Sec. 336. Studies relating to water needs of the Armed Forces on Oahu
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Not later than July 31, 2023, the Secretary of the Defense, in coordination with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, shall conduct a study on how the Department of Defense can best address the future water needs on the island of Oahu for the Armed Forces. Such study shall include consideration of— the construction of a new water treatment plant or plants; the construction of a new well for use by members of the Armed Forces and the civilian population; the construction of a new well for the exclusive use of members of the Armed Forces; transferring ownership and operation of existing Department of Defense utilities to a municipality or existing publicly owned utility; conveying the Navy utilities to the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, with consideration; and any other water solutions the Secretary determines appropriate.
In carrying out the study under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall coordinate with the State of Hawaii, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and any other individual or entity the Secretary determines appropriate. Not later than July 31, 2023, the Secretary of Defense shall enter into an agreement with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Director of the United States Geological Survey, in consultation with the State of Hawaii, to perform a study to model the groundwater flow in the area surrounding the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
The model shall be designed to— seek to improve the understanding of the direction and rate of groundwater flow and dissolved constituent migration within the aquifers around the facility; reflect site specific data, including available data of the heterogeneous subsurface geologic system; and address any previously identified deficiencies in existing groundwater flow models. The study under paragraph
(1)shall be completed by not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act. Upon completion of the studies under subsections
(a)and (b), the Secretary shall— submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the findings of the studies; and provide to such committees a briefing on such findings. In this subsection, the term appropriate congressional committees means— the congressional defense committees; the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate.