[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4514 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4514

      To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 
  construction projects for the purpose of improving, renovating, and 
  updating patient care facilities at Department of Veterans Affairs 
                medical centers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 18, 2002

    Mr. Moran of Kansas (for himself and Mr. Filner) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 
  construction projects for the purpose of improving, renovating, and 
  updating patient care facilities at Department of Veterans Affairs 
                medical centers, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans' Major Medical Facilities 
Construction Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY PROJECTS.

    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may carry out the following major 
medical facility projects, with each project to be carried out in an 
amount not to exceed the amount specified for that project:
            (1) Seismic corrections at the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs Medical Center, Palo Alto, California, as follows:
                    (A) Building Number 2, $14,020,000.
                    (B) Building Number 4, $21,750,000.
            (2) Seismic correction at the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California, $31,000,000.
            (3) Seismic correction at the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs Medical Center, West Los Angeles, California, 
        $27,200,000.
            (4) Seismic correction and clinical improvement at the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Long Beach, 
        California, $24,600,000.
            (5) Seismic correction for Building Number 1 at the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Diego, 
        California, $47,100,000.
            (6) Ambulatory Surgery and Clinical Consolidation at the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio, 
        $32,500,000.
            (7) Consolidation of Department of Veterans Affairs and 
        Department of Defense health and benefits offices, Anchorage 
        Alaska, $59,000,000.
            (8) Ward Renovation at the Department of Veterans Affairs 
        Medical Center, West Haven, Connecticut, $15,300,000.
            (9) Ambulatory Care Expansion at the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs Medical Center, Tampa, Florida, $18,230,000.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2003 for the 
Construction, Major Projects, account $285,000,000 for the projects 
authorized in section 2.
    (b) Limitation.--The projects authorized in section 2 may only be 
carried out using--
            (1) funds appropriated for fiscal year 2003 pursuant to the 
        authorization of appropriations in subsection (a);
            (2) funds appropriated for Construction, Major Projects, 
        for a fiscal year before fiscal year 2003 that remain available 
        for obligation; and
            (3) funds appropriated for Construction, Major Projects, 
        for fiscal year 2003 for a category of activity not specific to 
        a project.

SEC. 4. INCREASE IN THRESHOLD FOR MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY CONSTRUCTION 
              PROJECTS.

    (a) Increase in Threshold.--Section 8104(a)(3)(A) of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ``$4,000,000'' and inserting 
``$6,000,000''.
    (b) Applicability to Projects Already Funded.--The amendment made 
by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to any facility project of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs, regardless of when funds are first 
appropriated for that project, except that in the case of a project for 
which funds were first appropriated before October 1, 2000, such 
amendments shall not apply with respect to amounts appropriated for 
that project for a fiscal year before fiscal year 2003.

SEC. 5. CRITERIA FOR MINOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.

    Section 8103 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) Purpose of Minor Construction Projects.--In selecting medical 
facilities (including research facilities) for projects under 
subsection (a) other than major medical facility projects subject to 
section 8104 of this title, the Secretary shall select projects to 
improve, replace, renovate, or update facilities to achieve one or more 
of the following:
            ``(1) Seismic protection improvements related to patient 
        safety (or, in the case of a research facility, patient or 
        employee safety).
            ``(2) Fire safety improvements.
            ``(3) Improvements to utility systems and ancillary patient 
        care facilities (including such systems and facilities that may 
        be exclusively associated with research facilities).
            ``(4) Improved accommodation for persons with disabilities, 
        including barrier-free access.
            ``(5) Improvements at patient care facilities to 
        specialized programs of the Department, including the 
        following:
                    ``(A) Blind rehabilitation centers.
                    ``(B) Inpatient and residential programs for 
                seriously mentally ill veterans, including mental 
                illness research, education, and clinical centers.
                    ``(C) Residential and rehabilitation programs for 
                veterans with substance-use disorders.
                    ``(D) Physical medicine and rehabilitation 
                activities.
                    ``(E) Long-term care, including geriatric research, 
                education, and clinical centers, adult day care 
                centers, and nursing home care facilities.
                    ``(F) Amputation care, including facilities for 
                prosthetics, orthotics programs, and sensory aids.
                    ``(G) Spinal cord injury centers.
                    ``(H) Traumatic brain injury programs.
                    ``(I) Women veterans' health programs (including 
                particularly programs involving privacy and 
                accommodation for female patients).
                    ``(J) Facilities for hospice and palliative care 
                programs.''.
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