§2810 Military construction projects for innovation, research, development, test, and evaluation

Summary

The Secretary of Defense can use money set aside for research, development, test, and evaluation to build or improve military facilities used for innovation, testing, and development. Each year, the Secretary must put details about each such construction project in the Defense budget documents. That must include the project title, where it is, a short description of the work, a DoD Form 1391 with the original cost estimate, a current cost estimate if it changed, and any other information the Secretary thinks is needed. The budget must also have a single display that lists each project and the amount requested. These rules apply to projects with a Form 1391 submitted to Congress for fiscal year 2023 and after. Each military department Secretary and the Secretary of Defense must also send Congress, with the President’s budget, a five-year plan for improving innovation infrastructure. The plan must name major goals, milestones, investment targets, how the projects will be paid for in the budget and future-years program, needed environmental and engineering studies, and how work will be paced to keep operations going. Plans must use certain results-focused management practices from the GAO report, like clear goals, metrics, resource and risk lists, and regular progress reports. The law allows funding projects at certain DoD labs and research centers, but a project needs authorization in a Military Construction Authorization Act. The Secretary must include proposed projects in the budget papers and notify congressional defense committees at least 14 days before first obligating RDT&E funds for a project with updated cost, schedule, and description. Projects must meet criteria such as supporting lab R&D, having potential outside users, being backed by multiple services or agencies, and not fitting within normal funding limits. No more than $150,000,000 of RDT&E funds may be obligated for these construction projects in any fiscal year. Military department Secretaries may use RDT&E funds for architectural and engineering services and design; if those services are estimated to cost more than $4,000,000, the Secretary must notify Congress and wait 14 days after the committees receive the notice electronically before obligating funds.