An act to authorize certain construction at military installations for fiscal year 1980, and for other purposes.
Latest action. public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) 96-125.
(Conference report filed in Senate, S. Rept. 96-409) Military Construction Authorization Act, 1980 - =Title I: Army= - Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to establish or develop military installations and facilities at specified locations. Authorizes appropriations in specified amounts for each of these locations. Authorizes the Secretary to establish or develop other installations by proceeding with construction made necessary by unforeseen security considerations, new weapons development, new and unforeseen research and development requirements, improved production schedules or revisions in the tasks or functions assigned to a military installation or for environmental considerations if the Secretary of Defense determines that deferral of such construction for inclusion in the next Military Construction Authorization Act would be inconsistent with the national security. Authorizes appropriations for such emergency construction. =Title II: Navy= - Authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to establish or develop military installations and facilities at specified locations. Authorizes appropriations in specified amounts for each such location. Authorizes the Secretary to establish or develop other installations where necessary under the same conditions as those relating to the Secretary of the Army under Title I of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to expend excess foreign exchange funds of $580,000 for the construction of a multipurpose marine biological laboratory at the Al Ghardaqa Marine Laboratory, Hurgada, Arab Republic of Egypt. =Title III: Air Force= - Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to establish or develop military installations and facilities at specified locations. Authorizes appropriations in specified amounts for each such location. Authorizes the Secretary to establish or develop additional facilities where necessitated by those factors enumerated in Title I of this Act pertaining to the Secretary of the Army. Amends the Military Construction Authorization Acts of 1978, to decrease the authorization of appropriations for Air Force acquisition and construction projects at various locations in Europe. Authorizes the appropriation of funds for the Department of Defense share of upgrading the waste treatment facility that serves Little Rock Air Force Base, Little Rock, Arkansas. Restricts the contribution of such appropriation until: (1) the President determines whether the Federal share of such upgrading shall come solely from the Environmental Protection Agency or from the various Federal departments and agencies using such facilities; or (2) a copy of such presidential determination is transmitted to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees. =Title IV: Defense Agencies= - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to establish or develop military installations at specified locations and authorizes appropriations in specified amounts for each such location. Authorizes the Secretary to establish or develop additional facilities which are determined to be vital to the security of the United States. Authorizes appropriations for such purpose. Amends the Military Construction Authorization of 1978 to increase the authorization of appropriations for the High Energy Laser Facility at White Sands, New Mexico. Amends the Military Construction Authorization Act, 1979, to increase the authorization of appropriations for the United States' share of NATO programs for the acquisition or construction of military facilities. =Title V: Military Family Housing and Homeowners Assistance Program= - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to acquire or construct: (1) 200 military housing units at Fort MacArthur, California; and (2) 332 family housing units at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. Authorizes appropriations for such purpose. Increases the maximum average rental expenditure for military housing within the United States or abroad. Decreases the total number of military family housing units which may be leased in foreign countries at any one time. Authorizes specified appropriations for military housing as authorized by law including homeowners assistance pursuant to the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966. =Title VI: Authorization of Appropriations and Administrative Provisions= - Authorizes the Secretaries of the various military departments to develop installations under this Act without regard to provisions of law which prohibit the advancement of public moneys and which require the submission of detailed cost estimates to Congress. Establishes expenditures ceilings for each title of this Act. Authorizes limited increases in the amounts authorized pursuant to this Act if the Secretary of the military department or the Director of the defense agency concerned determines that such an increase is required for the sole purpose of meeting unusual and unanticipated variations in cost. Directs the Secretary of Defense to encourage the use of solar energy for projects authorized by this Act and authorizes the Secretary to increase the cost limitations or floor area limitations for a project in order to equip it with solar energy heating or cooling equipment. Establishes measures and responsibility for supervising the construction work authorized under this Act. Repeals prior Military Construction Authorization Acts. Specifies exceptions to such repealer. Sets forth unit cost limitations based on square footage for projects authorized pursuant to this Act. =Title VII: Guard and Reserve Forces Facilities= - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to establish or develop additional facilities for the Guard and Reserve Forces of various military departments. Authorizes appropriations in specified amounts for each such entity. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to make contributions to any State or Territory, Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia in order to improve Reserve Forces facilities. Increases the maximum Federal contribution for Guard and Reserve Forces facilities which may be made without prior notification to Congress. =Title VIII: General Provisions= - Stipulates that a minor construction project (less than $300,000) which has been identified in the annual military construction program submitted to Congress shall not need the approval of the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of the military department concerned. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to pay to the owners of land on Roi-Namur Island, Marshall Islands District of the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands, such amounts as are determined to be in the public interest for the use of such island by the United States Government after 1960. Directs the Secretary of Defense to require that solar energy systems be considered, and incorporated if cost effective, in all new facilities (including housing) placed under design after enactment of this Act. Defines "cost effective" to mean whether or not the original investment cost differential is recoverable over the expected life of a facility. Repeals a provision of the Military Construction Authorization Act, 1979, requiring that 25 percent of non-housing facilities include solar energy systems. Prohibits the closure or realignment of the Army Training Command at Fort Dix, New Jersey, Fort Indiantown Gap, Annville, Pennsylvania, New Cumberland Army Depot, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, or Fort Monroe, Hampton, Virginia, until the Secretary of the Army complies with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, with special regard to socio-economic factors in the affected areas. Prohibits the closure or realignment of the Air Training Command at Goodfellow Air Force Base, San Angelo, Texas, until the Secretary of the Air Force complies with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, with special regard to socio-economic factors in San Angelo, Texas, and the affected area. Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to lease 5.6 excess acres on the remaining portion of the former Ent Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado, to the United States Olympic Committee. Authorizes the use of mass transit on military installations (at reasonable rates of fare to be determined by the Secretary of Defense). Prohibits the charging of such fares to be charged to military personnel if the transportation is incident to training or other operational activities. States that such base transportation shall be provided with consideration given to energy conservation and pollution reduction. Amends the Military Construction Act, 1966, to prohibit the disposal of Bolling Air Force Base, Maryland, until October 1, 1984. Authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to acquire a specific tract of land in the Balboa Park in San Diego, California, for the construction of a new Navy hospital or medical center. Authorizes the Secretary to convey to the city in exchange for such land all or part of the Naval Regional Medical Center, San Diego. Authorizes the Secretary to convey a specified tract of land located in the Marine Corps Air Station (Helicopter), Tustin, California, to the Irvine Company in exchange for lands of equivalent value. Requires such Company to pay: (1) the cost of relocating the Military Affiliate Radio Station facilities and the skeet range facilities; and (2) all land conveyance costs. Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to acquire all interest in a hazardous cargo handling area to be constructed by the Charleston County Aviation Authority at the Charleston County Airport, South Carolina. Authorizes the Secretary to convey to the Authority of real property equivalent value in exchange for such acquisition. Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to convey to King County, Washington, the land comprising the 143rd Combat Squadron, Washington Air National Guard located at Boeing Field, Seattle, in exchange for a replacement facility for such Guard facility. Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to convey, without monetary consideration, a specified tract of land to the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission for use as a permanent site for the Alabama Space Science Exhibit.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Conference report filed in Senate" stage on November 8, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Public Law 96-125.
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The record's latest action, on November 26, 1979: Public Law 96-125.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
GARY HART (D-CO) introduced it on June 12, 1979. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 12, 1979, 17257 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17090 days ago, on November 26, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenatePublic Law 96-125.
- HouseNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action