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1 [1] (October 23, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goverbk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research S~ Informing the IegisI9tive debate since 191 0 October 23, 2024 Congressional Direction of Military Infrastructure Funding Congress has a variety of legislative and budgetary options for directing U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) infrastructure spending. During the past 10 years, Congress has used statutory provisions to direct infrastructure spending to support construction or renovation of DOD research laboratories, child development centers, unaccompanied housing facilities, and certain projects in the Indo-Pacific region. Funding for DOD's infrastructure generally comes from one of two types of DOD appropriations accounts: 1) military construction (MILCON) accounts, which provide for construction of new facilities; and 2) accounts known as Facilities Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization (FSRM), which are primarily intended for renovation of existing facilities. FSRM is a component of Operation and Maintenance (O&M) accounts. Both MILCON and FSRM provide mechanisms for Congress to direct budget authority or expedite infrastructure investment for a particular purpose or for certain types of facilities. Miitary Construction Congress annually reviews DOD's budget request and determines whether or not to fund individual major MILCON projects, among other budgetary line items. In making the determination of which projects to provide line item-level authorization and appropriation in annual defense budget legislation, Congress may prioritize funding for specific individual projects or for certain types of facilities. (The list of individual projects that Congress funds each year is typically contained in the Joint Explanatory Statement for the annual Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Act.) Congress may also exercise its discretion regarding DOD's unfunded priorities lists (UPLs), which generally refer to reports submitted to the congressional defense committees by the highest-ranking officers of the U.S. military services and combatant commands. In deciding whether or not to fund particular MILCON projects in the UPLs, Congress has an additional opportunity to prioritize funding for certain types of facilities. Beyond approving individual MILCON projects, Congress may enact new authorities for DOD to carry out certain types of MILCON projects. For example, Section 2835 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY2024 NDAA; P.L. 118-31) authorized a pilot program that allows the Secretaries of the military departments (Army, Navy and Air Force) to carry out MILCON projects to replace certain substandard enlisted barracks, also known as unaccompanied housing facilities. Such MILCON projects do not need further authorization and the Secretary concerned may, in some cases, use O&M or unspecified minor MILCON funding authority. U nstruction Unspecified minor military construction (sometimes referred to as UMMC) is defined under 10 U.S.C. §2805 as projects whose total cost does not exceed a certain threshold, currently $9 million in most instances. UMMC differs from larger construction projects in that the law does not require individual UMMC projects to receive authorization and appropriation at the line-item level in the annual DOD budget process. Instead, Congress provides lump-sum funding for the military services and DOD components, providing defense officials with the discretion to make decisions about which individual UMMC projects to prioritize and carry out. When seeking to direct infrastructure spending to certain types of projects, Congress can increase UMMC thresholds as applied to those specific types of projects. For example, Section 2810 of the FY2006 NDAA (P.L. 109-163) authorized a temporary increase in the cost thresholds for UMMC as applied to child development center (CDC) construction projects. Similarly, Section 2810 of the FY2024 NDAA authorized the commander of U.S. Indo- Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) to carry out UMMC projects that cost up to $15 million. Another way to direct infrastructure spending via minor military construction is by providing dedicated appropriations for certain types of UMMC projects. For example, the FY2024 MILCON-VA Act (P.L. 118-42) provided $62 million in UMMC funding for projects in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility. Similarly, Section 129 of the FY2024 MILCON-VA Act provided $10 million to each of the military departments for UMMC projects to improve DOD laboratory facilities. P anning and Design Congress provides military departments and DOD components with funding to support planning and design activities, which are essential to developing the detailed budget justification and cost estimate that Congress typically requires when DOD requests full funding for a MILCON project. Generally, Congress provides the military departments and DOD components with a lump sum annual amount for planning and design that military leaders can use at their discretion. In some instances, Congress may appropriate funding for planning and design to be dedicated to a particular purpose or to a certain type of facility. Investment of planning and design funding for certain types of projects can help DOD move more projects into the early development stage, which in subsequent years can provide DOD and Congress with additional options for funding full military construction projects.

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