[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                         [H.A.S.C. No. 117-16]

                        INSTALLATION RESILIENCY:

            LESSONS LEARNED FROM WINTER STORM URI AND BEYOND

                               __________

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                       SUBCOMMITTEE ON READINESS

                                 OF THE

                      COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES

                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION
                               __________

                              HEARING HELD

                             MARCH 26, 2021

                                     
                  [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
                  
                              ___________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                    
48-485                     WASHINGTON : 2022                     
                  

                                     

                       SUBCOMMITTEE ON READINESS

                  JOHN GARAMENDI, California, Chairman

JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut            DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado
JACKIE SPEIER, California            JOE WILSON, South Carolina
JASON CROW, Colorado                 AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia
ELISSA SLOTKIN, Michigan, Vice       JACK BERGMAN, Michigan
    Chair                            MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana
JARED F. GOLDEN, Maine               MARK E. GREEN, Tennessee
ELAINE G. LURIA, Virginia            LISA C. McCLAIN, Michigan
KAIALI'I KAHELE, Hawaii              BLAKE D. MOORE, Utah
MARILYN STRICKLAND, Washington

               Jeanine Womble, Professional Staff Member
                 Ian Bennitt, Professional Staff Member
                           Sean Falvey, Clerk

                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

              STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

Garamendi, Hon. John, a Representative from California, Chairman, 
  Subcommittee on Readiness......................................     1
Wilson, Hon. Joe, a Representative from South Carolina, 
  Subcommittee on Readiness......................................     3

                               WITNESSES

Allen, Brig Gen John J., Jr., USAF, Commander, Air Force Civil 
  Engineering Center, Air Force Materiel Command, Department of 
  the Air Force..................................................     9
Banta, MajGen Edward D., USMC, Commander, Marine Corps 
  Installations Command, United States Marine Corps Headquarters.     7
Gabram, LTG Douglas M., USA, Commanding General, Army 
  Installation Management Command, Department of the Army........     4
Lindsey, VADM Yancy B., USN, Commander, Navy Installations 
  Command, Department of the Navy................................     6

                                APPENDIX

Prepared Statements:

    Allen, Brig Gen John J., Jr..................................    58
    Banta, MajGen Edward D.......................................    49
    Gabram, LTG Douglas M........................................    33
    Lindsey, VADM Yancy B........................................    40

Documents Submitted for the Record:

    [There were no Documents submitted.]

Witness Responses to Questions Asked During the Hearing:

    [There were no Questions submitted during the hearing.]

Questions Submitted by Members Post Hearing:

    Mr. Bergman..................................................    77
    Mr. Kahele...................................................    77


 
           
  INSTALLATION RESILIENCY: LESSONS LEARNED FROM WINTER STORM URI AND 
                                 BEYOND

                              ----------                              

                  House of Representatives,
                       Committee on Armed Services,
                                 Subcommittee on Readiness,
                            Washington, DC, Friday, March 26, 2021.
    The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 3:01 p.m., via 
Webex, Hon. John Garamendi (chairman of the subcommittee) 
presiding.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN GARAMENDI, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM 
        CALIFORNIA, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON READINESS

    Mr. Garamendi. Good afternoon, all. I call to order this 
hearing of the Readiness Subcommittee. And if you are not 
speaking, please turn off your microphones.
    First, some of the administrative and technical notes that 
we are required to do.
    Members are reminded that they must be visible onscreen 
within the software platform for the purposes of 
identification. Members must continue to use the software 
platform's video function while attending the hearing unless 
they experience connectivity issues or other technical problems 
that render the member unable to fully participate on camera. 
If you experience technical difficulties, please contact the 
committee staff.
    When you are recognized, the video will be broadcast via 
television and internet feeds. You will be recognized as normal 
for questions. There is a gavel sheet, and we will discuss that 
in a few moments. But, if you want to speak at any other time, 
you must seek recognition verbally.
    And, of course, mute your microphone when you are not 
speaking, and remember to unmute prior to speaking. Please be 
aware that there is a slight lag between when you are speaking 
and the video comes on, so hold your voice for just a second.
    Please remember to keep the software platform's video 
function on for the entirety of the time that you are attending 
the hearing. If you leave for a short period for reasons other 
than joining a different proceeding, leave your video function 
on. If you are leaving to join a different proceeding or you 
have just plain had enough of us and will be absent for a 
significant period of time, you should exit the platform 
entirely and then rejoin when you return.
    Be advised that I have designated a committee staff member 
to mute unrecognized members' microphones if necessary. So we 
have the control.
    Please use the platform's chat feature to communicate with 
staff regarding technical or logistic support issues.
    Finally, there is a 5-minute countdown clock on the 
software platform. Keep your eyes on it. If necessary, I will 
remind you when your time is up.
    So are we all clear on the details? Very good.
    Now I would like to make a few opening remarks.
    Today's witnesses are the global integrators for their 
services' installation enterprises. They oversee the strategic 
and long-term planning for our installations, ensure the 
sustainment of existing infrastructure, and advocate for how 
future investments should be prioritized. They implement and 
operationalize the changes to law that we have passed in the 
NDAAs [National Defense Authorization Acts].
    Our committee, in the last four NDAAs, has explicitly 
instructed the Department of Defense, and, therefore, each of 
the presenters today, to address energy conservation and base 
energy resiliency. In the two most recent NDAAs, we have 
instructed the DOD [Department of Defense] to plan and prepare 
for extreme weather events and sea level rise caused by climate 
change.
    Generals, you are responsible for making our installations 
resilient to the hazards they face. These hazards include 
disruptions to utilities from natural and manmade sources, 
water scarcity, strong hurricanes on our coasts, tornados, 
droughts in the West, earthquakes, and flooding along our 
coast. Actually, I wrote that, but droughts also occur in the 
East--for example, Georgia, Alabama, and even South Carolina.
    Two years ago, Camp Lejeune and Tyndall Air Force Base were 
devastated by Hurricanes Florence and Michael. When I asked the 
service leaders how we could avoid the $5 billion damage in the 
infrastructure to just those two bases, I was told repeatedly 
that the answer is very simple: The buildings that were well-
maintained and had been renovated to today's building standards 
were more resilient and in many cases not damaged by the 
storms. Those that were not updated, they were damaged.
    And so the services knew the solutions. But, for years, the 
services have taken considerable risk in the installation 
portfolio, deferring necessary maintenance and upgrades on 
existing buildings in order to fund new platforms and systems.
    Well, the bill has finally come due, not only in North 
Carolina and Florida with those two bases, but in California, 
where China Lake sustained $1.1 billion in earthquake damage, 
much of which is, again, attributed to deferred maintenance and 
sustainment, and, most recently, Texas and Oklahoma during 
Winter Storm Uri, where under-maintained roofs, facilities, 
pipes, and HVAC [heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning] 
systems contributed to preventable damage to the military 
infrastructure.
    The phenomenon of deferred maintenance is not new, nor is 
it specific to any particular administration. It is a chronic 
issue. We see it across the entire Readiness Subcommittee's 
jurisdiction. The services consistently fail to fund and 
sustainment in favor--I am going to read that again. The 
services consistently fail to fund sustainment in favor of new 
platforms and their support infrastructure. It is high time 
that we start learning and applying the lessons from these 
events, which we must now consider as normal.
    Given the range of threats to our installations, the best 
way to make sound, cost-effective decisions is master planning. 
By getting a holistic view of both the threats to resiliency 
and the current condition of the installations, the services 
can make informed decisions that guide their investment 
priorities. And then, with that information, we can do our job 
in providing the necessary authority and money.
    I look forward to this hearing and how the services are 
implementing the fiscal year 2020 NDAA requirement to conduct 
resiliency-informed master planning, especially at 
installations identified as being most at risk.
    Finally, our installations are not islands unto themselves. 
If Winter Storm Uri taught us anything, it is that resiliency 
challenges faced by the surrounding communities will impact the 
installations and the ability of the bases' tenants to 
accomplish critical missions. The services must think of 
resiliency as a problem that extends beyond the fence line as 
they consider investments to improve energy, water, and 
extreme-weather resiliency at our installations.
    With that in mind, Mr. Wilson, you are covering for our 
ranking member, Congressman Doug Lamborn, today. You know this 
game; you were the chairman of this. Delighted you are with us. 
The platform is yours. Mr. Wilson.

   STATEMENT OF HON. JOE WILSON, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM SOUTH 
              CAROLINA, SUBCOMMITTEE ON READINESS

    Mr. Wilson. And thank you, Chairman John Garamendi. Thank 
you very much.
    Today, we will hear testimony from the Air Force, Army, 
Navy, and Marine Corps installation commands about lessons 
learned from the Winter Storm Uri and various other recent 
extreme weather events as well as the implementation of 
resiliency measures from the past four National Defense 
Authorization Acts.
    Domestic military installations are critical to our 
military readiness. They house the training, mission execution, 
and sustainment operations and serve as a home to our service 
men and women and their families.
    Over the past several years, extreme weather events such as 
severe flooding in the Midwest, hurricanes in the gulf and east 
coast, and crippling winter storms, have exposed 
vulnerabilities in our installations.
    I gratefully represent the U.S. Army's Fort Jackson, which 
is currently refortifying its infrastructure after the 
thousand-year flood of 2015, which caused Simms Lake Dam to 
fail.
    Existing vulnerabilities include outdated and unprepared 
infrastructure, concerns about energy resilience and dependence 
on commercial grids, and access to clean water. Each has the 
potential to undermine everyday activities at our installations 
and, ultimately, the critical work of our armed services.
    In February, Winter Storm Uri wreaked havoc across the 
United States, highlighting weather-related threats to our 
bases and yielding important lessons. Thankfully, installations 
such as Offutt Air Force Base, headquarters of U.S. Strategic 
Command, demonstrated their resilience during the storm by 
disconnecting the base from the commercial power grid and 
operating off the two power plants on site with no disruption 
to operations. Other installations did not fare so well, 
experiencing prolonged power and water loss.
    Over the years, Congress and DOD have looked to prioritize 
the investments in resilience projects and better manage risk 
posed by extreme weather. I look forward to hearing today how 
the services are implementing provisions to strengthen our 
installations.
    Better planning is a key to the process. So-called black-
start tests have been employed to test the reliability of 
existing backup power and identify areas that require 
additional resiliency measures. Black starts have underscored 
the importance of microgridding or islanding, which generally 
means that an installation can maintain power when one or more 
of the connected power sources experience an outage or are not 
currently generating power. This, along with other energy-
resilient mechanisms, is worth further exploring.
    The military services have accepted risk in their 
installation portfolios for years. The cost of that risk is now 
apparent. The estimated recovery costs of Hurricanes Michael 
and Florence in the military construction accounts alone were 
over $4 billion. These services can do better to assess risk 
and vulnerabilities at their installations to sustain the 
installation operation and save taxpayer dollars in the wake of 
the events.
    Sensible, cost-effective investments will be the key to 
mitigating future risk. Better facility, energy, and water 
resilience is directly tied to the safety and security of our 
installations. We can do better as a nation to understand, plan 
for, and mitigate the posed threats as we have seen with the 
incredible winter storms.
    I want to thank the witnesses for their engagement today in 
this important topic, and I look forward to hearing about how 
your service is taking action.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
    Mr. Garamendi. Thank you, Mr. Wilson.
    Before I introduce the witnesses today, it occurred to me 
that Pogo may have had it correct: We have seen the enemy, and 
it is us. It is, in fact, the Armed Services Committee and the 
Appropriations Committee that have shortchanged the funding 
necessary to build the resiliency into our bases. It is my 
intent that this committee will do everything it can to change 
that pattern of rather sad history.
    So, with that good news, maybe, if we could pull it off, I 
am going to introduce our witnesses one at a time.
    I am going to start with the U.S. Army: Lieutenant General 
Douglas Gabram, Commanding General, Army Installation 
Management Command. And the rest of his title and where he is 
is just above his head there: U.S. Army Military Command, 
Installation Management Command Headquarters, Fort Sam Houston, 
Texas.
    General, why don't you get us started?

 STATEMENT OF LTG DOUGLAS M. GABRAM, USA, COMMANDING GENERAL, 
  ARMY INSTALLATION MANAGEMENT COMMAND, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY

    General Gabram. Well, Chairman Garamendi, good afternoon--
Congressman Wilson and distinguished members of the 
Subcommittee on Readiness. Thank you for this opportunity to 
testify about Army installation resilience.
    I have been fortunate and honored to serve almost 37 years. 
My wife of 34 years is a former Army nurse and now on the front 
lines of COVID here in San Antonio. Our son is in Officer 
Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Eighteen PCS 
[permanent change of station], moved multiple deployments. We 
lived and raised our children on military installations.
    So why do I tell you this? Because our service is a family 
affair, like many of yours. Installation readiness and 
resilience is very personal to me.
    So I look forward to updating you on the Army's efforts to 
mitigate and repair facilities impacted by Winter Storm Uri as 
well as the strides we are taking to improve resiliency across 
our installations for the short and long term.
    So, on behalf of Acting Secretary Whitley and Chief of 
Staff of the Army General McConville, I can assure you the Army 
takes very seriously the threats that climate change poses to 
our installations and facilities.
    Just last month, in February, we experienced unprecedented 
conditions that shattered historical low temperature records 
for consecutive days. Winter Storm Uri hit us hard. In total, 
694 facilities, including some barracks, and 1,366 privatized 
homes across 4 installations--Fort Hood, Fort Sill, Fort Polk, 
and Fort Riley--were damaged in some manner.
    Of the privatized homes impacted, 145 experienced enough 
damage for us to temporarily displace those residents. And with 
exceptional assistance from our privatized housing partners, we 
are on track to get all the remaining families back into their 
homes within 2 weeks.
    So our planning and preventive measures saved time and 
money, protected our force, and maintained mission readiness. 
Our contingency training, along with local first responders and 
service providers, paid off for quick response times.
    We also validated that our aging facilities and systems 
failed first and suffered the most damage. Over time, our 
infrastructure has felt the effects of high use and limited 
funding. Army senior leaders recognize this, and we are taking 
decisive steps to improve our facilities, especially barracks. 
With continued support from Congress, the Army will continue to 
modernize our facilities to increase resilience, as outlined in 
the new Army Installation Strategy.
    Now I would like to highlight the Army Installation Energy 
and Water Strategic Plan. The Army will integrate energy and 
water considerations across the enterprise by focusing on three 
strategic goals: resilience, efficiency, and affordability.
    It is Army policy right now that our commanders will 
consider the impacts of changing climate and extreme weather 
into all infrastructure plans, policies, and procedures. For 
example, the installation master planning will accomplish this 
by using the Army's Climate Assessment Tool and the Army 
Climate Resilience Handbook to inform the planning process.
    Installations are also preparing energy and water plans to 
identify ways to improve efficiency and strengthen the 
resiliency of our electrical and water systems. All Army 
installations are scheduled to complete these plans by the end 
of fiscal year 2022.
    And to implement these plans, the Army will continue to 
aggressively pursue energy savings performance contracts. We 
have 99 of these already in place, and we are looking to 
expand. Together, these measures helped contribute to a 20 
percent reduction in energy consumption over the last decade.
    We are also actively pursuing increased MILCON [military 
construction] funding under DOD's Energy Resilience and 
Conservation Investment Program.
    In summary, through proactive planning, collaborative 
engagement among multiple stakeholders, and leadership by our 
garrison and senior commanders, we were able to act decisively 
to keep our soldiers and families safe during this winter 
storm.
    We are committed to improve the resilience of our 
installations, ensuring they are aligned with Army policy, the 
Army Installation Strategy, and the Army Installation Energy 
and Water Strategic Plan to optimize our long-term investments.
    Chairman Garamendi, Congressman Wilson, thanks for the 
opportunity to testify before you today. I look forward to 
further dialogue in this important matter. And thanks for your 
continued support of the Army soldiers, families, civilians, 
retirees, and veterans. I really look forward to your 
questions.
    Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of General Gabram can be found in 
the Appendix on page 33.]
    Mr. Garamendi. [Off mic.]
    Voice. Chairman, you are muted.
    Mr. Garamendi [continuing]. Commander of Navy 
Installations.

   STATEMENT OF VADM YANCY B. LINDSEY, USN, COMMANDER, NAVY 
         INSTALLATIONS COMMAND, DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

    Admiral Lindsey. All right, Chairman Garamendi, I think 
that was my cue. So, Chairman Garamendi, Congressman Wilson, 
and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for 
this opportunity to testify today on the resilience of Navy 
installations.
    Our Navy's 70 installations worldwide provide the platform 
from which the United States develops, generates, projects, and 
sustains naval power. The capability and capacity of our 
installations to resist, adapt, and recover from crisis or 
disaster, whether natural or manmade, is fundamental to 
installation mission execution and support of the fleet, the 
fighter, and the family.
    We have what I believe is a strong record of considering, 
incorporating, and executing resiliency into all aspects of 
installation operations, to include infrastructure, facility 
and utilities planning, design, construction, and repair, often 
in cooperation and coordination with the State, county, and 
local communities' utility providers, et cetera.
    As a former installation commanding officer, a three-time 
region commander, and today as Commander of Navy Installations 
Command, resiliency has been and continues to be critical to 
mission execution and mission success.
    Also fundamental to execution and success are vibrant, 
productive, informal and formal relationships with State and 
local governments, other Federal and public agencies, and 
private entities. These partnerships are absolutely critical to 
the continued success of our resilience initiatives.
    Many of our resiliency efforts and successes can be traced 
back to authorities and/or resourcing provided by Congress 
which allow us to seek out and take advantage of resiliency-
building opportunities, both within Navy lifelines but also in 
conjunction with other non-Navy organizations and entities.
    I look forward to continuing to work with Congress and this 
subcommittee to build upon our success and seek out clever and 
creative solutions to address Navy installation resiliency and 
the effects of our changing climate.
    Thank you for the opportunity to appear today, and I look 
forward to your questions. Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Admiral Lindsey can be found in 
the Appendix on page 40.]
    Mr. Garamendi. Admiral, thank you very much.
    I now turn to the Marine Corps: General Banta, Marine Corps 
Installations Command.
    General.

 STATEMENT OF MAJGEN EDWARD D. BANTA, USMC, COMMANDER, MARINE 
    CORPS INSTALLATIONS COMMAND, UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS 
                          HEADQUARTERS

    General Banta. Good afternoon, Chairman Garamendi, 
Congressman Wilson, and distinguished members of this 
subcommittee. Thanks for the invitation and opportunity to 
address the committee today on installation resiliency, which 
is critical to our ability to train forces and maintain 
readiness.
    I also wanted to thank Congress for your support to the 
Marine Corps Hurricane Florence recovery efforts. Thanks to 
your strong support, we are making substantial progress in 
rebuilding Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and our air stations 
at Cherry Point and New River.
    As part of this effort, we are incorporating significant 
improvements to our facilities that will ultimately result in 
more resilient bases. We have also initiated resiliency 
initiatives across our installations, such as the ongoing 
master planning effort at MCRD [Marine Corps Recruit Depot] 
Parris Island. That will help mitigate the effects of myriad 
threats.
    To that point, when we think of resiliency, we consider our 
installations' ability to anticipate, prepare for, adapt to, 
and recover from a wide spectrum of threats to our operational 
readiness, to include the effects of climate change. So, in 
that sense, installation resiliency is fundamental to enabling 
the operational readiness and warfighting capability of our 
Fleet Marine Forces and the joint force.
    And we know our installations are vulnerable targets for a 
growing host of sophisticated kinetic and nonkinetic threats, 
but also to environmental factors that threaten our ability to 
generate readiness and deploy and recover forces from our bases 
and stations.
    Recent events such as Winter Storm Uri, drastic changes to 
weather patterns, rising sea levels, natural disasters, COVID-
19, insider threats--all of this underscores this point. 
Climate-related effects like wildfire and droughts routinely 
threaten our west coast installations. Hurricanes and typhoons 
are a staple for our east coast and Pacific bases. And the 
prospect of rising sea levels directly affects all of our 
coastal installations, with our recruit depot at Parris Island 
as a prime example.
    I would like to take a moment to speak to the nexus between 
our efforts to develop our future force and opportunities to 
improve the resiliency of our installations. Our Commandant has 
initiated a comprehensive force design effort that will 
fundamentally reshape aspects of our future force, and we 
anticipate evolving our installations accordingly.
    As we work with our force planners, who are actively 
experimenting with force design initiatives, we seek to refine 
and understand our future installation requirements and 
identify opportunities to improve our resiliency in the 
process. Examples include building upon investments in smart 
grids and microgrid technologies, incorporating the effects of 
climate change into all of our installation master plans, and 
designing and building our new infrastructure to maximize 
energy and water efficiency.
    As Hurricane Florence demonstrated at Camp Lejeune, our new 
assets and infrastructure built with updated construction 
standards were significantly more resilient to the storm's 
effects than our older facilities. We really appreciate the 
committee's support as we recover from the hurricane's damage. 
And that has resulted in rebuilding out of flood plains, 
applying updated standards for construction and repairs.
    And while we are incorporating vulnerability assessments 
and evaluations into our master planning process, we recognize 
we still have work to do.
    We also recognize the interdependencies between our 
installations and the surrounding and supporting communities. 
In short, we must look beyond our fence line and plan with our 
local partners.
    For example, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point's living 
shoreline, a Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration 
challenge submitted by the North Carolina Department of 
Agriculture, is creating a living shoreline to mitigate erosion 
along the Neuse River.
    Additionally, MCICOM [Marine Corps Installation Command] 
recently completed the Climate Change and Adaptation Resiliency 
Study to identify potential hazards and mitigation costs for 
MCRD Parris Island. Building upon this momentum, Parris Island 
and Beaufort recently partnered with the Lowcountry Council of 
Governments, the city of Beaufort, and the town of Port Royal 
to continue this resiliency planning work.
    We look forward to more opportunities to address similar 
issues in coordination with Federal, State, and local partners.
    We are working to improve the resiliency of our 
installations' critical functions, such as the power grid, 
water distribution, and communications capabilities. Over the 
last few years, MCICOM has leveraged third-party financing/
leasing mechanisms, Energy Resilience and Conservation 
Investment Program [ERCIP], and FSRM [Facilities Sustainment, 
Restoration, and Modernization] funding to deliver clean energy 
while increasing the resilience of utilities infrastructure in 
support of critical missions.
    An example of this is Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, 
which will become the first Marine Corps net-zero installation 
this April, next month. This significant energy achievement 
will produce as much electricity from renewable green-energy 
sources as it consumes from the surrounding community utility 
providers.
    So, in closing, the Marine Corps continues to learn from 
past events and seeks new solutions to shore up our coastlines, 
modernize our bases' infrastructure, and increase our ability 
to recover from extreme weather events. We have to be agile 
enough to adapt to the effects of drastic changes in the 
environment and reinforce the foundations of our installations' 
resiliency.
    Thank you once again for the opportunity to appear before 
you this afternoon and for your leadership in addressing 
today's climate-related changes. I look forward to your 
questions.
    [The prepared statement of General Banta can be found in 
the Appendix on page 49.]
    Mr. Garamendi. General, thank you very much.
    I now turn to General Allen, Commander of the Air Force 
Civil Engineering Center.
    General Allen.

STATEMENT OF BRIG GEN JOHN J. ALLEN, JR., USAF, COMMANDER, AIR 
  FORCE CIVIL ENGINEERING CENTER, AIR FORCE MATERIEL COMMAND, 
                  DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

    General Allen. Good afternoon, Chairman Garamendi, 
Congressman Wilson, and other distinguished members of the 
subcommittee. I am honored to appear before you today to 
discuss Air Force and Space Force installation resilience.
    As you are well aware, natural disasters and severe weather 
have significantly impacted Air Force and Space Force 
installations over the last few years. We are aggressively 
moving forward with rebuild efforts at Tyndall Air Force Base 
and Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and are continuing to 
assess damage and recover from recent winter storms that 
impacted large portions of the United States.
    It is of utmost importance to us that we ensure our 
installations are ready and resilient. Our installations are 
the platforms from which we build, deploy, and employ readiness 
and combat power. All Air Force and Space Force missions start 
and end on an installation. Just as importantly, they are home 
to thousands of airmen, guardians, and their families.
    In recent years, Congress has included numerous provisions 
in legislation to enhance installation resilience, and the 
Department of the Air Force is working to implement them.
    We have developed a Severe Weather and Climate Screening 
Risk Assessment Playbook, which we have used to conduct initial 
assessments of exposure and risk due to severe weather and 
climate hazards at all major installations. The results will be 
used to develop installation resilience component plans to be 
included in each installation development plan, as required by 
the fiscal year 2020 NDAA.
    Additionally, we have completed installation energy plans 
for 24 installations and plan to have another 20 complete by 
the end of this fiscal year.
    We have also conducted energy resilience and readiness 
exercises at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Hanscom 
Air Force Base in Massachusetts, and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-
Lakehurst in New Jersey. We have two more planned, at Wright-
Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and Eielson Air Force Base in 
Alaska, for this year. And in future years, we expect to 
complete at least five per year, as required by the fiscal year 
2021 National Defense Authorization Act.
    Finally, I would like to mention the recent winter storms 
and extreme cold that impacted a large portion of the United 
States. Twenty-eight Department of the Air Force installations 
were impacted to some extent. We are continuing to assess 
damage and are committed to restoring facilities to full 
mission capability.
    The majority of the damage was the result of burst water 
and fire-suppression lines due to freezing. Our personnel 
repaired our installations admirably, but numerous factors, 
including sustained periods of extreme cold, degraded 
facilities and infrastructure condition, and off-base power and 
water supply issues, led to damage and temporary interruptions.
    As we remain steadfast in our resolve to provide credible 
combat capability to the joint force and for our Nation, the 
Department of the Air Force is committed to continuing to work 
with this subcommittee and the rest of Congress to ensure our 
installations are ready and resilient.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and I look 
forward to answering your questions.
    [The prepared statement of General Allen can be found in 
the Appendix on page 58.]
    Mr. Garamendi. Thank you very much, General Allen.
    For all of the witnesses, we thank you for your 
presentation.
    I am going to read the gavel list here, and we will modify 
as people come and go: Garamendi, Wilson, Courtney, Scott, 
Crow. If other members want to participate, please raise your 
hand, and the staff will get you in the gavel list.
    Please be aware that--Kai wants to be on--that people exit 
and return to the hearing, and the gavel list is somewhat 
flexible, resulting in that. Mr. Johnson also would like to 
participate.
    Okay. So, I get to start.
    Here is where I want to start with this. This is going to 
be a long-term process in which this subcommittee will carry on 
the work of the previous years and really try to enhance the 
opportunities for the military services to address the 
infrastructure needs on the various facilities.
    It is a process that is going to require interaction 
between the presenters today and the men and women that follow 
them in these positions. That interaction has to be more than 
the President's budget. It has to be an interaction that begins 
with sharing of information early into the process.
    General Gabram, you indicated that the Army will complete 
its work on the assessment of the infrastructure resiliency in 
the end of the 2022 fiscal year. The other witnesses indicated 
that they have work in process on this. I don't want to wait 
until it is over. I want to work with you as you proceed,so 
that we can get ahead of the problem, ahead of the programs.
    And so I would ask each of you to briefly describe how we 
might be able to interact as you work towards completion of the 
required resiliency plans so that we can take advantage of this 
year's NDAA and build into it money, MILCON, get ahead of the 
problems. Those installations that are critical and need 
immediate attention, we don't want you to wait and we don't 
want to wait either.
    So let's start with--I am going to go in reverse order 
here. We will start with the Air Force and then work back and 
end up with the Army.
    General Allen.
    General Allen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    I think, for the Air Force at least, we have enjoyed a 
really good working relationship with your staff. I saw that 
firsthand play out when we were dealing with the aftermath of 
Hurricane Michael and its impacts on Tyndall and then the 
subsequent storm event we had up in the Midwest that affected 
Offutt in Nebraska.
    You know, maybe a better example is a lot of the language 
that you all have put in to this effect starting back in 2018. 
I felt like we had a good conversation going with your staff, 
and so that language was actually quite helpful to the things 
we are trying to do.
    And I guess what I would say is, we are happy to be there 
in Washington or wherever you would like us to share the 
results of what we are seeing as we go out and do climate risk 
assessments at each of our installations, which are the first 
step in building those resiliency plans, which are part of our 
installation development plans. We have a lot of information we 
can share now already with our installation energy plans.
    You know, we go to an installation, we do the initial step 
of the planning, which is focusing on risk assessments and gaps 
and seams that we need to close. And a lot of those solutions 
involve leveraging private-sector capital. And I think having 
you involved with what we are seeing there and what our ideas 
are coming out of there can be very helpful. Sometimes those 
kinds of initiatives might require legislative help to get 
across the finish line.
    So I guess I would boil it down to say, I am really pleased 
with the relationship that we have already in this job and in 
my last job when I was there in the Pentagon. I think that is 
very helpful, and we would like to see that continue.
    Does that help, sir?
    Mr. Garamendi. It is a starting point. What I am looking at 
here is an interactive period of--well, for the future, so that 
we interact as we go forward. The NDAA is probably, at least 
our version, is 3 or 4 months out, probably 3. And if we are 
going to build anything into it, we need to be on that task 
now, as you work to complete.
    General Banta.
    General Banta. Chairman Garamendi, thanks for the 
opportunity to comment here.
    Following up on what General Allen said, I think we have a 
very good relationship with the staff members, in particular, 
there with Congress and in this subcommittee, and that probably 
provides a pretty good opportunity for continued and regular 
engagement as we progress with our resiliency plans.
    You know, I talked a little bit about what we had done thus 
far. And we have a completed resiliency plan down for Parris 
Island, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. And we have 
several installation energy security plans that are completed, 
with several--two actually completed, with three more coming 
online in the next couple months.
    So we have a lot of data now that we can share. Clearly, we 
have more to do and to stay on trajectory in order to meet the 
requirements from the NDAA. But we are happy to share that 
information in whatever forums or venues are most productive to 
ensure that we are updating Congress and your subcommittee as 
needed.
    And I will pause there, sir. Over.
    Mr. Garamendi. Thank you, General.
    Admiral Lindsey.
    Admiral Lindsey. Chair Garamendi, thank you.
    I think, as far as interactive and making sure that you and 
the subcommittee is aware and up to speed, so to speak, on what 
we have in the hopper, providing regular updates on the 
projects that we have currently underway that talk to 
installation resiliency and climate change, whether it is 
energy, other utilities.
    And then, obviously, as soon as the NDAA is released, 
obviously, provide you an update for those projects as well, 
and providing some kind of regular drumbeat to your staff and 
the subcommittee staff so you can see what we are working on, 
where we are working on it, and how those support resiliency 
and climate change and other efforts in that area, sir.
    So I think, at least from my perspective, we are happy to 
do that, and I think that might be helpful in assuring that you 
know what we are doing, where, and how it feeds into this 
important topic.
    Over.
    Mr. Garamendi. Thank you, Admiral.
    General Gabram. I mispronounced your name, General. Forgive 
me. ``Gabram.''
    General Gabram. ``Gabram.'' Yes, sir. That is okay. My dad 
knew it was going to be an issue.
    Just to add to my comrades, I mean, sir, we are available 
at any time. We have 30 for the Army right now that are at or 
near completion that we could share; 11 are final, 16 are in 
final review.
    We are also partnering with the Pacific Northwest Lab to 
assist in helping us put a strategy and the implementation plan 
for those plans--to put them into action. And there are several 
other areas, such as the Office of Initiatives Projects [OIP] 
and even the Energy Resilience and Conservation Improvement 
Plans.
    So I think the lateral communication between the services 
is pretty good, but we look forward to sharing whatever battle 
rhythm or drumbeat that you would like to set up.
    Thank you.
    Mr. Garamendi. ``Battle rhythm and drumbeat.''
    Well, I said it; I am going to say it again: We are going 
to write a new NDAA. And the lessons--well, let's just say, the 
climate and the geology have given us a heads-up. And a lot of 
the MILCON that is currently stacked up for the next years may 
or may not address these resiliency issues.
    And so what I want to try to--not try to--what I want to do 
and will make every effort to achieve is to look at what is 
critical so that the sustainment of the facilities is in better 
probability.
    And, therefore, for each of you, I would like to know where 
you are in assessing the most dangerous, the most critical risk 
at the most critical bases, so that we can deal with that as we 
rack and stack our own assessment of military construction as 
well as other programs that we would like--that you need to 
have done sooner than later.
    So that is the whole point of this exercise. And, yes, 
thank you very much for working closely with the staff on all 
of these things. We are going to ramp it up. I don't want to 
wait 2 years to get to the most critical issues on the 
resiliency side.
    Mr. Wilson, I am going to turn this over to you.
    Mr. Wilson. Thank you, Chairman Garamendi. I appreciate it.
    And for our panelists today, what an honor to be with you, 
and we appreciate your dedication and service.
    And, in particular, General Banta, I want to thank you for 
your recognition of Parris Island, what extraordinary 
facilities there are there and how historic they are. I 
previously represented Parris Island, and so it was really so 
heartwarming to learn the history of it, that, in fact, the 
first Spanish settlement on the east coast of the United States 
was there in 1566. And then, of course, for over 100 years, it 
has now been a Marine training facility. So 600 years of 
appreciation.
    And then I am really looking forward--next month, I will be 
next door at Hilton Head Island for the Heritage Golf Classic. 
So those of us who grew up in the Lowcountry of South Carolina 
are so proud and grateful for the success of Parris Island.
    With that, a question for General Gabram, and that is: I 
was grateful to hear of the success of the energy savings 
performance contracts. We have those at different facilities in 
South Carolina, and they have been remarkably successful.
    Military installation resilience has been defined as the 
ability of an installation to avoid, prepare for, and minimize 
the effect or adapt to and recover from extreme weather events 
or changes in environmental conditions. This does not include 
other important considerations, like internet connectivity and 
security, adaptive design that accommodates multiple tenants 
and missions, and enabling infrastructure.
    What is the Army's concept of installation resiliency? And 
how is that postured to meet the additional considerations?
    General Gabram. Chairman, I would first thank you. And I 
would like to--it kind of starts with our Strategic Energy and 
Water Plan, and then it really goes around three goals. And I 
will start wide and kind of hone it down a little bit.
    So the three, it is made up of resilience, which the simple 
definition is ensure energy and water for critical missions 
under all conditions, sort of to your point; efficiency; and 
affordability. Those are the three objectives we look at within 
the strategic plan.
    To your point about energy savings performance contracts, 
sir, we are all in. And, since 2010, we have awarded 
approximately $1.8 billion worth of these contracts. And right 
now we have 99 in execution, and we are looking to do a lot 
more.
    So we completely understand the capability that these could 
bring in terms of resilience and efficiency and affordability. 
And we are working to take a look through the energy and water 
plans--because that covers that risk assessment in that plan--
and then where and when we can go with or look to a savings 
performance contract.
    Thank you.
    Mr. Wilson. And, General Gabram, you have extraordinary 
people representing you on the Hill, and if they could provide 
to us the examples of energy savings performance contracts, I--
that has just been such a positive story for our country.
    General Allen, do you have any experience employing 
nontraditional funding streams to address the resiliency issue, 
such as public-private partnerships, enhanced-use leases, or 
other innovative financing, to help supplement the traditional 
MILCON and facilities maintenance process?
    Additionally, is there any consideration of secure micro-
reactors, small modular reactors, on a secure post, such as 
Offutt or possibly Andersen Air Force Base in Guam?
    Mr. Garamendi. General Allen, you are muted.
    General Allen. Can you hear me now?
    Mr. Wilson. Yes.
    General Allen. Sorry about that. Congressman Wilson, thank 
you.
    I would like to think of energy savings performance 
contracts and utility energy service contracts as 
nontraditional. I think we have been doing them for a little 
while, so maybe they are in the traditional category now. But 
they have been very powerful tools for us. And, going back 
about 5 years, we have been able to leverage about $750 million 
in private capital that we then pay back through energy 
savings. So that is great.
    The other things that we have had some success in and I 
think are really going to help guide our path forward in this 
are energy assurance leases and then enhanced-use leases, 
where, in both cases, we are taking underutilized land on an 
installation, partnering with the public or private sector for 
them to come in and set up some--in the case of energy 
assurance leases, some sort of energy generation that then 
provides energy resiliency back to the installation.
    We have 130 megawatts of potential generation in work now 
with EALs, energy assurance leases, that we are looking at 
across five installations. And so, when you start to do that 
math, it is not quite perfect yet, but when you are talking 
about that kind of generation, you are getting close to being 
able to island your installation off the grid if you need to.
    And on the enhanced-use lease, I was just out at Edwards 
Air Force Base in California and got to see what is starting to 
come out of the ground, what will be the largest PV array in 
the country, photovoltaic array in the country. It is out on 
the western edge of Edwards. That is an enhanced-use lease. It 
is going to put 800 megawatts of power into the California 
grid, green power--a big deal.
    Our benefit there, our fair market value that we get out of 
that, has a potential to be about $2 million a year that then 
we can put into energy-resiliency initiatives at Edwards and 
other places around the Air Force.
    So, you know, particularly out West, but a lot of our 
installations have that untapped potential, I would say. And we 
are only getting better at doing these things. And a lot of 
where we are heading in the Air Force is going to involve those 
kinds of tools.
    Did that answer your question, sir?
    Mr. Wilson. It does. But I hope you will look into small 
modular reactors too, in a secure position, like on Offutt or 
Guam. And you can get back with me later on that. 
Congratulations on your success.
    A final question for Admiral Lindsey. To what extent have 
climate conditions or extreme weather events resulted in 
shifting missions from particular installations to others in 
order to reduce infrastructure vulnerabilities? And what has 
been the impact of the adjustments?
    Admiral Lindsey. Thank you for the question.
    Shift in--none of the missions, I don't believe, that I can 
think of that we have actually shifted. We have obviously had 
to do repairs and continue to weave climate change and 
resiliency efforts into those installations that are in the 
face of natural disasters or subject to hurricanes or 
earthquakes. But as we do those, we do those--as we construct 
those facilities, as we modernize them, as we renovate them, we 
weave improved building codes and criteria so that they are 
more resilient to the natural disasters that they may be 
subject to in the future.
    But I can't think of specifically any missions that have 
been permanently shifted as a result of climate change or sea 
level rise.
    Over.
    Mr. Wilson. Well, thank you very much. And, as I conclude, 
I grew up in the ``Holy City'' of Charleston with the 
Charleston Navy Base. And so--and I was a Sea Cadet, all right? 
So I really appreciate your service.
    I yield back.
    Mr. Garamendi. Thank you very much, Mr. Wilson.
    There has been a change in the gavel order. I think Mr. 
Courtney has stepped out. If and when he returns, we will put 
him back in. And, therefore, the gavel order is Crow, followed 
by Scott. And I believe there are three others that have 
offered to join in. I will give you that information when Mr. 
Crow finishes his questions.
    You have 5 minutes, Mr. Crow.
    Mr. Crow. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Thank you to all the witnesses as well. This is a very 
interesting topic, one that I have spent a lot of time looking 
at.
    My first question goes to a bill that I had in the fiscal 
year 2020 NDAA called the Military Installation Resilience 
Assuredness Act, the MIRA Act, which actually requires all 
major military installations to integrate into their master 
plan on a rolling basis an assessment of resiliency, climate 
effects, extreme weather, and the like.
    It is my understanding now, 18 months after we passed that, 
that none of those assessments have been conducted or completed 
at this point. So my first question is, have those been done or 
are they in the process of being done?
    And then the second is, how does that work in with the 
renewed emphasis that the DOD has on climate? I forget which 
one of you said at the beginning that you are actually using 
now the Climate Assessment Tool and you expect that assessment 
to be completed at the end of fiscal year 2022.
    So if you could explain to me the intersection of those two 
efforts, the status of the MIRA Act, and how you expect those 
to go forward, I would be very appreciative.
    General Gabram. General Gabram. I will start.
    So I would say, we are in the process of executing, in 
reference to the MIRA Act.
    The Army Climate Change Assessment Tool, for us, it is web-
based. So it really is a predictive analysis tool of the 
climate vulnerability, right? It is like a risk assessment. It 
looks at drought, flooding, fire, tornados, hurricane, ice 
storms. And so we have about 117 installations assessed right 
now.
    And then we also have--and this is just--that one came out 
in July of 2020, and our Climate Resilience Handbook came out 
in August of 2020. It is really a companion; it is a planner to 
the Climate Assessment Tool.
    And that goes into and leads into our energy and water 
plans. And, as I said, we have 30 at or near completion, and I 
had said completed by 2022, but we are working--you know, we 
are working in stride. If we can get them done sooner, 
obviously we absolutely will do that.
    So that is kind of how those two tools integrate or nest 
into the plan----
    Mr. Crow. General, can you just tell me when you--do you 
know--and if you don't right now, that's fine, but if you can 
give me that information--when you expect the first of those 
master plan updates to occur, relative to the MIRA Act?
    General Gabram. I don't. Updates--to you, I do not, so, for 
the record, I will have to check that and get back.
    But, in terms of what we are doing at the installation and 
below and then above, up to me, we are getting after what I 
just described.
    [The information referred to was not available at the time 
of printing.]
    Mr. Crow. Okay.
    And then, secondly, with the remaining time we have here: 
Obviously, moving to microgrids and having to do the metering 
that we have to do, which obviously remains a big challenge 
within many of your installations--because I know we don't even 
have a firm grasp on the actual energy use itself at all of our 
installations because we don't have the meters in place.
    Could you just briefly describe the importance of making 
sure that we have supply-chain integrity of our hardware so we 
are not sourcing those from places that are within the Chinese 
sphere of influence and we have integrity to the hardware that 
is in place to conduct this work?
    General Gabram. Yeah, I would--Congressman, I would--USACE 
[United States Army Corps of Engineers], our partners, our 
Corps of Engineers, the acquisition process that we go through, 
we address it in those arenas. And, obviously, the threat 
there, as you described, is, you know--it is significant.
    The metering program you mentioned, we are in the process 
of executing that. We have installed about 19,000 advanced 
meters at--I think it was 120 Enterprise Energy Data Reporting 
Systems in place. So we are in progress. We are not there yet, 
but we are working on it.
    Over.
    Mr. Crow. I appreciate that.
    Just in the remaining time, I would just reiterate the 
need--obviously, this is an area of great importance to me--to 
make sure we are building this out, but at the same time, I 
didn't want us to put hardware into place in these microgrids 
that actually provide a backdoor for some of our main 
adversaries. So I think that is something we all have to look 
very hard at.
    Thank you.
    I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Garamendi. Thank you, Mr. Crow.
    Mr. Scott, you are next.
    Mr. Scott. Thank you, Chairman.
    General Gabram, I am told--and correct me if I am wrong--
that Fort Hood's February electric bill was somewhere around 
$30 million, and that is effectively the same amount of money 
that was spent for all of fiscal year 2020 for that base for 
energy. Is that correct?
    General Gabram. Congressman, the projected bill, you are 
correct, is approximately that, although we are in the process 
of challenging and taking a look at that, the accuracy. 
Because, as you know, you know, there are many folks in Texas 
that are looking at a higher bill than----
    Mr. Scott. Sure.
    General Gabram [continuing]. They are actually going to 
turn out to be. But you are correct; it is in that 
neighborhood.
    Mr. Scott. Okay. Are the other bases [inaudible] or is Fort 
Hood the primary one?
    General Gabram. Fort Hood is the primary one, Congressman.
    Mr. Scott. Okay. And so did we have any other bases that 
ended up with similar changes in their billing for their power 
supply throughout other States?
    General Allen. Congressman, this is General Allen for the 
Air Force.
    Yes, to answer your question, some of our Air Force 
installations have gotten February utility bills that are 
higher than--abnormally high.
    Over.
    Mr. Scott. Okay. And are those installations in Texas, and, 
if not, which State are they in?
    General Allen. They are in Texas.
    Mr. Scott. Okay. I think that is something that we, as a 
committee, may want to look at.
    And as we look at the new sources of energy--I know in 
Georgia we have the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany that 
is using alternative energy from a landfill and then at Robins 
Air Force Base we have the solar panels. And I think this gets 
back to what Mr. Crow and, I think, Mr. Wilson were talking 
about a little bit.
    You know, as we look at these new sources of energy, you 
know, the resilience of them and the dependability of them--I 
don't have as much faith in solar as I do some of the new 
technologies that we see out there. And I hope that you will 
continue to keep us more informed with the types of technology 
that you are pushing towards for the energy on our 
installations.
    And, General Allen, I didn't see in the report where you 
talked about Air Force Materiel Command and--I am sorry--about 
our installations like Robins Air Force Base, the depots. How 
is DOD addressing facilities on our depots that are in degraded 
conditions at this stage?
    General Allen. Thanks, Congressman. Well, our depots do 
resource themselves with their working capital fund. Certain of 
the facilities, particularly those that are generating the 
service that they provide, some of that facility sustainment is 
covered with working capital fund. But they are primarily 
reliant on the O&M [operations and maintenance] that we program 
every year, just like we do for all of our installations. And 
our infrastructure investment strategy that was published 2 
years ago is our path by which we are trying to improve that.
    In a nutshell, we are trying to resource at a minimum of 2 
percent of our plant replacement value each year, which we 
believe is the minimum level that we need to sustain, 
effectively, to realize the design life of our built 
infrastructure. Does that help?
    Mr. Scott. It is a good answer. And thank you for that. One 
final question, and I will turn it over to other people. How 
much of the resiliency plan has to do with demolition and 
getting rid of old buildings in the inventory on all of our 
bases, whether they be depots or more traditional bases that 
are not energy efficient; how much demolition are we looking at 
where we can get rid of some of these buildings and the payback 
is pretty short-term?
    General Allen. Sir, General Allen, again. Our investment 
strategy targets a 5 percent reduction through demolition, and 
that is fairly modest. But that is a good start. Because, 
absolutely, we need to reduce the amount of built 
infrastructure that we have so that the money we are able to 
program is, you know, it goes further, frankly.
    Mr. Scott. All right. Thank you, gentlemen, and I will 
yield the remaining 20 seconds.
    Mr. Garamendi. Very good. And the next two will be Mr. 
Kahele and Mr. Johnson. So guys, you are up.
    Mr. Kahele. Yes, sir. Mahalo, Chair, and aloha to my 
colleagues and to our panelists today. Aloha from Hawaii. My 
question is for Admiral Lindsey. So I am out here in Hawaii, as 
you are well aware. You know, Hawaii is critical to our 
National Defense Strategy as outlined by the INDOPACOM [U.S. 
Indo-Pacific Command] commander.
    And my question to you, sir, is in regards to the Barking 
Sands Tactical Underwater Range, which is a critical part of 
PMRF, the Pacific Missile Range Facility, on the island of 
Kauai. This location and the range is very unique; it is 
strategic; it plays an essential role in realistic training 
operations, especially for our submarine warfare fleet and 
their fleet engagements in the Pacific theater of operations. 
The range allows training, tactical development. And really, it 
is a premier facility for crew certification and training 
enhancing for critical readiness of the Pacific Fleet.
    Right now, sir, roughly, 30 percent of the Barking Sands 
Tactical Underwater Range and its in-water sensors, which, as I 
understand, 12 of the 42 in-water sensors are inoperable due to 
the aging infrastructure. And as you all know, sir, with 
climate change and major hurricanes that come through the 
Hawaiian Islands, or at least near the Hawaiian Islands, every 
hurricane cycle, which is in the summer, we are just one bad 
storm away from additional sensors being compromised.
    So given this serious threat to the readiness of our 
submarine fleet, will the United States Navy prioritize and 
accelerate funding towards underwater communications 
infrastructure projects that will prevent the potential loss of 
these undersea warfare training sensors and capabilities, such 
as mine warfare and underwater communications and splash 
detection? Over.
    Admiral Lindsey. Thank you, Congressman. Thank you for 
highlighting the importance [of that] facility and that 
installation in Kauai. I had the opportunity to visit that here 
in the past, and it is a unique and critical asset, one that we 
need to continue to work on to improve its resiliency and its 
ability to do its mission. In fact, that is one of the 
locations that we are pursuing energy resiliency projects to 
make sure that it can continue to do its mission under adverse 
situations.
    The range you talk about, sir, unfortunately, doesn't fall 
underneath my purview, the equipment or the operation of the 
range, but I am happy to take that question, if you will allow 
me, for the record, and get back to you on a better answer to 
the operation of the range and the equipment associated with 
it. It just doesn't fall underneath my responsibility, maybe 
Installations can help. So I apologize for not being able to 
specifically answer your question. But if I can take it for the 
record, I would be happy to get back to you on it.
    Mr. Kahele. Yeah, sounds good, sounds good, Admiral. And I 
will be out there in few weeks, so I will have a chance to meet 
with the base commander, the captain out there at PMRF. So 
thank you so much, and I appreciate you helping run down an 
answer for that. Thank you. I yield, Chair. Thank you so much.
    [The information referred to was not available at the time 
of printing.]
    Mr. Garamendi. Mr. Kahele, thank you for the question. The 
next is Mr. Johnson.
    Mr. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I feel like I 
should apologize to the generals for being underdressed for 
today's hearing, but we are all multitasking at home, so we 
appreciate your indulgence on that.
    Question for General Allen. In the aftermath of the recent 
winter storms, my base here, Barksdale Air Force Base in 
northwest Louisiana, has been cited as a good case study for 
its resilient water system. And the base has the redundancies 
in place so that it can switch from its primary water source, 
which is the city of Shreveport, our largest municipality, to a 
secondary storage if the need arises. And I have been told that 
while these water redundancies were a godsend during the recent 
winter storm, there were fairly significant issues with power 
generation. The base has diesel generators in place for 
mission-critical facilities, but there are logistical concerns 
with making sure there is enough fuel on hand to keep them 
running.
    So, as you look at electricity redundancies on our 
installations, I am curious what your thoughts are on 
capitalizing on the characteristics of each individual 
installation and their surrounding communities.
    So, for example, Barksdale, our home in northwest 
Louisiana, is a natural gas-rich area with a significant amount 
of infrastructure in place that I think would make a transition 
to natural gas generators or even a natural gas power plant 
relatively easy.
    So, should we be capitalizing on those types of geographic 
qualities and distinctions, and can you speak to any examples 
of where the Air Force has done that in other parts of the 
country?
    General Allen. Can you hear me, sir?
    Mr. Johnson. Yes, sir.
    General Allen. Okay. I think you are exactly right, we need 
to tailor our resiliency, whether that is water or power, to 
what best fits the circumstance where the installation is. And 
very often, what that might look like is just a separate 
substation for power, a redundant feed, if you will, that is 
not necessarily connected back to the same plant that could 
fail and deny power.
    We have used spot generation powered by diesel fuel around 
our installations for years. I think there are better ways to 
do that now, but we still do rely on that significantly. Some 
of the work that we do through UESCs [utility energy service 
contracts] or energy assurance leases involve natural gas power 
generation coming onto the installation, which, essentially, 
allows us to island, should we need to, from the grid. Or if we 
are island, that allows us to continue to operate.
    So, our energy assurance leases, while we like green 
energy, aren't necessarily always involving the use of green 
energy.
    So, to your point, we are going through these programs. Our 
focus in energy resilience and water resilience, has been 
mission assurance. And so we are going for the solutions that 
will deliver us the best bang for the buck in the way of 
mission assurance, and sometimes that does involve, to your 
point, natural gas generation. Does that help?
    Mr. Johnson. Very helpful. I appreciate that. It gives a 
little perspective on it.
    I have another question. Let me go to General Gabram if I 
can. As you know, Fort Polk has been a case study in resiliency 
in the past year. And I have that installation in the south 
part of my district, towards south Louisiana. And we had a 
recent weather event. Of course, it wasn't as big of a 
resiliency threat, really, as Hurricane Laura presented in 
August of last year. There was significant challenges with 
electricity generation during that event.
    And as we look to expand the concept of building resiliency 
through energy generation and microgrids on installations, 
would you agree that we should be prioritizing those 
installations that history shows are really more likely to 
suffer from extreme weather events than others?
    General Gabram. Congressman, absolutely. And, you know, as 
we look around the country, and we regionalize and we look at 
geography, it is really important. And we look at patterns, and 
this is the tools we've talked about today help us make that 
assessment. I am very close with Fort Polk, with Laura, and 
Delta--the second hurricane, remember, that came through was 
Delta--and then now Uri. I would tell you, you can be really 
proud of the team there at Fort Polk. Their resiliency in the 
human dimension, they really did great. And the partner on the 
ground, frankly, Corvias, as we are still working on roofs, 
because roofs were a big part of the damage. The good news is 
the new roofs that we were put on the privatized homes did very 
well in the Winter Storm Uri.
    So, I absolutely agree with you 110 percent. Fort Polk is 
just in an area of the country where it is susceptible to the 
climate change aspects left and right. So agreed. Thank you.
    Mr. Johnson. Thank you for that answer, and I am out of 
time. I yield back. But I just say, first, we are blessed to be 
in the greatest State in America. But, yes, we are situated, 
geographically, to take a lot of hits. So thank you for that, 
and I yield back.
    Mr. Garamendi. Let's see, every committee member let that 
comment slide by, Mr. Johnson. The gavel order, Strickland, 
Moore, Luria.
    Ms. Strickland. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am from 
Washington State, and I am going to quibble a bit with my 
colleague about the greatest State. But with that said, Joint 
Base Lewis-McChord [JBLM] is in my district. And Washington 
State doesn't have the same type of weather events like 
hurricanes and severe winter storms, but we are increasingly 
impacted by changing weather conditions that have led to large-
scale forest fires on both sides of our State. And one of the 
ways that climate change has affected Joint Base Lewis-McChord 
is really about the wildfires and the impact. We have warmer 
weather, we have changing rainfall patterns, we have severe 
winds, and those create wildfires that are just damaging and 
devastating. And these are going to get worse if we don't start 
to take climate change seriously.
    You know, I am glad to hear that the Secretary of Defense 
has declared climate change a national security issue, because 
it, in fact, is.
    And so I want to start with General Gabram and really talk 
about fire resiliency and earthquake preparedness. So, again, 
while the recent wildfires didn't reach JBLM, or even the 
Yakima Training Center in eastern Washington, can you talk a 
bit about fire and earthquake resiliency strategies that you 
are using on the west coast? And just tell me a bit about what 
you are doing.
    General Gabram. I just had the opportunity to visit JBLM, 
oh, about 3 weeks ago, and had a great time. I would also like 
to say, not related, but they are going to open the first 
children's museum in our Nation in April, and it is going to be 
great for families.
    But to address your primary question that we do have a 
wildland fire program at JBLM. And the three things that we are 
looking at right now are controlled burns, fuel reduction, and 
then fielding a proper fire equipment. And I would like to say 
on the wildfire side, you know, it comes down to manning in 
some places and people--97 percent of our garrisons have 
qualified wildland program managers, they are called, and, 
obviously, JBLM has them with the position they are in in the 
country.
    And we also--the critical mission nodes, or critical nodes, 
as you know, is Gray Army Airfield; the Western Air Defense 
Sector; the ammunition storage points; mission, and command and 
control centers; and then the fire and emergency centers at 
JBLM. And so we know those are critical and very important.
    We assessed the earthquake risk at JBLM as medium. I know 
that probably doesn't make you feel good, but those 
facilities--a lot of the facilities were built between the 
1940s and 1980s. So that infrastructure we are looking at very 
closely. Because 60 percent--relating to the earthquake 
threat--60 percent of the buildings are not constructed to 
current code to withstand a greater than a magnitude 6 
earthquake. So I think we know our jersey number at JBLM, we 
just got to work to protect.
    Ms. Strickland. All right. Thank you, and then I have one 
more question. Like I said earlier, the fires didn't 
necessarily reach the base, but we know that wildfires have a 
severe impact on air quality. And in many times during the 
summer, we did air quality ratings that are very, very 
unhealthy for sometimes weeks at a time. And this can cause 
respiratory issues, it can cause bronchitis.
    So, can you talk a bit about how these types of incidents 
affect readiness, because, clearly, people aren't even advised 
to go outside and do training and physical activity.
    General Gabram. I think you are referring primarily up 
towards Yakima, because there is a lot--as you know, there is a 
lot of training that goes there from JBLM. But the air quality 
is a concern. Obviously, I think the smart thing to do and we 
do is understand when it is and where it is. And then training, 
you know, we don't go out and train in the middle of a 10-day 
air quality issue where we expose our soldiers to those type of 
conditions.
    So that is taken into effect by the chain of command. So I 
don't have a fix for that, per se. But in terms of discipline, 
to set our life, health, and safety, I call it, to set our 
folks up correctly, we do take that precaution. I hope that 
answers your question, ma'am.
    Ms. Strickland. Great. Thank you very much. And thank you 
for acknowledging the children's museum at JBLM. I was here 
when the First Lady was visiting, and it is the only children's 
museum on a military installation in the U.S., and so, we are 
very proud of that facility. I yield back, Mr. Chair.
    Mr. Garamendi. So, Mr. Johnson, take that.
    Mr. Moore.
    Mr. Moore. Thank you, Chairman. And I will let everyone 
quibble over each of their States. I think that Utah's record 
and performance stands on its own. So we will rise above this 
conversation, and we will just let it settle.
    Thank you all for being here today. It is an important 
topic to discuss, and seeing how this interacts. Something I am 
excited about is I am on the Natural Resources Committee and 
Armed Services Committee, and hope to be a reasonable solid 
voice in this matter.
    And one question, I have a couple of questions. General 
Allen, you may be aware, in 2019 the DOD listed Hill Air Force 
Base in my district the number one base susceptible to climate 
change. But just a few months later, an Air Force report did 
not even have it listed on the top 10. So there is some 
inconsistency or discrepancy there.
    My question would be is there efforts in place to ensure 
that we have, or that's broadly communicated, a framework that 
is used, whether it be the basis, criteria, or methodology used 
in making these determinations? Is there an effort in place? 
Are you committed to continuing that? You can see how that 
would be alarming to be number one, and then all of a sudden, 
not even on [inaudible] Air Force bases [inaudible].
    General Allen. Thank you, Congressman, yes, I was working 
in the Pentagon when that happened. The first list was 
calculated using criteria that the Office of the Secretary of 
Defense issued. And when we saw the results, we ran the list 
and ran the criteria a little differently, and that was the 
second list you are talking about.
    I guess what I would say is each was a top 10 list, and all 
20 of those installations are high on our cross-check to 
understand how they are, in fact, threatened by climate change 
and atmospheric conditions, weather conditions, et cetera. Does 
that help you, Congressman?
    Mr. Moore. Yes, I understand there is a commitment to 
broadly communicate the framework and what goes into it 
because, you know, lists are lists, but if we [inaudible].
    General Allen. I can tell you that our installation 
development plan--[inaudible] can you all hear me? Congressman, 
I lost you there for a second. Can you hear me? Am I muted? Can 
y'all hear me? I think I am not hearing anything.
    Mr. Garamendi. I think Mr. Moore has a communication issue. 
And we are going to come back to you for another 2 or 3 
minutes. Mr. Moore, you want to try one more time?
    Mr. Moore. Can you hear me, Chairman?
    Mr. Garamendi. We can now. Please, continue.
    Mr. Moore. Just one more question, General.
    Mr. Garamendi. We are getting some--I am getting some 
serious feedback from somebody who has a microphone that is not 
muted.
    Okay, Mr. Moore, your turn.
    Mr. Moore. General Allen, enhanced-use leases. My next 
question is enhanced-use leases, an ability for the community 
to interact with the Air Force, in our case, are such a 
positive. I view them as a win-win. That is the way I 
communicate them. Do you know if there is any chance to use 
enhanced-use leases to help fill the gaps in energy resilience 
improvements where maybe MILCON dollars are not able to be 
used?
    General Allen. Congressman, can you hear me okay?
    Mr. Moore. [No verbal response.]
    General Allen. Absolutely. There is. We have enhanced-use 
leases that return value, fair market value, for whatever the 
lease is, back to the Air Force so that we can invest those 
dollars in energy initiatives. And then we have, I guess, I 
would say, enhanced-use leases that are tailored to energy 
assurance. We call them energy assurance leases, where we are 
actually taking underutilized land, partnering with a developer 
who will bring in some sort of energy generation, perhaps, to 
put onto the grid, or perhaps to put right back into the 
installation. Or most often, you know, to put energy into the 
grid, to sell into the grid, but then we have an agreement with 
them that should we need it in the event of a denial of 
service, then we would get that energy, if that makes sense.
    So, enhanced-use leases, broadly, yes, we get fair market 
value for whatever underutilized land we are leasing. And we 
can use that money typically to reinvest in facilities which 
improves their resiliency. And then very specifically, to 
energy assurance, we have energy assurance leases, which are 
targeted at just what you are talking about. Over.
    Mr. Moore. Thank you so much. And, Chairman, sorry for some 
of my connectivity issues. I will just end with saying to my 
colleagues on the committee, and to General Allen, our office 
is always available to talk enhanced-use leases. We really do 
find them to be a really productive way. And I open that up to 
any of my colleagues if they want to be involved at all. Thank 
you all. I yield back.
    Mr. Garamendi. Thank you very much, Mr. Moore. For all of 
us that are actually all across the Nation, in the South as 
well as in the West, the Federal Power Administration, Western 
Power, WAPA, in the West, is providing energy to Beale Air 
Force Base. And their purpose, among other things, is to 
provide power into the general grid, but also, specifically, to 
provide power to the Federal Government programs. And, so, if 
you happen to have one of those grids from the power 
administration, Western Power, the eastern side to Georgia and 
that area, we will look at that.
    And, General Allen, again, a best practice that might be 
shared across the services. So a little memo from you about 
what you are doing at Beale, and how that is working out would 
be shared all around.
    Okay. I am going to go now to Mrs. Luria. That would be the 
last person on the first round. And we might have an extra half 
hour after Mrs. Luria.
    One more thing, if there is a serious disruption of my 
service, Mrs. Luria, you are taking over. So, not only do you 
get to question, but you may have the chair.
    Mrs. Luria. Well, thank you, Chairman Garamendi. And thank 
you to our witnesses today. My district includes Naval Station 
Norfolk, a large part of Hampton Roads. And my question I am 
going to address to Admiral Lindsey, and also to General Allen, 
because of Langley Air Force Base. And Hampton Roads is 
particularly at risk because of sea level rise.
    I was just looking at some of the provisions in last year's 
NDAA, which required the examination of community 
infrastructure located outside the installation that is 
necessary to maintain mission capability, or that impacts the 
resilience of the military installation, such as civilian 
infrastructure related to disaster risk reduction, power, 
water, communications, transportation, and emergency services.
    In Norfolk, for example, this seems to particularly pertain 
to Naval Station Norfolk and the access road of Hampton 
Boulevard, which floods frequently and is projected to flood 
more frequently over time.
    General Allen, I know that at Langley Air Force Base, there 
are some similar issues related to sea level rise with current 
flooding that are specifically of interest. And I have gone to 
visit the pump stations there, and kind of understand some of 
the flooding issues at that installation.
    And so, I was just curious if you could both weigh in on 
any guidance you have to the localities that seek to work with 
DOD in order to use some of the existing authorities and 
funding that we put in place for defense access roads, defense 
community infrastructure projects, so that we can best create 
that partnership between DOD and the local community to make 
sure that we, you know, literally shore up some of these issues 
with sea level rise and flooding. And make sure that we can 
continue to have access to these bases, and that you would make 
recommendations-wise for that coordination and any guidance you 
have.
    Admiral Lindsey, do you want to go first?
    Admiral Lindsey. Yes, ma'am, and thank you for the 
question. And thank you for your support of our men and women 
[inaudible]. And the important mission that the Hampton Roads 
area serves, not only for our Navy but for our Nation.
    I think there is some great examples of where we 
collaborated with the local communities. A fundamental mission 
of our installation is to maintain good relationship with the 
people--productive relationships, good cooperative, coordinated 
relationships. And the joint land use studies that we recently 
completed here a couple of years ago, I think, are a good 
example of that where we look at land use outside the fence 
line, so to speak, in the communities, and work together to 
make sure that not only is able--the way land sustained in 
military mission but also how we can partner to help the local 
community, to [inaudible] land a more productive and efficient 
way, so to speak.
    And then you bring up Hampton Boulevard. There are some 
challenges we continue to tackle in that area. And so as we 
renovate, as we construct, as we do things to modernize and 
sustain the installation there, we are constantly weaving in 
the aspects of sea level rise and climate change so that that 
installation can persist and continue to do its mission for 
many decades in the future.
    So that is another important part of what we are doing at 
Hampton Roads is getting after the resiliency, climate change 
issues through our mission, our mission assurance assessments, 
other tools that Congress has provided that we talked about, 
ESPCs, EULs [enhanced-use leases], and those things.
    So I think the relationship there is good, it is 
productive. As you know the communities submitted a Defense 
Community Infrastructure Program grant request to help with 
some of those issues. The two installations gave endorsing 
letters to that. It was not picked up recently, but we are 
hopeful going forward that they will be successful in being 
able to get some of those grants to address some of those 
issues that you have highlighted here. Hopefully, that answers 
your question from a Navy perspective.
    Mrs. Luria. Yes, well, thank you Admiral Lindsey. General 
Allen, from the Air Force perspective, do you have any 
additional guidance or words of wisdom for our surrounding 
communities outside of Air Force installations that would help 
improve coordination for these types of projects?
    General Allen. Thank you, Congresswoman. I have had the 
privilege to be stationed at Langley twice from 2003 to 2005, 
and then again from 2013 to 2015. I look at Langley as perhaps 
being a pathfinder for other communities. I will give a 
shoutout to retired Navy Admiral Craig Quigley who runs the 
Hampton Roads Federal Facility Alliance. And then we had 
tremendous partners in Hampton, the city of Hampton.
    When I was there, we were doing a lot of partnering with 
them on reducing encroachment around the airfield, which was 
very important. We had already been the benefactor of a lot of 
recovery money from Hurricane Isabel that came through in 2003. 
So we were able to do about $500 million worth of improvements 
between the hurricane recovery and the F-22 beddown. And you 
mentioned the pump station that we put in that allows us to 
move rainwater off the installation. You know, it helps with 
our flooding problems.
    So those things we did early, and I got to enjoy them when 
I was there 10 years later. It really worked. Langley is a 
place that understands climate resiliency, so it is really 
built into every dollar that they are spending, because they 
are living the challenges of that.
    But I think what is most important, frankly, are those 
partnerships that we have with HRMFFA [Hampton Roads Military 
and Federal Facilities Alliance] and with the city of Hampton, 
and they are very, very active participants in bringing P4 
[public-public and public-private] solutions to the table for 
us. At least that was my experience when I was there. So I 
mean, it is an example for others.
    Mrs. Luria. Well, thank you, General Allen and Admiral 
Lindsey. And I agree that HRMFFA, as an organization, really 
brings together both the military and our communities across 
Hampton Roads to help solve these problems. So we are grateful 
for Admiral Quigley and his work.
    And also, I want to say that, you know, Langley has a place 
in my heart, too. My daughter was born there at the hospital. 
So thank you, again, for appearing today.
    Mr. Garamendi. Thank you very much, Mrs. Luria.
    We are now going into the second round. I am going to forgo 
questions that I would ask, but I will make one comment.
    The hearings that we have had this year and in previous 
years all intersect. We have talked about the depots, about the 
shipyards. We have talked about this whole issue of resiliency. 
These issues all come together in the maintenance and the 
upgrade of the bases. And, so, as we go into this year, I want 
to make sure that we pay attention in the NDAA to the necessary 
investments to maintain these bases.
    Now, Mr. Wilson, Mrs. Luria, and Mr. Johnson are up for 
questions. I would alert everybody that General Banta had to 
leave for a meeting at the half-hour mark, and so, he has 
departed the hearing.
    So Mr. Wilson.
    Mr. Wilson. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. And, 
actually, I want to commend all of our witnesses, they really 
very well answered so many of the issues that I feel so 
positive about, like energy savings performance contracts. 
Hopefully, looking at small mod reactors to be self-sufficient 
in the event of severe weather, just as the incredible 
snowstorm, just inconceivable of what occurred in Texas so 
recently. My goodness. And so, with all of this, indeed, this 
is directly related to readiness. And I am really grateful for 
the military leadership that are being proactive to get ready 
and to look out for our service members and our ability to 
protect American families. And so with that, I yield back.
    Mr. Garamendi. Thank you very much, Mr. Wilson.
    Mrs. Luria, we are back to you.
    Mr. Kahele, are you still with us? Okay. Here is the order, 
Wilson, you just finished. Luria, Johnson, and then that will 
complete it unless somebody else rejoins.
    Mrs. Luria? I believe she may have been satisfied with her 
last round of questions, and she has left.
    Mr. Johnson? One more time, would you like to comment on 
the glories of Louisiana one more time?
    Mr. Johnson. I won't take advantage of my time and do that 
again. It speaks for itself. It is res ipsa loquitur, as we say 
in the law, things speak for itself.
    I am really for the generals for their straightforward 
answers today. It really helps. I am a new member of the 
committee and the subcommittee. And I just find all of this 
fascinating. So I am grateful to just listen in. So thank you 
for all of that. I yield back.
    Mr. Garamendi. Well, I just see Mrs. Luria has returned. 
You came very close to losing your slot, Mrs. Luria, but go for 
it.
    Mrs. Luria. Well, Chairman Garamendi, I will pass on 
further questions and really appreciate the witnesses' time 
today. Thank you.
    Mr. Garamendi. Thank you. That completes all of the 
witnesses. There are some questions that had been asked for the 
record, and those have been submitted. There may be a few more. 
So if any of the members have questions for the record, please 
get them to the staff soon, like, within the next couple of 
days.
    I do want to thank our witnesses. You have an extremely 
important role, as do we. The communication between your work 
and our work is essential if the issue of resiliency is going 
to be resolved.
    I mentioned a moment ago that this particular hearing cuts 
across much of what we do here in this committee. We are 
responsible for the physical infrastructure of the Department 
of Defense facilities, and, therefore, the information given 
today and in the days and weeks ahead, as we put together the 
next NDAA, will be essential.
    So for the presenters today, the professional staff will be 
back in touch with you. I also will reach out to the committee 
members who have knowledge of the installation in their 
districts, and ask them to inform us of issues that they know 
of that may not be working its way up through the chain of 
command.
    So as we work together to address resiliency and the 
installation performance, we will be looking to just that, 
working together.
    So Admiral Lindsey, thank you so much. General Banta, I 
would thank you if you were still here, but we will send a 
little note of appreciation. General Gabram, thank you very 
much. And General Allen, thank you for your participation. We 
look forward to working with you in the days ahead. So with 
that, this hearing is adjourned. Thank you so very much.
    [Whereupon, at 4:34 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]


      
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                           A P P E N D I X

                             March 26, 2021

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              PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

                             March 26, 2021

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              QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING

                             March 26, 2021

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                   QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MR. BERGMAN

    Mr. Bergman. How can the Department as a whole better utilize new 
building technologies like cross-laminated timber? What authorities or 
guidance do you need from Congress that would further increase the 
partnership between each of your respective services and the mass 
timber industry? How can we ensure technologies like cross-laminated 
timber are incorporated into new construction going up in the immediate 
future, as opposed to waiting for it to weave in across the FYDP, 
especially as we re-build installations impacted by extreme weather 
events?
    General Gabram. [No answer was available at the time of printing.]
    Mr. Bergman. How can the Department as a whole better utilize new 
building technologies like cross-laminated timber? What authorities or 
guidance do you need from Congress that would further increase the 
partnership between each of your respective services and the mass 
timber industry? How can we ensure technologies like cross-laminated 
timber are incorporated into new construction going up in the immediate 
future, as opposed to waiting for it to weave in across the FYDP, 
especially as we re-build installations impacted by extreme weather 
events?
    Admiral Lindsey. [No answer was available at the time of printing.]
    Mr. Bergman. How can the Department as a whole better utilize new 
building technologies like cross-laminated timber? What authorities or 
guidance do you need from Congress that would further increase the 
partnership between each of your respective services and the mass 
timber industry? How can we ensure technologies like cross-laminated 
timber are incorporated into new construction going up in the immediate 
future, as opposed to waiting for it to weave in across the FYDP, 
especially as we re-build installations impacted by extreme weather 
events?
    General Banta. [No answer was available at the time of printing.]
    Mr. Bergman. How can the Department as a whole better utilize new 
building technologies like cross-laminated timber? What authorities or 
guidance do you need from Congress that would further increase the 
partnership between each of your respective services and the mass 
timber industry? How can we ensure technologies like cross-laminated 
timber are incorporated into new construction going up in the immediate 
future, as opposed to waiting for it to weave in across the FYDP, 
especially as we re-build installations impacted by extreme weather 
events?
    General Allen. [No answer was available at the time of printing.]
                                 ______
                                 
                    QUESTION SUBMITTED BY MR. KAHELE
    Mr. Kahele. The Barking Sands Tactical Underwater Range (BARSTUR) 
Range is a critical part of the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) 
complex. Its unique and strategic location off Kauai plays an essential 
role in providing realistic training operations to prepare the fleet 
for engagements in the Pacific theater of operations. The range allows 
training and tactical development providing the fleet with a premier 
facility for crew certification and training enhancing critical 
readiness of the fleet in the Pacific and worldwide. Right now, roughly 
30% of BASTUR's in-water sensors (12 of 42 in-water sensors) are 
inoperable due to the aging infrastructure. It is one bad storm away 
from additional sensors being compromised. Given this serious threat to 
the readiness of the fleet, will the Navy prioritize and accelerate 
funding towards underwater communications infrastructure projects to 
prevent potential loss of undersea warfare training capability?
    Admiral Lindsey. [No answer was available at the time of printing.]

                                  [all]