Siting Clearinghouse for review of 

2 mission obstructions 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—(1) The Secretary of De4 fense shall establish a Defense Siting Clearinghouse (in 

5 this section referred to as the ‘Clearinghouse’). 

6 ‘‘(2) The Clearinghouse shall be— 

7 ‘‘(A) organized under the authority, direction, 

8 and control of an Assistant Secretary of Defense 

9 designated by the Secretary; and 

10 ‘‘(B) assigned such personnel and resources as 

11 the Secretary considers appropriate to carry out this 

12 section. 

13 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—(1) The Clearinghouse shall serve 

14 as a clearinghouse to coordinate Department of Defense 

15 review of applications for energy projects filed with the 

16 Secretary of Transportation pursuant to section 44718 of 

17 title 49 and received by the Department of Defense from 

18 the Secretary of Transportation. 

19 ‘‘(2) The Clearinghouse shall accelerate the develop20 ment of planning tools necessary to determine the accept21 ability to the Department of Defense of proposals included 

22 in an application for an energy project submitted pursuant 

23 to such section. 

24 ‘‘(3) The Clearinghouse shall perform such other 

25 functions as the Secretary of Defense assigns. 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1478 IS

1 ‘‘(c) REVIEW OF PROPOSED ACTIONS.—(1) Not later 

2 than 30 days after receiving from the Secretary of Trans3 portation a proper application for an energy project under 

4 section 44718 of title 49 that may have an adverse impact 

5 on military operations and readiness, the Clearinghouse 

6 shall conduct a preliminary review of such application. The 

7 review shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) assess the likely scope, duration, and level 

9 of risk of any adverse impact of such energy project 

10 on military operations and readiness; and 

11 ‘‘(B) identify any feasible and affordable ac12 tions that could be taken by the Department, the de13 veloper of such energy project, or others to mitigate 

14 the adverse impact and to minimize risks to national 

15 security while allowing the energy project to proceed 

16 with development. 

17 ‘‘(2) If the Clearinghouse determines under para18 graph (1) that an energy project will have an adverse im19 pact on military operations and readiness, the Secretary 

20 of Defense shall issue to the applicant a notice of pre21 sumed risk that describes the concerns identified by the 

22 Department in the preliminary review and requests a dis23 cussion of possible mitigation actions. 

24 ‘‘(3) The Clearinghouse shall develop, in coordination 

25 with other departments and agencies of the Federal GovVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Jul 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1478.IS S1478

lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1478 IS

1 ernment, an integrated review process to ensure timely no2 tification and consideration of energy projects filed with 

3 the Secretary of Transportation pursuant to section 44718 

4 of title 49 that may have an adverse impact on military 

5 operations and readiness. 

6 ‘‘(4) The Clearinghouse shall establish procedures for 

7 the Department of Defense for the coordinated consider8 ation of and response to a request for a review received 

9 from another Federal agency, a State government, an In10 dian tribal government, a local government, a landowner, 

11 or the developer of an energy project, including guidance 

12 to personnel at each military installation in the United 

13 States on how to initiate such procedures and ensure a 

14 coordinated Department response. 

15 ‘‘(5) The Clearinghouse shall develop procedures for 

16 conducting early outreach to parties carrying out energy 

17 projects that could have an adverse impact on military op18 erations and readiness and to clearly communicate to such 

19 parties actions being taken by the Department of Defense 

20 under this section. 

21 ‘‘(d) COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW.—(1) The Secretary 

22 of Defense shall develop a comprehensive strategy for ad23 dressing the military impacts of projects filed with the 

24 Secretary of Transportation pursuant to section 44718 of 

25 title 49. 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1478 IS

1 ‘‘(2) In developing the strategy required by para2 graph (1), the Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) assess of the magnitude of interference 

4 posed by projects filed with the Secretary of Trans5 portation pursuant to section 44718 of title 49; 

6 ‘‘(B) for the purpose of informing preliminary 

7 reviews under subsection (c)(1) and early outreach 

8 efforts under subsection (c)(5), identify geographic 

9 areas selected as proposed locations for projects 

10 filed, or which may be filed in the future, with the 

11 Secretary of Transportation pursuant to section 

12 44718 of title 49 where such projects could have an 

13 adverse impact on military operations and readiness 

14 and categorize the risk of adverse impact in such 

15 areas; and 

16 ‘‘(C) specifically identify feasible and affordable 

17 long-term actions that may be taken to mitigate ad18 verse impacts of projects filed, or which may be filed 

19 in the future, with the Secretary of Transportation 

20 pursuant to section 44718 of title 49, on military 

21 operations and readiness, including— 

22 ‘‘(i) investment priorities of the Depart23 ment of Defense with respect to research and 

24 development; 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1478 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) modifications to military operations to 

2 accommodate applications for such projects; 

3 ‘‘(iii) recommended upgrades or modifica4 tions to existing systems or procedures by the 

5 Department of Defense; 

6 ‘‘(iv) acquisition of new systems by the De7 partment and other departments and agencies 

8 of the Federal Government and timelines for 

9 fielding such new systems; and 

10 ‘‘(v) modifications to the projects for which 

11 such applications are filed, including changes in 

12 size, location, or technology. 

13 ‘‘(e) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DETERMINATION

14 OF UNACCEPTABLE RISK.—(1) The Secretary of Defense 

15 may not object to an energy project filed with the Sec16 retary of Transportation pursuant to section 44718 of title 

17 49, except in a case in which the Secretary of Defense 

18 determines, after giving full consideration to mitigation 

19 actions identified pursuant to this section, that such 

20 project would result in an unacceptable risk to the na21 tional security of the United States. Such a determination 

22 shall constitute a finding pursuant to section 44718(f) of 

23 title 49. 

24 ‘‘(2) Not later than 30 days after making a deter25 mination of unacceptable risk under paragraph (1), the 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1478 IS

1 Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional de2 fense committees a report on such determination and the 

3 basis for such determination. Such report shall include an 

4 explanation of the operational impact that led to the deter5 mination, a discussion of the mitigation options consid6 ered, and an explanation of why the mitigation options 

7 were not feasible or did not resolve the conflict. The Sec8 retary of Defense may provide public notice through the 

9 Federal Register of the determination. 

10 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of Defense may only delegate the 

11 responsibility for making a determination of unacceptable 

12 risk under paragraph (1) to the Deputy Secretary of De13 fense, an under secretary of defense, or a principal deputy 

14 under secretary of defense. 

15 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT CONTRIBUTIONS OF

16 FUNDS.—The Secretary of Defense is authorized to re17 quest and accept a voluntary contribution of funds from 

18 an applicant for a project filed with the Secretary of 

19 Transportation pursuant to section 44718 of title 49. 

20 Amounts so accepted shall remain available until expended 

21 for the purpose of offsetting the cost of measures under22 taken by the Secretary of Defense to mitigate adverse im23 pacts of such a project on military operations and readi24 ness or to conduct studies of potential measures to miti25 gate such impacts. 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1478 IS

1 ‘‘(g) EFFECT OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HAZ2 ARD ASSESSMENT.—An action taken pursuant to this sec3 tion shall not be considered to be a substitute for any as4 sessment or determination required of the Secretary of 

5 Transportation under section 44718 of title 49. 

6 ‘‘(h) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 

7 be construed to affect or limit the application of, or any 

8 obligation to comply with, any environmental law, includ9 ing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

10 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

11 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) The term ‘adverse impact on military oper13 ations and readiness’ means any adverse impact 

14 upon military operations and readiness, including 

15 flight operations, research, development, testing, and 

16 evaluation, and training, that is demonstrable and is 

17 likely to impair or degrade the ability of the armed 

18 forces to perform their warfighting missions. 

19 ‘‘(2) The term ‘energy project’ means a project 

20 that provides for the generation or transmission of 

21 electrical energy. 

22 ‘‘(3) The term ‘landowner’ means a person that 

23 owns a fee interest in real property on which a pro24 posed energy project is planned to be located. 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1478 IS

1 ‘‘(4) The term ‘military installation’ has the 

2 meaning given that term in section 2801(c)(4) of 

3 this title. 

4 ‘‘(5) The term ‘military readiness’ includes any 

5 training or operation that could be related to combat 

6 readiness, including testing and evaluation activities. 

7 ‘‘(6) The term ‘military training route’ means a 

8 training route developed as part of the Military 

9 Training Route Program, carried out jointly by the 

10 Federal Aviation Administration and the Secretary 

11 of Defense, for use by the armed forces for the pur12 pose of conducting low-altitude, high-speed military 

13 training. 

14 ‘‘(7) The term ‘unacceptable risk to the na15 tional security of the United States’ means the con16 struction, alteration, establishment, or expansion, or 

17 the proposed construction, alteration, establishment, 

18 or expansion, of a structure or sanitary landfill that 

19 would— 

20 ‘‘(A) endanger safety in air commerce, re21 lated to the activities of the Department of De22 fense; 

23 ‘‘(B) interfere with the efficient use and 

24 preservation of the navigable airspace and of 

25 airport traffic capacity at public-use airports, 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 1478 IS

1 related to the activities of the Department of 

2 Defense; or 

3 ‘‘(C) significantly impair or degrade the 

4 capability of the Department of Defense to con5 duct training, research, development, testing, 

6 and evaluation, and operations or to maintain 

7 military readiness.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AND CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

9 (1) REPEAL OF EXISTING PROVISION.—Section 

10 358 of the Ike Skelton National Defense Authoriza11 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (49 U.S.C. 44718 

12 note) is repealed. 

13 (2) REFERENCE TO REGULATIONS.—Section 

14 44718(g) of title 49, United States Code, is amend15 ed by striking ‘‘211.3 of title 32, Code of Federal 

16 Regulations, as in effect on January 6, 2014’’ both 

17 places it appears and inserting ‘‘183a(i) of title 10’’. 

18 (3) TABLE OF SECTIONS AMENDMENT.—The 

19 table of sections at the beginning of chapter 7 of 

20 title 10 is amended by inserting after the item relat21 ing to section 183 the following new item: 

‘‘183a. Defense Siting Clearinghouse for review of mission obstructions.’’. 

22 (c) APPLICABILITY OF EXISTING RULES AND REGU23 LATIONS.—Notwithstanding the amendments made by 

24 subsection (a), any rule or regulation promulgated to carry 

25 out section 358 of the Ike Skelton National Defense AuVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Jul 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1478.IS S1478

lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 1478 IS

1 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (49 U.S.C. 44718 

2 note) that is in effect on the day before the date of the 

3 enactment of this Act shall continue in effect and apply 

4 to the extent such rule or regulation is consistent with the 

5 authority under section 183a of title 10, United States 

6 Code, as added by subsection (a), until such rule or regu7 lation is otherwise amended or repealed. 

Æ 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS