II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 240 

To require an Air Force study on the threats to, and sustainability of, 

the test and training range infrastructure. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 31, 2011 

Mr. ENSIGN (for himself, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. HATCH, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. 

REID, and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require an Air Force study on the threats to, and 

sustainability of, the test and training range infrastructure. 

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

3 SECTION 1. STUDY ON AIR FORCE TEST AND TRAINING 

4 RANGE INFRASTRUCTURE. 

5 (a) STUDY.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Air 

7 Force shall conduct a study on the ability of the 

8 major air test and training range infrastructure, in9 cluding major military operating area airspace and 

10 special use airspace, to support the full spectrum of 


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1 Air Force operations. The Secretary shall incor2 porate the results of the study into a master plan 

3 for requirements and proposed investments to meet 

4 Air Force training and test needs through 2025. 

5 The study and the master plan shall be known as 

6 the ‘‘2025 Air Test and Training Range Enhance7 ment Plan’’. 

8 (2) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of the Air 

9 Force shall, in conducting the study required under 

10 paragraph (1), consult with the Secretaries of the 

11 other military departments to determine opportuni12 ties for joint use and training of the ranges, and to 

13 assess the requirements needed to support combined 

14 arms training on the ranges. The Secretary shall 

15 also consult with the Department of the Interior, the 

16 Department of Agriculture, the Federal Aviation Ad17 ministration, the Federal Energy Regulation Com18 mission, and the Department of Energy to assess 

19 the need for transfers of administrative control of 

20 certain parcels of airspace and land to the Depart21 ment of Defense to protect the missions and control 

22 of the ranges. 

23 (3) CONTINUATION OF RANGE INFRASTRUC24 TURE IMPROVEMENTS.—The Secretary of the Air 

25 Force shall proceed with all ongoing and scheduled 


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1 range infrastructure improvements while conducting 

2 the study required under paragraph (1). 

3 (b) REPORTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Air 

5 Force shall submit to the congressional defense com6 mittees (as that term is defined in section 101 of 

7 title 10, United States Code) interim reports and a 

8 final report on the plan to meet the requirements 

9 under subsection (a) not later than 240 days, 330 

10 days, and 730 days, respectively, after the date of 

11 the enactment of this Act. In addition, the Secretary 

12 of the Air Force shall submit to the congressional 

13 defense committees progress reports at 180 day in14 tervals between the second such interim report and 

15 the final report. 

16 (2) CONTENT.—The plan submitted under 

17 paragraph (1) shall— 

18 (A) document the current condition and 

19 adequacy of the major Air Force test and train20 ing range infrastructure in the United States to 

21 meet test and training requirements; 

22 (B) identify potential areas of concern for 

23 maintaining the physical safety, security, and 

24 current operating environment of such infra25 structure; 


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1 (C) identify potential issues and threats re2 lated to the sustainability of the test and train3 ing infrastructure, including electromagnetic 

4 spectrum encroachment, overall bandwidth 

5 availability, and protection of classified infor6 mation; 

7 (D) assess coordination among ranges and 

8 local, state, regional, and Federal entities in9 volved in land use planning, and develop rec10 ommendations on how to improve communica11 tion and coordination of such entities; 

12 (E) propose remedies and actions to man13 age economic development on private lands on 

14 or surrounding the test and training infrastruc15 ture to preserve current capabilities; 

16 (F) identify critical parcels of land not cur17 rently under the control of the Air Force for ac18 quisition of deed or restrictive easements in 

19 order to protect current operations, access and 

20 egress corridors, and range boundaries, or to 

21 expand the capability of the air test and train22 ing ranges; 

23 (G) identify which parcels identified pursu24 ant to subparagraph (F) could, through the ac25 quisition of conservation easements, serve miliVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:37 Feb 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S240.IS S240

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1 tary interests while also preserving recreational 

2 access to public and private lands, protecting 

3 wildlife habitat, or preserving opportunities for 

4 energy development and energy transmission; 

5 (H) prioritize improvements and mod6 ernization of the facilities, equipment, and tech7 nology supporting the infrastructure in order to 

8 provide a test and training environment that 

9 accurately simulates and or portrays the full 

10 spectrum of threats and targets of likely United 

11 States adversaries in 2025; 

12 (I) incorporate emerging requirements gen13 erated by requirements for virtual training and 

14 new weapon systems, including the F–22, the 

15 F–35, space and cyber systems, and Remotely 

16 Piloted Aircraft; 

17 (J) assess the value of State and local leg18 islative initiatives to protect Air Force test and 

19 training range infrastructure; 

20 (K) identify parcels with no value to future 

21 military operations; and 

22 (L) propose a list of prioritized projects, 

23 easements, acquisitions, or other actions, in24 cluding estimated costs required to upgrade the 

25 test and training range infrastructure, taking 


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1 into consideration the criteria set forth in this 

2 paragraph. 

3 (3) FORM.—Each report required under this 

4 subsection shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

5 but may include a classified annex as necessary. 

6 (4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The reports 

7 submitted under this section shall not be construed 

8 as meeting the requirements of section 2815(d) of 

9 the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fis10 cal Year 2000 (Public Law 106–65; 113 Stat. 852). 

Æ 


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