[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3603 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 3603


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 20, 1998

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To authorize major medical facility projects and major medical facility 
leases for the Department of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 1999, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION OF MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY PROJECTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may carry out 
the following major medical facility projects, with each project to be 
carried out in the amount specified for that project:
            (1) Alterations to facilitate consolidation of services in 
        buildings 126 and 150, and demolition of seismically unsafe 
        building 122 at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical 
        Center, Long Beach, California, in an amount not to exceed 
        $23,200,000.
            (2) Construction and seismic work at the Department of 
        Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico, in an 
        amount not to exceed $50,000,000.
            (3) Outpatient clinic expansion at the Department of 
        Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington, D.C., in an amount 
        not to exceed $29,700,000.
            (4) Construction of a psychogeriatric care building and 
        demolition of seismically unsafe building 324 at the Department 
        of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Palo Alto, California, in 
        an amount not to exceed $22,400,000.
            (5) Construction of an ambulatory care addition and 
        renovations for ambulatory care at the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland (Wade Park), Ohio, in an 
        amount not to exceed $28,300,000, of which $7,500,000 shall be 
        derived from funds appropriated for a fiscal year before fiscal 
        year 1999 that remain available for obligation.
            (6) Construction of an ambulatory care addition at the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Tucson, Arizona, 
        in an amount not to exceed $35,000,000.
            (7) Construction of an addition for psychiatric care at the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, 
        in an amount not to exceed $24,200,000.
            (8) Outpatient clinic projects at Auburn and Merced, 
        California, as part of the Northern California Healthcare 
        Systems Project, in an amount not to exceed $3,000,000, to be 
        derived only from funds appropriated for Construction, Major 
        Projects, for a fiscal year before fiscal year 1999 that remain 
        available for obligation.
    (b) Construction of Parking Facility.--The Secretary may construct 
a parking structure at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical 
Center, Denver, Colorado, in an amount not to exceed $13,000,000, of 
which $11,900,000 shall be derived from funds in the Parking Revolving 
Fund.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY LEASES.

    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may enter into leases for 
satellite outpatient clinics as follows:
            (1) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in an amount not to exceed 
        $1,800,000.
            (2) Daytona Beach, Florida, in an amount not to exceed 
        $2,600,000.
            (3) Oakland Park, Florida, in an amount not to exceed 
        $4,100,000.

 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 1999--
            (1) for the Construction, Major Projects, account 
        $205,300,000 for the projects authorized in section 1(a); and
            (2) for the Medical Care account, $8,500,000 for the leases 
        authorized in section 2.
    (b) Limitation.--(1) The projects authorized in section 1(a) may 
only be carried out using--
            (A) funds appropriated for fiscal year 1999 pursuant to the 
        authorization of appropriations in subsection (a);
            (B) funds appropriated for Construction, Major Projects, 
        for a fiscal year before fiscal year 1999 that remain available 
        for obligation; and
            (C) funds appropriated for Construction, Major Projects, 
        for a fiscal year before fiscal year 1999 for a category of 
        activity not specific to a project.
    (2) The project authorized in section 1(b) may only be carried out 
using funds appropriated for a fiscal year before fiscal year 1999--
            (A) for the Parking Revolving Fund; or
            (B) for Construction, Major Projects, for a category of 
        activity not specific to a project.

SEC. 4. THRESHOLD FOR TREATMENT OF PARKING FACILITY PROJECT AS A MAJOR 
              MEDICAL FACILITY PROJECT.

    Section 8109(i)(2) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 
striking out ``$3,000,000'' and inserting ``$4,000,000''.

SEC. 5. PROCEDURES FOR NAMING OF PROPERTY BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS 
              AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 530. Procedures for naming property
    ``(a) If the Secretary proposes to designate the name of any 
property of the Department other than for the geographic area in which 
that property is located, the Secretary shall conduct a public hearing 
before making the designation. The hearing shall be conducted in the 
community in which the property is located. At the hearing, the 
Secretary shall receive the views of veterans service organizations and 
other interested parties regarding the proposed name of the property.
    ``(b) Before conducting such a hearing, the Secretary shall provide 
reasonable notice of the proposed designation and of the hearing. The 
notice shall include--
            ``(1) the time and place of the hearing;
            ``(2) identification of the property proposed to be named; 
        and
            ``(3) identification of the proposed name for the property;
    ``(c)(1) If after a hearing under subsection (a) the Secretary 
intends to name the property involved other than for the geographic 
area in which that property is located, the Secretary shall notify the 
congressional veterans' affairs committees of the Secretary's intention 
to so name the property and shall publish a notice of such intention in 
the Federal Register.
    ``(2) The Secretary may not designate the property with a name for 
which a notice was published in the Federal Register pursuant to 
paragraph (1) until the end of a 60-day period of continuous session of 
Congress following the date of the submission of notice under paragraph 
(1). For purposes of the preceding sentence, continuity of a session of 
Congress is broken only by an adjournment sine die, and there shall be 
excluded from the computation of such 60-day period any day during 
which either House of Congress is not in session during an adjournment 
of more than three days to a day certain.
    ``(3) Each notice under paragraph (1) shall include the following:
            ``(A) An identification of the property involved.
            ``(B) An explanation of the background of, and rationale 
        for, the proposed name.
            ``(C) A summary of the views expressed by interested 
        parties at the public hearing conducted in connection with the 
        proposed name, together with a summary of the Secretary's 
        evaluation of those views.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
529 the following new item:

``530. Procedures for naming property.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--Section 530 of title 38, United States Code, 
as added by subsection (a), shall take effect as of January 1, 1998.

            Passed the House of Representatives May 19, 1998.

            Attest:

                                                ROBIN H. CARLE,

                                                                 Clerk.