FY2022 NDAA: Military Construction Authorizations

INSIGHTi

FY2022 NDAA: Military Construction

Authorizations

February 2, 2022

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) typically authorizes funding for Department of Defense

(DOD) military construction projects in Division B of the legislation.

In general, DOD military construction accounts fund military construction projects; major infrastructure

improvements; land acquisition; construction and operation of military family housing; privatized housing

through the Family Housing Improvement Fund and the Military Unaccompanied Housing Improvement

Fund; construction and environmental cleanup projects required by the base closure and realignment

commission (BRAC) process; and contributions to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Security Investment Program, which funds infrastructure projects and cost-sharing expenses for collective

defense.

President’s Budget Request

The FY2022 President’s budget requested $9.8 billion in military construction and related discretionary

funding—$1.3 billion (15%) more than the enacted FY2021 level. The request included $8.4 billion in

military construction accounts and $1.4 billion in family housing accounts. Among the largest requested

stand-alone projects, in terms of dollar value, were:

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$250 million to build a dry dock addition at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery,

Maine, for maintenance and overhaul of the Navy’s Virginia-class fast-attack submarines;

$207.9 million to construct a maintenance hangar at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry

Point, North Carolina, to support two squadrons of F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter

aircraft scheduled to arrive at the installation in FY2024 and FY2025; and

$168 million to construct a helicopter rescue operations maintenance hangar at Kadena

Air Base in Japan to support missions of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and Pacific Air

Forces.

House-passed NDAA

The House-passed NDAA (H.R. 4350) would have authorized $13.4 billion for military construction

projects and related funding—$3.6 billion (36%) more than the request. The House legislation would

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have authorized $4.8 billion in increases to the request (i.e., funding beyond the amounts for certain

projects requested in the budget or for projects not requested in the budget), according to CRS analysis of

funding tables in the accompanying report (H.Rept. 117-118) and enacted legislation. Among these

increases, the House bill would have authorized 21 congressionally directed spending projects, known as

Community Project Funding items, totaling $370 million. The net effect of these increases would have

been offset by $1.2 billion in decreases to the request.

Senate Armed Services Committee-reported NDAA

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC)-reported version of the bill (S. 2792) would have

authorized $12.7 billion in military construction projects and related funding—$2.9 billion (29%) more

than the request. The SASC legislation would have authorized $4.1 billion in increases to the request,

according to CRS analysis of funding tables in the accompanying report (S.Rept. 117-39) and enacted

legislation. The report did not reference Community Project Funding items. The net effect of these

increases would have been offset by $1.3 billion in decreases to the request.

The Biden Administration opposed provisions in the House-passed and SASC-reported bills to

realign military construction funding “from priority projects to other projects.” It also argued that

incrementally funding certain projects would require nearly $1 billion in additional funding to

complete them.

Enacted NDAA

The enacted NDAA (S. 1605; P.L. 117-81) included Division B, the “Military Construction

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022,” which authorized $13.3 billion in military construction

projects and related funding—$3.5 billion (36%) more than the request (see Figure 1), according

to CRS analysis of the funding tables in the accompanying explanatory statement. The statement

noted, in part, that “incremental funding of large and complex military construction projects

enables the Department to execute additional infrastructure projects in a fiscal year, enables

continuous congressional oversight, serves to reduce the significant unobligated MILCON

balance, and provides opportunities to adjust the authorization of appropriations level for projects

should issues arise or requirements change over the course of construction.”

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Figure 1. Military Construction Authorizations in the FY2022 NDAA

(in billions of dollars)

Source: CRS analysis of H.Rept. 117-118, pp. 482-498; S.Rept. 117-39, pp. 516-538; and explanatory statement

accompanying the FY2022 NDAA (P.L. 117-81) in the December 7, 2021, Congressional Record, pp. H7436-H7448.

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Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. “Difference (%)” column is the percentage difference between the requested

and enacted amounts.

The act authorized funding for the bulk, though not all, of the Administration’s projects, including the dry

dock addition at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The act authorized $4.9 billion in increases to the

request. Among these increases were the Community Project Funding items in the House bill. The net

effect of these increases were offset by $1.4 billion in decreases to the request. Among these decreases

was a $150 million reduction to the requested level funding for the maintenance hangar at Marine Corps

Air Station Cherry Point and a $133 million reduction to the requested level of funding for the helicopter

hangar at the Kadena Air Base. In recommending similar reductions in its version of the legislation, the

House Armed Services Committee noted its support for the projects yet questioned the armed services’

ability to fully expend the requested funding in FY2022.

The enacted legislation supported the Administration’s request for the NATO Security Investment

Program. It also authorized the Secretary of Defense to accept six military construction projects in South

Korea with a combined value of $505.2 million and two military construction projects in Poland with a

combined value of $37 million. The host governments paid for the projects pursuant to security

agreements with the United States requiring in-kind contributions.

In addition, the enacted legislation prohibited DOD from conducting another BRAC round; mandated the

publishing of information on Facilities Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization (FSRM) projects

costing more than $15 million; continued various military housing reforms; required the Government

Accountability Office to report on the contracting processes DOD used to maintain and upgrade stateside

military installations; and extended authorizations for certain military construction projects previously

identified for a redirection of funding for the construction of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Author Information

Brendan W. McGarry

Analyst in U.S. Defense Budget

Disclaimer

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