I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1820

To amend the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 to authorize an additional round of military base closures and realignments using

a two-step process that first identifies those military bases that may

not be considered for closure or realignment.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 10, 2001

Mr. SNYDER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Rules,

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the

committee concerned

A BILL

To amend the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act

of 1990 to authorize an additional round of military

base closures and realignments using a two-step process

that first identifies those military bases that may not

be considered for closure or realignment.

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 ‘‘Military Infrastructure

5 Transformation Act of 2001’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL ROUND OF DEFENSE BASE CLOSURES

2 AND REALIGNMENTS IN 2003.

3 (a) ADDITIONAL ROUND OF CLOSURES AUTHOR4 IZED.—The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act

5 of 1990 (part A of title XXIX of Public Law 101–501;

6 10 U.S.C. 2687 note) is amended by adding at the end

7 the following new section:

8 ‘‘SEC. 2912. BASE REINVESTMENT AND COMMUNITY ENTER9 PRISE INITIATIVE FOR 2003.

10 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL BASE CLO11 SURE ROUND.—(1) During the period between January

12 15, 2003, and January 31, 2003, the President may elect

13 to commence an additional round of base closures and re14 alignments by transmitting to the Senate nominations for

15 the appointment of new members to the Defense Base Clo16 sure and Realignment Commission. If the President does

17 not transmit to Congress the nominations during that pe18 riod, the process by which military installations may be

19 selected for closure or realignment under this section shall

20 be terminated.

21 ‘‘(2) As part of the submission of the nominations

22 under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Defense may sub23 mit to Congress a report explaining the military necessity

24 for further base closures and realignments.

25 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding section 2902(d), the term of

26 the Commission required for the round of base closures
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1 and realignment authorized by this section shall continue

2 until the disposal of property at all military installations

3 approved for closure under this section is completed. Not4 withstanding section 2902(i), the Commission may only

5 maintain 15 staff members after December 31, 2003.

6 ‘‘(b) SELECTION CRITERIA.—(1) The Secretary shall

7 amend the criteria to be used in making recommendations

8 for the closure or realignment of military installations in9 side the United States to reflect the requirement to de10 velop a list of those military installations to be excluded

11 from the base closure and realignment process, as pro12 vided in subsection (c). The Secretary shall comply with

13 section 2903(b)(2)(B) in amending the criteria, except

14 that the Secretary shall publish the proposed amendments

15 in the Federal Register and transmit them to the congres16 sional defense committees not later than December 1,

17 2002, and publish the final criteria in the Federal Register

18 and transmit to such committees not later than January

19 15, 2003. The Secretary shall comply with section 2903(a)

20 in preparing the budget justification documents submitted

21 to Congress in support of the budget for the Department

22 of Defense for fiscal year 2004.

23 ‘‘(2) It is the sense of Congress that the national se24 curity needs of the United States in the future will be best

25 met by a military force that operates on the principle of
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1 jointness, and, therefore, the Secretary and the Commis2 sion should consider jointness when performing their du3 ties in the additional round of base closures and realign4 ments authorized by this section.

5 ‘‘(c) LIST OF INSTALLATIONS EXCLUDED FROM

6 CONSIDERATION FOR CLOSURE OR REALIGNMENT.—(1)

7 Before preparing the list of military installations inside

8 the United States that the Secretary recommends for clo9 sure or realignment, the Secretary shall prepare a list of

10 core military installations that the Secretary considers ab11 solutely essential to the national defense and that should

12 not be considered for closure.

13 ‘‘(2) Not later than February 15, 2003, the Secretary

14 shall submit to the congressional defense committees, pub15 lish in the Federal Register, and send to the Commission

16 the list required by paragraph (1). The list shall contain

17 not more than 50 percent of the military installations in18 side the United States.

19 ‘‘(3) The Commission shall consider the list based on

20 the amended criteria developed under subsection (b). The

21 Commission may modify this list, in the manner provided

22 in section 2903(d), if the Commission finds that the inclu23 sion of a military installation on the list substantially vio24 lates the criteria. Except as provided in subsection (d),

25 the Commission shall forward to the President, not later
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1 than April 15, 2003, a report containing its recommenda2 tions regarding the list, which must comply with the per3 centages specified in paragraph (2). The Comptroller Gen4 eral shall also comply with section 2904(d)(5) by that

5 date.

6 ‘‘(4) If the Commission submits a report to the Presi7 dent under paragraph (3), the President shall notify Con8 gress, not later than April 30, 2003, regarding whether

9 the President approves or disapproves the report. If the

10 President disapproves the report, the Commission shall

11 have until May 15, 2003, to submit a modified report,

12 after which the President shall have until May 22, 2003,

13 to transmit the modified report to Congress. If the Presi14 dent fails to do so or does not approve the modified list,

15 the Commission shall be dissolved, and the process by

16 which military installations may be selected for closure or

17 realignment under this section shall be terminated.

18 ‘‘(5) A military installation included on the exclusion

19 list approved under this subsection may not be included

20 on the closure and realignment list prepared under sub21 section (e) or otherwise considered for closure or realign22 ment as part of the base closure process under this sec23 tion.

24 ‘‘(d) COMMISSION REVIEW OF NEED FOR FURTHER

25 CLOSURES.—As part of its activities under subsection (c),
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1 the Commission shall determine whether there exists a

2 military necessity for further base closures. In making this

3 determination, the Commission may take such testimony

4 and consider such submitted documentation and state5 ments as the Commission considers appropriate. If the

6 Commission determines that further closures are not mili7 tarily necessary, and transmits this determination to the

8 President, the Commission shall be dissolved, and the

9 process by which military installations may be selected for

10 closure or realignment under this section shall be termi11 nated.

12 ‘‘(e) PREPARATION AND CONSIDERATION OF CLO13 SURE AND REALIGNMENT LIST.—(1) Not later than 15

14 days after that date on which the President approves the

15 list prepared under subsection (c), the Secretary shall pub16 lish in the Federal Register, transmit to the congressional

17 defense committees, and send to the Commission, a list

18 of military installations recommended for closure or re19 alignment. The Commission shall consider this list in the

20 manner provided in section 2903(d), except that the Com21 mission’s report shall be transmitted to the President not

22 later than October 15, 2003.

23 ‘‘(2) Not later than October 30, 2003, the President

24 shall notify Congress regarding whether the President ap25 proves or disapproves the report. If the President dis-
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1 approves the closure list, the Commission shall have until

2 November 15, 2003, to submit a revised list. If the Presi3 dent does not approve the revised list by November 30,

4 2003, or does not transmit approval or disapproval of the

5 revised list to Congress by that date, the Commission shall

6 be dissolved, and the process by which military installa7 tions may be selected for closure or realignment under this

8 section shall be terminated. If the President approves the

9 original or revised list, the President shall transmit to

10 Congress a copy of the Commission’s report, together with

11 the certification of such approval.

12 ‘‘(f) CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL.—Section

13 2904(b)(1) shall apply to the base closure process required

14 by this section, except that the date otherwise determined

15 under subparagraph (A) of such section is deemed to be

16 December 31, 2003.

17 ‘‘(g) IMPLEMENTATION.—Within three years after

18 the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary

19 shall initiate the closure or realignment, as the case may

20 be, of all military installations recommended for closure

21 or realignment by the Commission in the report trans22 mitted to the Congress by the President pursuant to sub23 section (e), unless Congress disapproves of the report as

24 provided in subsection (f).
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1 ‘‘(h) COMMISSION’S ROLE DURING CLOSURE.—(1)

2 During the Secretary’s implementation of base closures

3 and realignments approved under this section, the Com4 mission shall serve as an Ombudsman, to which any af5 fected community (containing or bordering a military in6 stallation to be closed) or redevelopment authority may ap7 peal regarding problems or disputes with the Secretary in

8 the process of closure or realignment. Appeals may be sub9 mitted to the Commission regarding any dispute between

10 the affected parties (the Secretary, redevelopment authori11 ties, and local communities) after approval of the closure

12 list.

13 ‘‘(2) The Commission is authorized, but not required,

14 to issue a decision on an appeal submitted under para15 graph (1). Any such decision shall be made by majority

16 vote. The decision shall be binding on the Secretary unless

17 the Secretary overrules the decision of the Commission.

18 If the Secretary overrules a decision, the Secretary shall

19 provide written notice, including the reasons why the Sec20 retary is overruling the decision, to the Chairman of the

21 Commission, the affected community or redevelopment au22 thority, and the Chairmen and ranking minority members

23 of the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and

24 House of Representatives.
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1 ‘‘(3) The Commission may not take a military instal2 lation off the closure list, change a closure to a realign3 ment (or vice versa), or make any other substantive

4 changes to the list, but the Commission shall have jurisdic5 tion over solely procedural matters.’’.

6 (b) ADJUSTMENT AND DIVERSIFICATION ASSIST7 ANCE.—Section 2391(b)(1) of title 10, United States

8 Code, is amended by inserting after ‘‘the affected commu9 nity’’ the following: ‘‘or the community contains an eco10 nomically distressed area’’.

11 (c) REPORT ON EXPEDITING BASE CLOSURE PROP12 ERTY TRANSFERS.—Not later than December 31, 2003,

13 the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report

14 evaluating the feasibility of permitting local communities

15 and redevelopment authorities to take possession of indi16 vidual structures on military installations approved for clo17 sure, when such structures are no longer needed for mili18 tary purposes, without waiting for the closure of the in19 stallation.

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