Department of Defense Laboratory Facility Investment Program

(a) Establishment Subchapter I of chapter 169 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 2820a. Department of Defense Laboratory Facility Investment Program (a) Establishment The Secretary of Defense shall establish and carry out a program to be known as the Department of Defense Laboratory Facility Investment Program (in this section referred to as the Program) to fund military construction projects that improve, modernize, or recapitalize the physical infrastructure of covered defense laboratories in support of research, development, test, and evaluation missions critical to national security. (b) Administration The Program shall be administered by the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (in this section referred to as the Under Secretary). (c) Duties In carrying out the Program, the Under Secretary shall— (1) establish policies, criteria, and procedures for the submission, evaluation, and prioritization of project proposals under the Program; (2) coordinate with the Secretaries of the military departments, the heads of defense agencies, and the commanders of combatant commands to identify and prioritize infrastructure requirements for covered defense laboratories; (3) evaluate project proposals using criteria that include— (A) the mission criticality of the laboratory and affected facilities; (B) the degree of facility degradation, obsolescence, or inadequacy relative to current and projected research requirements; (C) the potential impact on the ability of the Department of Defense to develop, test, or evaluate technologies essential to national defense, including critical and emerging technologies designated under the national security strategy submitted under section 4811 of this title; (D) the cost-effectiveness of the proposed construction relative to the projected useful service life and research workload of the laboratory; and (E) consistency with the long-term strategic plan of the Department for science and technology infrastructure; and (4) issue annual program guidance to components of the Department not later than 90 days before the date on which project submissions for the Program are due each fiscal year. (d) Eligible projects (1) In general A military construction project is eligible for funding under the Program if the project— (A) is located at, or directly supports the mission of, a covered defense laboratory; (B) involves the construction, expansion, replacement, or modernization of a facility or facility system used principally for research, development, test, or evaluation activities; (C) has an estimated cost of not less than $2,000,000; and (D) has been designed to not less than the 35-percent design stage before submission to Congress as part of a budget request unless progressive design build is being utilized. (2) Ineligible activities The following activities are not eligible for funding under the Program: (A) New mission construction not tied to existing research activities at a covered defense laboratory. (B) Routine maintenance, repair, or sustainment activities that are properly funded through a facilities sustainment, restoration, and modernization account. (C) Projects that duplicate capabilities available under other military construction authorities, including those available under sections 2805, 2811, and 2854 of this title, unless the Under Secretary determines that use of such authorities is impracticable. (e) Funding (1) Authorizations (A) In general There is authorized to be appropriated to the Under Secretary for each fiscal year $250,000,000 to carry out the Program. (B) Availability of amounts Amounts authorized under subparagraph (A) for the Program shall be available for obligation for a period of three fiscal years. (2) Account Amounts for the Program shall be authorized to a separate budget line item within the Military Construction, Defense-Wide account under the heading Department of Defense Laboratory Facility Investment Program. (3) Project authorization required The Secretary of Defense may carry out a military construction project under the Program only if the project has been specifically authorized by law. (4) Planning and design The Secretary of Defense may use amounts available under the Program for planning and design activities associated with projects proposed for inclusion in a subsequent budget request. Planning and design costs shall be reported separately in the annual budget justification documents for the Program. (f) Submission of project proposals As part of the budget justification materials submitted to Congress in connection with the budget of the Department of Defense for a fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the President under section 1105(a) of title 31), the Secretary of Defense shall include, for each military construction project proposed for funding under the Program in such fiscal year, a completed Department of Defense Form 1391 (or successor form) that includes— (1) the name and location of the covered defense laboratory for which the project is intended; (2) a description of the project, the scope of work, and the estimated cost; (3) a description of the research, development, test, or evaluation mission supported by the project and the consequences of deferred investment; (4) the current facility condition rating and an assessment of the suitability of the facility to support the assigned missions of the laboratory without the proposed investment; (5) the status of design completion and the anticipated award date for construction; (6) an economic analysis consistent with the procedures under Department of Defense Instruction 7041.03 (relating to economic analysis for decision-making) or successor instruction; and (7) any other information the Under Secretary determines appropriate to facilitate congressional review. (g) Annual report Not later than March 1 of each year, the Under Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the Program for the preceding fiscal year that includes— (1) a summary of all projects funded under the Program, including the name of the covered defense laboratory, the project description, the amount obligated, and the construction status; (2) an assessment of the overall condition of covered defense laboratory facilities, including an estimate of the total unfunded facility investment requirement across the defense laboratory enterprise; (3) a description of projects proposed for inclusion in the next annual budget request; and (4) any recommended changes to policies, criteria, or funding levels for the Program. (h) Project changes and cancellations (1) Changes Any changes to the cost or scope of a project authorized under the Program shall be subject to the requirements of section 2853 of this title. (2) Cancellations The Under Secretary shall notify the congressional defense committees not later than 14 days after deciding to cancel a project authorized under the Program. (i) Relationship to other authorities (1) In general The Program shall complement, but not replace, other authorities available to components of the Department of Defense for laboratory facility investment, including— (A) the authority to use funds available to the Department for research, development, test, and evaluation for laboratory facility construction under section 4093 of this title; (B) the authority for unspecified minor military construction under section 2805 of this title; and (C) the authority for restoration or replacement of damaged or destroyed facilities under section 2854 of this title. (2) Use of Program A component of the Department of Defense may use the Program for projects that are not adequately addressed by the authorities described in paragraph (1). (j) Covered defense laboratory defined In this section, the term covered defense laboratory means any laboratory, research center, test and evaluation facility, or warfare center of the Department of Defense designated as a science and technology reinvention laboratory under section 4121 of this title, or any other facility of the Department determined by the Under Secretary to perform research, development, test, or evaluation activities as a primary mission.. (b) Initial program guidance Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering shall issue initial program guidance for the Department of Defense Laboratory Facility Investment Program established under section 2820a of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), including criteria for project submission, evaluation methodology, and the annual timeline for project proposals and congressional budget submissions. (c) First budget submission The Secretary of Defense shall include proposed projects under the Department of Defense Laboratory Facility Investment Program established under section 2820a of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), in the budget materials submitted to Congress for fiscal year 2029, which shall be the first fiscal year for which projects under the Program may be authorized.