§182a Center for Excellence in Environmental Security

Summary

The Secretary of Defense can operate a Center for Excellence in Environmental Security. The Center must teach, train, and do research on civil‑military operations, especially when those operations need international help or must work with other federal agencies. It must also teach, train, coordinate, and research how to manage environmental problems that affect access to water, food, and energy; related health issues; and how those stresses can lead to bigger economic, social, political, or national security problems. The Center must study the role of reserve forces after natural disasters and how to meet information needs during regional or global disasters, including using advanced communications as a virtual library. The Secretary can assign other missions to the Center. If asked, heads of federal agencies may give the Center access to data, archives, facilities, and personnel to help develop global environmental indicators. The Secretary may agree with a college or university to run the Center, with the school providing needed administrative services or funding for them. The Secretary may accept donations for the Center from federal, state, local, or foreign governments, foundations, charities, or private sources, unless a donation would compromise or appear to compromise the Department’s or its people’s ability to act fairly and the integrity of any DoD program or person in it. The Secretary must write rules for deciding when a foreign donation would cause that problem. Donations accepted for the Center will be added to the Department of Defense funds for the Center, merged with those appropriations, and used for the same purposes and during the same period as the funds they join.