Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Facility Earthquake Protection and Improvement Act

To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out certain major medical facility projects for which appropriations were made for fiscal year 2015, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Facility Earthquake Protection and Improvement Act 2. Authorization of certain major medical facility projects of the Department of Veterans Affairs for which amounts have been appropriated (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 ( Public Law 113–235 (A) $35,000,000 to make seismic corrections to Building 205 in the West Los Angeles Medical Center of the Department in Los Angeles, California, which, according to the Department, is a building that is designated as having an exceptionally high risk of sustaining substantial damage or collapsing during an earthquake; (B) $101,900,000 to replace the community living center and mental health facilities of the Department in Long Beach, California, which, according to the Department, are designated as having an exceptionally high risk of sustaining substantial damage or collapsing during an earthquake; (C) $187,500,000 to replace the existing spinal cord injury clinic of the Department in San Diego, California, which, according to the Department, is designated as having an extremely high risk of sustaining major damage during an earthquake; and (D) $122,400,000 to make renovations to address substantial safety and compliance issues at the medical center of the Department in Canandaigua, New York, and for the construction of a new clinic and community living center at such medical center. (2) The Department is unable to obligate or expend the amounts described in paragraph (1) because it lacks an explicit authorization by an Act of Congress pursuant to section 8104(a)(2) of title 38, United States Code, to carry out the major medical facility projects described in such paragraph. (3) Among the major medical facility projects described in paragraph (1), three are critical seismic safety projects in California. (4) Every day that the critical seismic safety projects described in paragraph (3) are delayed puts the lives of veterans and employees of the Department at risk. (5) According to the United States Geological Survey— (A) California has a 99 percent chance or greater of experiencing an earthquake of magnitude 6.7 or greater in the next 30 years; (B) even earthquakes of less severity than magnitude 6.7 can cause life threatening damage to seismically unsafe buildings; and (C) in California, earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or greater occur on average once every 1.2 years. (b) Authorization The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may carry out the major medical facility projects of the Department of Veterans Affairs specified in the explanatory statement accompanying the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 ( Public Law 113–235

Summary: Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Facility Earthquake Protection and Improvement Act This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out the major medical facility projects of the VA specified in the explanatory statement accompanying the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, including by obligating and expending the amounts specified in such statement. (Those projects include seismic corrections to the West Los Angeles Medical Center, replacement of a community living center and mental health facilities in Long Beach, and replacement of an existing spinal cord injury clinic in San Diego, California, all of which are at high risk of sustaining damage during an earthquake, and renovations to address substantial safety and compliance issues and construction of a new clinic and community living center at the VA medical center in Canandaigua, New York.)