I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1202 
To provide for environmental oversight and remediation activities at Red 
Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 17, 2017 
Ms. HANABUSA (for herself and Ms. GABBARD) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition 
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide for environmental oversight and remediation 
activities at Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Red Hill Oversight 
and Environmental Protection Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ADMINISTRATIVE
ORDER
ON
CONSENT/ 
STATEMENT OF WORK; (AOC/SOW).—The terms ‘‘Ad-
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ministrative Order on Consent/Statement of Work’’ 
and ‘‘(AOC/SOW)’’ mean a legally enforceable 
agreement between the United States Department of 
the Navy (Navy), the Defense Logistics Agency 
(DLA), the United States Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA), Region 9, and the State of Hawaii 
Department of Health (DOH) that the parties vol-
untarily entered into on September 28, 2015 (EPA 
DKT NO. RCRA 7003–R9–2015–01/DOH DKT 
NO. 15–UST–EA–01). 
(2) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES.— 
The term ‘‘congressional defense committees’’ has 
the meaning given the term in section 101(a)(16) of 
title 10, United States Code. 
(3) FACILITY.—The term ‘‘facility’’ means the 
Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility located on 
Oahu, Hawaii. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Construction on the Red Hill Bulk Fuel 
Storage Facility began in secret in December 1940. 
(2) More than 3,900 workers constructed the 
underground facility. 
(3) Construction of the facility continued non-
stop except for the time of the attack on Pearl Har-
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bor, on December 7, 1941. The facility was com-
pleted in September 1943, nine months ahead of 
schedule. 
(4) The facility was constructed underground in 
hollowed out volcanic rock to allow for maximum 
protection of the fuel supply. 
(5) The facility’s 20 steel tanks are encased by 
2.5–4 feet of concrete and surrounded by basalt bed-
rock. 
(6) Only 18 fuel tanks are currently oper-
ational. 
(7) The facility is the largest single Department 
of Defense fuel storage facility in the Pacific the-
ater. 
(8) The facility protects more than 250,000,000 
gallons of fuel. 
(9) The fuels stored are marine diesel, F–76, 
and two types of jet fuel: JP–5 and JP–8. 
(10) The fuel stored at the facility directly sup-
ports vessels and aircraft of— 
(A) the United States Navy and Air Force 
in Hawaii, the Pacific theater, and around the 
world; 
(B) the Hawaii National Guard; 
(C) the United States Coast Guard; and 
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(D) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration. 
(11) The facility allows the United States mili-
tary to— 
(A) maintain a forward presence; 
(B) build cooperation with partner nations, 
including through the biannual Rim of the Pa-
cific exercise; 
(C) ensure maritime security; and 
(D) maintain regional stability. 
(12) Military forward presence— 
(A) keeps sea lanes open; and 
(B) ensures the free flow of commerce to 
Hawaii, the continental United States, and the 
Indo-Asia-Pacific region. 
(13) In 1991, the facility was used as a trans-
fer point for moving fuel from the continental 
United States to the Persian Gulf. 
(14) This transfer of fuel was done as part of 
the first Gulf War. 
(15) The facility was declassified in 1995. 
(16) The facility is physically protected and 
cyber-hardened. 
(17) The facility can be operated entirely off 
the electric grid by using gravity flow to transport 
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fuel from the facility to Pearl Harbor, Hickam Air-
field, and a truck loading site. 
(18) The facility is located approximately 100 
feet above the basal groundwater table on the 
boundary of the Waimalu and Moanalua Aquifer 
Systems. 
(19) The Waimalu and Moanalua aquifers are 
sources of potable water and are potentially vulner-
able to contamination from an unscheduled dis-
charge of fuel from the facility. 
(20) The Navy and the Defense Logistics Agen-
cy have kept the drinking water safe through 70 
years of operation. 
(21) The Navy and the Defense Logistics Agen-
cy are responsible for protecting the public from un-
scheduled fuel leaks that may pose a risk to the 
drinking water. 
(22) The facility has experienced unscheduled 
fuel leaks as evidenced by stains beneath several of 
the existing fuel tanks. 
(23) Chronic releases of petroleum, oils, and lu-
bricants have the potential to cause damage to 
Oahu’s drinking water supply. 
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(24) Historic records compiled by the Navy in 
a 2008 ground water protection plan indicated that 
there were more than 30 leaks dating back to 1947. 
(25) The 2008 ground water protection plan 
suggested at least 170,000 gallons of fuel has leaked 
since the facility began operating. 
(26) In January 2014, the United States Navy 
discovered a loss of fuel from Tank #5 and notified 
the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ha-
waii Department of Health (DOH). 
(27) The Navy estimated the fuel loss at ap-
proximately 27,000 gallons. 
(28) Following the January 2014 fuel release, 
the EPA and DOH negotiated an enforceable agree-
ment, an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC), 
with the Navy and the DLA [EPA DKT NO. RCRA 
7003–R9–2015–01/DOH DKT NO. 15–UST–EA– 
01]. 
(29) The order requires the Navy and the DLA 
to take actions, subject to DOH and EPA approval. 
(30) The order addresses fuel releases and 
implementable infrastructure improvements to pro-
tect human health and the environment. 
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(31) The order includes a Statement of Work 
(SOW) that lays out the specific tasks the Navy and 
the DLA must implement. 
(32) The SOW consists of 8 sections on overall 
project management: 
(A) Tank inspection. 
(B) Repair and maintenance. 
(C) Tank upgrade alternatives. 
(D) Release detection and tank tightness 
testing. 
(E) Corrosion and metal fatigue practices. 
(F) Investigation and remediation of re-
leases. 
(G) Groundwater protection and evalua-
tion. 
(H) Risk and vulnerability assessment. 
(33) Each section includes deadlines for the 
Navy and DLA to meet planned deliverables. 
(34) The Fiscal Year 2018–2019 Area Cost 
Factor for Pearl Harbor is 2.26. 
(35) The Area Cost Factor may impact deci-
sionmaking for sustainment, repair, and mainte-
nance priorities. 
(36) Since the January 2014 fuel loss, the 
Navy has— 
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(A) increased standards for contractor 
workmanship; 
(B) increased government oversight; 
(C) updated operator procedures; 
(D) increased training; 
(E) instituted new safeguards, checks, bal-
ances, and alarm procedures; and 
(F) installed two additional groundwater 
monitoring wells. 
(37) The facility has 12 total groundwater mon-
itoring sites. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the facility is a national strategic asset 
that— 
(A) supports combatant commander the-
ater security requirements; 
(B) supports contingency operations; 
(C) provides essential and timely support 
to the United States and allies’ military mobili-
zations and disaster response efforts in the 
Indo-Asia-Pacific and around the world; and 
(D) is routinely used to support normal 
transit of Navy and Air Force movements in 
the region; 
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(2) the facility in its current form cannot be 
replicated anywhere else in the world; 
(3) moving the fuel to another storage facility 
in the Indo-Asia-Pacific would have implications for 
the United States military force structure in the 
State of Hawaii and put at risk billions of dollars in 
annual economic activity that the Armed Forces 
bring to the State of Hawaii; 
(4) if the facility were closed, the United States 
Armed Forces would be unable to support the Na-
tional Military Strategy, including the goals of the 
United States Pacific Commander, and national se-
curity interests would be significantly undermined; 
(5) constant vigilance is required to ensure that 
facility degradation and fuel leaks do not pose a 
threat to the people of Hawaii, especially the drink-
ing water on Oahu; 
(6) despite its importance, the facility continues 
to face long-term challenges without robust and con-
sistent funding that provides the Navy and DLA 
with the resources needed to improve the tanks and 
associated infrastructure; 
(7) achieving the AOC/SOW deliverables is a 
multiyear effort that will require sustained commit-
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ment from the Department of Defense and Con-
gress; 
(8) the annual budget submissions of the De-
partment of Defense and the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency must adequately reflect the funding re-
quirements necessary to meet the deliverables com-
mitted to under the AOC/SOW; 
(9) the Department of Defense must also in-
clude information about how future years budgets 
will support the near-term and long-term measures 
detailed in the reported schedule of work to prevent 
future fuel leaks; and 
(10) for facility sustainment and maintenance, 
Pearl Harbor has a high Area Cost Factor (ACF), 
and the Department of Defense should develop a 
strategy that fiscally accounts for that ACF. 
SEC. 5. BUDGET SUBMISSIONS. 
(a) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.— 
(1) ANNUAL
BUDGET
JUSTIFICATION.—The 
Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of the Navy, shall ensure that the budget jus-
tification materials submitted to Congress in support 
of the Department of Defense budget for any fiscal 
year (as submitted with the budget of the President 
under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States 
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Code) include a description of how the Department 
will use funds to support any deliverables that the 
parties to the AOC/SOW have identified as nec-
essary to mitigate and prevent fuel leaks at the Red 
Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on Oahu, Hawaii. 
(2) FUTURE YEARS DEFENSE PROGRAM.—The 
Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of the Navy, shall ensure that each future- 
years defense program submitted to Congress under 
section 221 of title 10, United States Code, de-
scribes how the Department will use funds to sup-
port any deliverables that the parties to the AOC/ 
SOW have identified as necessary to mitigate and 
prevent fuel leaks at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage 
Facility on Oahu, Hawaii, in the period covered by 
the future-years defense program. 
(b) ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.—The 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
shall ensure that the budget justification materials sub-
mitted to Congress in support of the budget for the Agen-
cy for any fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of 
the President under section 1105(a) of title 31) includes 
a description of how the Agency will use funds to support 
any deliverables that the parties of the AOC/SOW have 
identified as necessary to mitigate and prevent fuel leaks 
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at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on Oahu, Ha-
waii. 
SEC. 6. ANNUAL LOCALITY ADJUSTMENT OF DOLLAR 
THRESHOLDS APPLICABLE TO RED HILL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the dollar limita-
tions in section 2805 of title 10, United States Code, the 
Secretary of Defense may obligate or expend, from the 
amounts described in subsection (b), not more than 
$6,780,000 to carry out an unspecified minor military 
construction project for the sustainment and maintenance 
of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on Oahu, Ha-
waii. 
(b) AMOUNTS.—The amounts described in this sub-
section are— 
(1) amounts authorized to be appropriated for 
the Department of Defense for operation and main-
tenance, Defense-wide, for any of fiscal years 2017 
through 2030; and 
(2) amounts authorized to be appropriated for 
the Department of Defense for military construction 
not otherwise authorized by law for any of fiscal 
years 2017 through 2030. 
(c) NOTIFICATION.—In accordance with section 
2805(b) of title 10, United States Code, the Secretary 
shall submit to the congressional defense committees writ-
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ten notice of any decision to carry out an unspecified 
minor military construction project under subsection (a). 
Such notice shall include— 
(1) the justification for the project; and 
(2) the estimated cost of the project. 
(d) SUNSET.—The authority to carry out a project 
under subsection (a) shall terminate on September 30, 
2030. 
Æ 
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