I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4246

To amend the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 to specify 

the criteria to be used by the Secretary of Defense in making recommendations in 2005 for the closure or realignment of military installations inside the United States under such Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2004

Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL

To amend the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act 

of 1990 to specify the criteria to be used by the Secretary of Defense in making recommendations in 2005 

for the closure or realignment of military installations 

inside the United States under such Act.

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 ‘‘2005 BRAC Selection 

5 Criteria Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. SPECIFICATION OF 2005 BRAC FINAL SELECTION 

2 CRITERIA. 

3 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

4 (1) Title XXX of the National Defense Author5 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 107–

6 107; 115 Stat. 1342) amended the Defense Base 

7 Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (part A of 

8 title XXIX of Public Law 101–510; 10 U.S.C. 2687 

9 note) to authorize the Secretary of Defense to con10 duct a round of base realignments and closures in 

11 2005. 

12 (2) In section 2822 of the National Defense 

13 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Public Law 

14 108–136; 117 Stat. 1726), approved November 24, 

15 2003, Congress required the Secretary of Defense to 

16 assess the probable threats to national security and 

17 determine the potential, prudent, surge requirements 

18 for the Armed Forces and military installations to 

19 meet those threats. Such section specifically requires 

20 the Secretary of Defense to use the determination of 

21 surge requirements in exercising the authority of the 

22 Secretary to conduct the 2005 round of base realign23 ments and closures. 

24 (3) Section 2913 of the Defense Base Closure 

25 and Realignment Act of 1990, as added by title 

26 XXX of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
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1 Fiscal Year 2002, specified the process by which the 

2 Secretary of Defense was to prepare the criteria to 

3 be used by the Secretary in making recommenda4 tions for the 2005 round of base realignments and 

5 closures and listed certain requirements the Sec6 retary had to comply with as part of the process, in7 cluding the advance publication of the proposed cri8 teria and the solicitation and consideration of public 

9 comments. 

10 (4) In subsection (e) of such section, Congress 

11 required the Secretary of Defense to publish in the 

12 Federal Register and transmit to Congress not later 

13 than February 16, 2004, the final criteria intended 

14 to be used by the Secretary in making recommenda15 tions for the 2005 round of base realignments and 

16 closures. Pursuant to such subsection, the Secretary 

17 of Defense published the final selection criteria in 

18 the Federal Register on February 12, 2004 (69 Fed. 

19 Reg. 6948). 

20 (5) In addition to specifically reserving its right 

21 to disapprove the final selection criteria, Congress 

22 may modify or otherwise amend the criteria by Act 

23 of Congress. 

24 (b) CONGRESSIONAL SPECIFICATION OF FINAL

25 BRAC SELECTION CRITERIA.—Section 2913 of the De-
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1 fense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (part 

2 A of title XXIX of Public Law 101–510; 10 U.S.C. 2687 

3 note), as added by section 3002 of the National Defense 

4 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 107–

5 107; 115 Stat. 1344), is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 2913. FINAL SELECTION CRITERIA FOR 2005 ROUND. 

7 ‘‘(a) FINAL SELECTION CRITERIA.—The final cri8 teria to be used by the Secretary in making recommenda9 tions for the closure or realignment of military installa10 tions inside the United States under this part in 2005 are 

11 as follows: 

12 ‘‘(1) The current and future mission require13 ments and the impact on operational readiness of 

14 the total force of the Department of Defense, includ15 ing the impact on joint warfighting, training, readi16 ness, and research, development, test, and evaluation 

17 of weapons systems and equipment. 

18 ‘‘(2) The availability and condition of land, fa19 cilities, infrastructure, and associated air and water 

20 space (including preservation of training areas suit21 able for maneuver by ground, naval, or air forces 

22 throughout a diversity of climate and terrain areas, 

23 the preservation of testing ranges able to accommo24 date current or future military weapons systems and 

25 equipment, and the preservation of staging areas for 
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1 the use of the Armed Forces in homeland defense 

2 missions) at both existing and potential receiving lo3 cations. 

4 ‘‘(3) The ability to accommodate contingency, 

5 mobilization, and future total force requirements at 

6 both existing and potential receiving locations to 

7 support operations, training, maintenance, and re8 pair. 

9 ‘‘(4) Preservation of land, air, and water space, 

10 facilities, and infrastructure necessary to support 

11 training and operations of military forces determined 

12 to be surge requirements by the Secretary of De13 fense, as required by section 2822 of the National 

14 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 

15 (Public Law 108–136; 117 Stat. 1726). 

16 ‘‘(5) The extent and timing of potential costs 

17 and savings of base realignment and closure actions 

18 on the entire Federal budget, as well as the Depart19 ment of Defense, including the number of years, be20 ginning with the date of completion of the closure or 

21 realignment, for the savings to exceed the costs. 

22 Costs shall include those costs related to potential 

23 environmental restoration, waste management, and 

24 environmental compliance activities. 
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1 ‘‘(6) The economic impact on existing commu2 nities in the vicinity of military installations. 

3 ‘‘(7) The ability of the infrastructure of both 

4 existing and potential receiving communities to sup5 port forces, missions, and personnel, including qual6 ity of living standards for members of the Armed 

7 Forces and their dependents. 

8 ‘‘(8) The environmental impact on receiving lo9 cations. 

10 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY GIVEN TO MILITARY VALUE.—In rec11 ommending military installations for closure or realign12 ment, the Secretary shall give priority consideration to the 

13 first four criteria specified in subsection (a). 

14 ‘‘(c) RELATION TO OTHER 2005 ROUND MATE15 RIALS.—The final selection criteria specified in subsection 

16 (a) shall be the only criteria to be used, along with the 

17 force-structure plan and infrastructure inventory referred 

18 to in section 2912, in making recommendations for the 

19 closure or realignment of military installations inside the 

20 United States under this part in 2005. 

21 ‘‘(d) RELATION TO CRITERIA FOR EARLIER

22 ROUNDS.—Section 2903(b), and the selection criteria pre23 pared under such section, shall not apply with respect to 

24 the process of making recommendations for the closure or 

25 realignment of military installations in 2005.’’. 
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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Defense Base 

2 Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 is amended—

3 (1) in section 2912(c)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘cri4 teria prepared under section 2913’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘criteria specified in section 2913’’; and 

6 (2) in section 2914(a), by striking ‘‘criteria pre7 pared by the Secretary under section 2913’’ and in8 serting ‘‘criteria specified in section 2913’’.

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