[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 437 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 437
To provide for environmental oversight and remediation activities at
Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 16, 2017
Mr. Schatz (for himself and Ms. Hirono) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for environmental oversight and remediation activities at
Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Red Hill Oversight and Environmental
Protection Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrative order on consent/statement of work;
(aoc/sow).--The terms ``Administrative Order on Consent/
Statement of Work'' and ``(AOC/SOW)'' mean a legally
enforceable agreement between the United States Department of
the Navy (Navy), the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 9, and the
State of Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) that the parties
voluntarily entered into on September 28, 2015 [EPA DKT NO.
RCRA 7003-R9-2015-01/DOH DKT NO. 15-UST-EA-01].
(2) Congressional defense committees.--The term
``congressional defense committees'' has the meaning given the
term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code.
(3) Facility.--The term ``facility'' means the Red Hill
Bulk Fuel Storage Facility located on Oahu, Hawaii.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Construction on the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility
began in secret in December 1940.
(2) More than 3,900 workers constructed the underground
facility.
(3) Construction of the facility continued nonstop except
for the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7,
1941. The facility was completed in September 1943, nine months
ahead of schedule.
(4) The facility was constructed underground in hollowed
out volcanic rock to allow for maximum protection of the fuel
supply.
(5) The facility's 20 steel tanks are encased by 2.5-4 feet
of concrete and surrounded by basalt bedrock.
(6) Only 18 fuel tanks are currently operational.
(7) The facility is the largest single Department of
Defense fuel storage facility in the Pacific theater.
(8) The facility protects more than 250,000,000 gallons of
fuel.
(9) The fuels stored are marine diesel, F-76, and two types
of jet fuel: JP-5 and JP-8.
(10) The fuel stored at the facility directly supports
vessels and aircraft of--
(A) the United States Navy and Air Force in Hawaii,
the Pacific theater, and around the world;
(B) the Hawaii National Guard;
(C) the United States Coast Guard; and
(D) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
(11) The facility allows the United States military to--
(A) maintain a forward presence;
(B) build cooperation with partner nations,
including through the biannual Rim of the Pacific
exercise;
(C) ensure maritime security; and
(D) maintain regional stability.
(12) Military forward presence--
(A) keeps sea lanes open; and
(B) ensures the free flow of commerce to Hawaii,
the continental United States, and the Indo-Asia-
Pacific region.
(13) In 1991, the facility was used as a transfer point for
moving fuel from the continental United States to the Persian
Gulf.
(14) This transfer of fuel was done as part of the first
Gulf War.
(15) The facility was declassified in 1995.
(16) The facility is physically protected and cyber-
hardened.
(17) The facility can be operated entirely off the electric
grid by using gravity flow to transport fuel from the facility
to Pearl Harbor, Hickam Airfield, and a truck loading site.
(18) The facility is located approximately 100 feet above
the basal groundwater table on the boundary of the Waimalu and
Moanalua Aquifer Systems.
(19) The Waimalu and Moanalua aquifers are sources of
potable water and are potentially vulnerable to contamination
from an unscheduled discharge of fuel from the facility.
(20) The Navy and the Defense Logistics Agency have kept
the drinking water safe through 70 years of operation.
(21) The Navy and the Defense Logistics Agency are
responsible for protecting the public from unscheduled fuel
leaks that may pose a risk to the drinking water.
(22) The facility has experienced unscheduled fuel leaks as
evidenced by stains beneath several of the existing fuel tanks.
(23) Chronic releases of petroleum, oils, and lubricants
have the potential to cause damage to Oahu's drinking water
supply.
(24) Historic records compiled by the Navy in a 2008 ground
water protection plan indicated that there were more than 30
leaks dating back to 1947.
(25) The 2008 ground water protection plan suggested at
least 170,000 gallons of fuel has leaked since the facility
began operating.
(26) In January 2014, the United States Navy discovered a
loss of fuel from Tank #5 and notified the Environmental
Protection Agency and the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH).
(27) The Navy estimated the fuel loss at approximately
27,000 gallons.
(28) Following the January 2014 fuel release, the EPA and
DOH negotiated an enforceable agreement, an Administrative
Order on Consent (AOC), with the Navy and the DLA [EPA DKT NO.
RCRA 7003-R9-2015-01/DOH DKT NO. 15-UST-EA-01].
(29) The order requires the Navy and the DLA to take
actions, subject to DOH and EPA approval.
(30) The order addresses fuel releases and implementable
infrastructure improvements to protect human health and the
environment.
(31) The order includes a Statement of Work (SOW) that lays
out the specific tasks the Navy and the DLA must implement.
(32) The SOW consists of 8 sections on overall project
management:
(A) Tank inspection.
(B) Repair and maintenance.
(C) Tank upgrade alternatives.
(D) Release detection and tank tightness testing.
(E) Corrosion and metal fatigue practices.
(F) Investigation and remediation of releases.
(G) Groundwater protection and evaluation.
(H) Risk and vulnerability assessment.
(33) Each section includes deadlines for the Navy and DLA
to meet planned deliverables.
(34) The Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Area Cost Factor for Pearl
Harbor is 2.26.
(35) The Area Cost Factor may impact decisionmaking for
sustainment, repair, and maintenance priorities.
(36) Since the January 2014 fuel loss, the Navy has--
(A) increased standards for contractor workmanship;
(B) increased government oversight;
(C) updated operator procedures;
(D) increased training;
(E) instituted new safeguards, checks, balances,
and alarm procedures; and
(F) installed two additional groundwater monitoring
wells.
(37) The facility has 12 total groundwater monitoring
sites.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the facility is a national strategic asset that--
(A) supports combatant commander theater security
requirements;
(B) supports contingency operations;
(C) provides essential and timely support to the
United States and allies' military mobilizations and
disaster response efforts in the Indo-Asia-Pacific and
around the world; and
(D) is routinely used to support normal transit of
Navy and Air Force movements in the region;
(2) the facility in its current form cannot be replicated
anywhere else in the world;
(3) moving the fuel to another storage facility in the
Indo-Asia-Pacific would have implications for the United States
military force structure in the State of Hawaii and put at risk
billions of dollars in annual economic activity that the Armed
Forces bring to the State of Hawaii;
(4) if the facility were closed, the United States Armed
Forces would be unable to support the National Military
Strategy, including the goals of the United States Pacific
Commander, and national security interests would be
significantly undermined;
(5) constant vigilance is required to ensure that facility
degradation and fuel leaks do not pose a threat to the people
of Hawaii, especially the drinking water on Oahu;
(6) despite its importance, the facility continues to face
long-term challenges without robust and consistent funding that
provides the Navy and DLA with the resources needed to improve
the tanks and associated infrastructure;
(7) achieving the AOC/SOW deliverables is a multiyear
effort that will require sustained commitment from the
Department of Defense and Congress;
(8) the annual budget submissions of the Department of
Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency must adequately
reflect the funding requirements necessary to meet the
deliverables committed to under the AOC/SOW;
(9) the Department of Defense must also include information
about how future years budgets will support the near-term and
long-term measures detailed in the reported schedule of work to
prevent future fuel leaks; and
(10) for facility sustainment and maintenance, Pearl Harbor
has a high Area Cost Factor (ACF), and the Department of
Defense should develop a strategy that fiscally accounts for
that ACF.
SEC. 5. BUDGET SUBMISSIONS.
(a) Department of Defense.--
(1) Annual budget justification.--The Secretary of Defense,
in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, shall ensure
that the budget justification materials submitted to Congress
in support of Department of Defense budget for any fiscal year
(as submitted with the budget of the President under section
1105(a) of title 31, United States Code) includes a description
of how the Department will use funds to support any
deliverables that the parties of the AOC/SOW have identified as
necessary to mitigate and prevent fuel leaks at the Red Hill
Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on Oahu, Hawaii.
(2) Future years defense budget.--The Secretary of Defense,
in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, shall ensure
that each future-years defense program submitted to Congress
under section 221 of title 10, United States Code, describes
how the Department will use funds to support any deliverables
that the parties of the AOC/SOW have identified as necessary to
mitigate and prevent fuel leaks at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel
Storage Facility on Oahu, Hawaii, in the period covered by the
future-years defense program.
(b) Environmental Protection Agency.--The Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency shall ensure that the budget
justification materials submitted to Congress in support of the budget
for the Agency for any fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the
President under section 1105(a) of title 31) includes a description of
how the Agency will use funds to support any deliverables that the
parties of the AOC/SOW have identified as necessary to mitigate and
prevent fuel leaks at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on Oahu,
Hawaii.
SEC. 6. ANNUAL LOCALITY ADJUSTMENT OF DOLLAR THRESHOLDS APPLICABLE TO
RED HILL.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding the dollar limitations in section
2805 of title 10, United States Code, the Secretary of Defense may
obligate or expend, from the amounts described in subsection (b), not
more than $6,780,000 to carry out an unspecified minor military
construction project for the sustainment and maintenance of the Red
Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on Oahu, Hawaii.
(b) Amounts.--The amounts described in this subsection are--
(1) amounts authorized to be appropriated for the
Department of Defense for operation and maintenance, Defense-
wide, for any of fiscal years 2017 through 2030; and
(2) amounts authorized to be appropriated for the
Department of Defense for military construction not otherwise
authorized by law for any of fiscal years 2017 through 2030.
(c) Notification.--In accordance with section 2805(b) of title 10,
United States Code, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional
defense committees written notice of any decision to carry out an
unspecified minor military construction project under subsection (a).
The notice shall include--
(1) the justification for the project; and
(2) the estimated cost of the project.
(d) Sunset.--The authority to carry out a project under subsection
(a) expires on September 30, 2030.
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