[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 115 (Wednesday, July 10, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H5337-H5576]
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020
[excerpts on climate change]
[...]
Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of this legislation. It
is a good piece of legislation.
I thank Chairman Smith; Ranking Member Thornberry; and my colleague,
Mr. Lamborn, for working with our committee. We worked closely with
members of the committee on and off to ensure that the bill addresses
four priority areas affecting our military.
First, we ask the question: Is the military ready for climate change?
It is not. In the last 12 months, severe storms have devastated Marine
Corps
[[Page H5346]]
Base Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Tyndall Air
Force Base, and Offutt Air Force Base. This NDAA will accelerate and
enhance readiness by requiring the Department of Defense to plan for
and respond to the threat that climate change poses to military
installations and operations.
[...]
Third, the bill contains a number of sensible provisions requiring
the Department of Defense to plan for and respond to the threat that
climate change poses to military installations and military operations:
Requires DoD to develop installation master plans that assess current
climate vulnerabilities and plan for mitigating the risks;
Limits DoD's ability to spend planning and design funds until it
initiates the process of amending the building standards for military
construction to ensure that building practices and standards promote
energy, climate, and cyber resilience at military installations;
Requires all proposals for military construction projects to consider
potential long-term changes in environmental conditions, and
increasingly frequent extreme weather events, as well as, industry
best-practices to withstand extreme weather events;
Authorizes an additional $40 million for the Department's Energy
Resilience and Conservation Investment Program; and
Directs the Secretary of Defense to develop a climate vulnerability
and risk assessment tool to assist in providing standardized risk
calculations of climate-related impacts to military installations and
capabilities.
[...]
SEC. 322. DEVELOPMENT OF CLIMATE VULNERABILITY AND RISK
ASSESSMENT TOOL.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
develop a climate vulnerability and risk assessment tool to
assist the military departments in measuring how the risks
associated with climate change impact networks, systems,
installations, facilities, and other assets, as well as the
operational plans and capabilities of the Department of
Defense.
(b) Consultation.--In developing the tool under subsection
(a), the Secretary shall consult with the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Energy,
the Secretary of the Interior, the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the
Commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Administrator
of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a
federally funded research and development center, and the
heads of such other relevant Federal agencies as the
Secretary of Defense determines appropriate.
(c) Prevailing Scientific Consensus.--Before completing
development of the tool under subsection (a), the Secretary
shall obtain from a federally funded research and development
center with which the Secretary has consulted under
subsection (b) a certification in writing that the tool
contains a methodology that adequately incorporates the
prevailing scientific consensus on climate change.
(d) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the
congressional defense committees a report describing the tool
developed under subsection (a).
(2) Classified annex.--The report under paragraph (1) shall
be submitted in unclassified form but may contain a
classified annex if necessary.
(3) Publication.--Upon submittal of the report under
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall publish the unclassified
portion of the report on an internet website of the
Department that is available to the public.
(e) Updates to Tool.--
(1) In general.--After submittal of the report under
subsection (d), the Secretary of Defense shall update the
climate vulnerability and risk assessment tool developed
under subsection (a) as the Secretary considers necessary and
appropriate, in consultation with the individuals and
entities described in subsection (b) and consistent with the
prevailing scientific consensus as required under subsection
(c).
(2) Report and publication.--Upon completing an update to
the tool under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall--
(A) submit to the congressional defense committees a report
describing such update; and
(B) publish the unclassified version of such report on an
internet website of the Department that is available to the
public.
[...]
SEC. 2805. AMENDMENT OF UNIFIED FACILITIES CRITERIA TO
PROMOTE MILITARY INSTALLATION RESILIENCE,
ENERGY RESILIENCE, ENERGY AND CLIMATE
RESILIENCY, AND CYBER RESILIENCE.
(a) Amendment Required.--Not later than September 1, 2020,
the Secretary of Defense shall amend the Unified Facility
Criteria related to military construction planning and design
to ensure that building practices and standards promote
military installation resilience, energy resilience, energy
and climate resiliency, and cyber resilience.
(b) Conditional Availability of Funds Pending Initiation of
Amendment Process.--Not more than 25 percent of the funds
authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2020 for
Department of Defense planning and design accounts related to
military construction projects may be obligated until the
date on which the Secretary of Defense submits to the
Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives
and the Senate a certification that the Secretary has
initiated the process to amend the Unified Facility Criteria
to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) and intends
to complete the amendment process by the date specified in
such subsection.
(c) Implementation of Unified Facilities Criteria
Amendment.--
(1) Implementation.--Any Department of Defense Form 1391
submitted to Congress after the date specified in subsection
(a) must be in compliance with the Unified Facility Criteria,
amended as required by subsection (a).
(2) Certification.--Not later than March 1, 2021, the
Secretary of Defense shall certify to the Committees on Armed
Services of the House of Representatives and the Senate that
the amendment required by subsection (a) and the amendment
required by section 2805(c) of the Military Construction
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (division B of Public
Law 115-232; 132 Stat. 2262; 10 U.S.C. 2864 note) have been
completed and fully incorporated into military construction
planning and design.
(d) Annual Review.--Beginning with fiscal year 2022, and
annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall conduct a
review comparing the Unified Facility Criteria and industry
best practices to ensure that military construction building
practices and standards related to military installation
resilience, energy resilience, energy and climate resiliency,
and cyber resilience remain current.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The terms ``energy resilience'' and ``military
installation resilience'' have the meanings given those terms
in section 101(e) of title 10, United States Code.
(2) The term ``energy and climate resiliency'' has the
meaning given that term in section 2864 of title 10, United
States Code.
[...]
Amendment No. 76 Offered by Mr. Blumenauer of Oregon
At the end of subtitle B of title III, insert the
following:
SEC. 3__. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS THAT DISCOURAGE INVESTMENTS TO
INCREASE RESILIENCY TO CLIMATE CHANGE.
The Secretary of Defense shall--
(1) identify and seek to remove barriers that discourage
investments to increase resiliency to climate change;
(2) reform policies and programs that unintentionally
increased the vulnerability of systems to related climate
change risks; and
(3) develop, and update at least once every four years, an
adaptation plan that assessed how climate impacts affected
the ability of the department or agency to accomplish its
mission, and the short-and long- term actions the department
or agency can take to manage climate risks.
[...]
amendment no. 118 offered by mr. crist of florida
In section 2805(a), add after the period on page 990, line
12, the following: ``To prepare the amendments required by
this subsection, the Secretary of Defense shall take into
account historical data, current conditions, and sea level
rise projections. The Secretary may consult with the heads of
other Federal departments and agencies with expertise
regarding military installation resilience, energy
resilience, energy and climate resiliency, and cyber
resilience.''.
[...]
Amendment No. 140 Offered by Ms. Escobar of Texas
At the end of subtitle B of title III, insert the
following:
SEC. 3__. CLIMATE-CONSCIOUS BUDGETING OF DEPARTMENT OF
DEFENSE.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense shall include in
the annual budget submission of the President under section
1105(a) of title 31, United States Code--
(1) a dedicated budget line item for adaptation to, and
mitigation of, climate-related risks to military networks,
systems, installations, facilities, and other assets and
capabilities of the Department of Defense; and
(2) an estimate of the anticipated adverse impacts to the
readiness of the Department and the financial costs to the
Department during the year covered by the budget of the loss
of, or damage to, military networks, systems, installations,
facilities, and other assets and capabilities of the
Department, including loss of or obstructed access to
training ranges, as a result of climate change.
(b) Disaggregation of Impacts and Costs.--The estimate
under subsection (a)(2) shall set forth the adverse readiness
impacts and financial costs under that subsection by military
department, Defense Agency, and other component or element of
the Department.
[...]
