[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2899-S2900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 778. Mr. BOOZMAN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle C of title XXVIII, add the
following:
SEC. 2863. LAND CONVEYANCE, ARMY AND NAVY GENERAL HOSPITAL,
HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, HOT SPRINGS,
ARKANSAS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Army may convey to
the State of Arkansas by quitclaim deed, without
consideration, all right, title, and interest of the United
States in and to the covered property if, not later than five
years after the date of the enactment of this Act--
(1) the Governor of Arkansas submits to the Secretary of
the Army a request for such conveyance; and
(2) the Secretary of the Army, in consultation with the
Administrator of the General Services Administration,
determines such conveyance is appropriate notwithstanding the
requirements under section 3 of the Act of September 12, 1959
(Public Law 86-323).
(b) Designation.--The Secretary of Defense, acting through
the Director of the Office of Local Defense Community
Cooperation, shall designate the State of Arkansas as the
local redevelopment authority with respect to the covered
property.
(c) Grant Authority.--The Secretary of Defense, acting
through the Director of the Office of Local Defense Community
Cooperation, shall make a grant (including a supplemental
grant) or enter into a cooperative agreement to assist the
local redevelopment authority designated under subsection (b)
in planning community adjustments and economic
diversification, including site caretaker services, security
services, and fire protection services, required under the
conveyance under subsection (a).
(d) Report Required.--Not later than 120 days after the
date of the enactment of this
[[Page S2900]]
Act, the Secretary of the Army shall provide to the
congressional defense committees a briefing that includes--
(1) with respect to the conveyance under subsection (a), a
summary of the coordination among affected stakeholders
including--
(A) the Director of the Office of Local Defense Community
Cooperation;
(B) the Administrator of the General Services
Administration;
(C) the Director of the National Park Service;
(D) the Governor of Arkansas;
(E) the Mayor of Hot Springs, Arkansas; and
(F) the Secretary of the Navy;
(2) a summary of--
(A) any environmental investigations conducted at the
covered property as of the date of the enactment of this Act;
(B) the response actions required under any such
environmental investigation;
(C) an estimate of the cost to each such response action;
and
(D) an identification of potentially responsible parties,
if any, for any hazardous substance identified under an
environmental investigation described in subparagraph (A);
(3) an estimate of the total cost to--
(A) stabilize each structure on the covered property; and
(B) demolish each such structure; and
(4) an assessment of necessary steps for the covered
property to be eligible for a grant under the Arkansas
Brownfields Program and recommendations with respect to such
steps.
(e) Covered Property Defined.--In this section, the term
``covered property'' means the approximately twenty-one
acres, more or less, of land located at Hot Springs National
Park, Arkansas, which comprise facilities previously occupied
by the Army and Navy General Hospital conveyed by quitclaim
deed to the State of Arkansas pursuant to the Act of
September 12, 1959.
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