Sec. 2861. Pilot program on increased use of mass timber in military construction
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/bill/117/hr/4350/rh/section-2861·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Each Secretary of a military department shall conduct a pilot program to evaluate the effect that the use of mass timber as the primary construction material in military construction may have on the environmental sustainability, infrastructure resilience, cost effectiveness, and construction timeliness of military construction. Each Secretary of a military department shall carry out at least one military construction project under the pilot program. The pilot program shall be conducted at military installations in the continental United States— that are identified as vulnerable to extreme weather events; and— for which a military construction project is authorized but a request for proposal has not been released.
The Secretaries of the military departments shall coordinate the selection of military construction projects to be carried out under the pilot program so that at least one of the military construction projects involves construction of military unaccompanied housing. The Secretary of a military department may carry out a military construction project under the pilot program using the authorities available to the Secretary of Defense under section 2914 of title 10, United States Code, regarding military construction projects for energy resilience, energy security, and energy conservation.
The authority of the Secretary of a military department to carry out a military construction project under the pilot program shall expire on September 30, 2024. Any construction commenced under the pilot program before the expiration date may continue to completion. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter through December 31, 2024, the Secretaries of the military departments shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the progress of the pilot program.
The report shall include the following: A description of the status of the military construction projects selected to be conducted under the pilot program. An explanation of the reasons why those military construction projects were selected. An analysis of the projected or actual carbon footprint, resilience to extreme weather events, construction timeliness, and cost effectiveness of the military construction projects conducted under the pilot program using mass timber as compared to other materials historically used in military construction.
Any updated guidance the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment has released in relation to the procurement policy for future military construction projects based on comparable benefits realized from use of mass timber, including guidance on prioritizing sustainable materials in establishing evaluation criteria for military construction project contracts when technically feasible. In this section, the term mass timber includes the following: Cross-laminated timber.
Nail-laminated timber. Glue-laminated timber. Laminated strand lumber. Laminated veneer lumber.