I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5042 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program 

under which the Secretary enters into partnership agreements with nonFederal entities for the construction of major medical facility projects. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2014 

Mr. MCNERNEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 

a pilot program under which the Secretary enters into 

partnership agreements with non-Federal entities for the 

construction of major medical facility projects. 

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 ‘‘Jumpstart VA Con5 struction Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The buildings of the Department of Vet2 erans Affairs have an average age of 60 years. 

3 (2) Since 2004, use of Department facilities has 

4 grown from 80 percent to 120 percent, while the 

5 condition of these facilities has eroded from 81 per6 cent to 71 percent over that same period of time. 

7 (3) The Department currently manages and 

8 maintains more than 5,600 buildings and almost 

9 34,000 acres of land. 

10 (4) More than 3,900 infrastructure gaps remain 

11 that will cost between $54,000,000,000 and 

12 $66,000,000,000 to close, including 

13 $10,000,000,000 in activation costs. 

14 (5) The Veterans Health Administration has 21 

15 major construction projects dating to 2007 that have 

16 been only partially funded. 

17 (6) The total unobligated amount for all cur18 rently budgeted major construction projects exceeds 

19 $2,900,000,000. 

20 (7) To finish existing projects and to close cur21 rent and future gaps, the Department will need to 

22 invest at least $23,200,000,000 over the next 10 

23 years. 


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1 (8) At current requested funding levels, it will 

2 take more than 67 years to complete the 10-year 

3 capital investment plan of the Department. 

4 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF DE5 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MAJOR 

6 MEDICAL FACILITY PROJECTS BY NON-FED7 ERAL ENTITIES UNDER PARTNERSHIP 

8 AGREEMENTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

10 shall carry out a 10-year pilot program under which the 

11 Secretary shall enter into partnership agreements on a 

12 competitive basis with appropriate non-Federal entities for 

13 the construction of major construction projects authorized 

14 by law. 

15 (b) SELECTION OF PROJECTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall select 

17 10 major construction projects for completion by 

18 non-Federal entities under the pilot program. Each 

19 project selected shall be a major medical facility 

20 project authorized by law for the construction of a 

21 new facility for which— 

22 (A) Congress has appropriated any funds; 

23 (B) the design and development phase is 

24 complete; and 


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1 (C) construction has not begun, as of the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (2) TYPE OF PROJECTS.—In selecting major 

4 construction projects under paragraph (1), the Sec5 retary shall select— 

6 (A) four seismic-related projects; 

7 (B) four community based outpatient clin8 ic-related projects; and 

9 (C) two other projects. 

10 (c) AGREEMENTS.—Each partnership agreement for 

11 a construction project under the pilot program shall pro12 vide that— 

13 (1) the non-Federal entity shall obtain any per14 mits required pursuant to Federal and State laws 

15 before beginning to carry out construction; and 

16 (2) if requested by the non-Federal entity, the 

17 Secretary shall provide technical assistance for ob18 taining any necessary permits for the construction 

19 project. 

20 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF SECRETARY.—The Sec21 retary shall— 

22 (1) appoint a non-Department of Veterans Af23 fairs entity as the project manager of each major 

24 construction project for which the Secretary enters 


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1 into a partnership agreement under the pilot pro2 gram; 

3 (2) ensure that the project manager appointed 

4 under paragraph (1) develops and implements a 

5 project management plan to ensure concise and con6 sistent communication of all parties involved in the 

7 project; 

8 (3) work in cooperation with each non-Federal 

9 entity with which the Secretary enters into a part10 nership agreement to minimize multiple change or11 ders; 

12 (4) develop metrics to monitor change order 

13 process times, with the intent of expediting any 

14 change order; and 

15 (5) monitor any construction project carried out 

16 by a non-Federal entity under the pilot program to 

17 ensure that such construction is in compliance with 

18 the Federal Acquisition Regulations and Department 

19 of Veterans Affairs acquisition regulations and that 

20 the costs are reasonable. 

21 (e) REIMBURSEMENT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall reim23 burse, without interest, a non-Federal entity that 

24 carries out work pursuant to a partnership agree25 ment under the pilot program in an amount equal 


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1 to the estimated Federal share of the cost of such 

2 work. Any costs that exceed the amount originally 

3 agreed upon between the Secretary and the non-Fed4 eral entity shall be paid by the non-Federal entity. 

5 The Secretary may commence making payments to 

6 a non-Federal entity under this subsection upon en7 tering into a partnership agreement with the entity 

8 under this section. 

9 (2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not make 

10 any reimbursement payment under this subsection 

11 until the Secretary determines that the work for 

12 which the reimbursement is requested has been per13 formed in accordance with applicable permits and 

14 approved plans. 

15 (3) BUDGET REQUESTS.—The Secretary shall 

16 budget for reimbursement under this section on a 

17 schedule that is consistent with the budgeting proc18 ess of the Department and the ongoing Strategic 

19 Capital Investment Planning priorities list. 

20 (f) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.—The Comp21 troller General of the United States shall submit to Con22 gress a biennial report on the partnership agreements en23 tered into under the pilot program. 

24 (g) DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—The Sec25 retary shall begin implementing the pilot program under 


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1 this section by not later than 180 days after the date of 

2 the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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