[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3593 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3593
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 17 (legislative day, September 16), 2014
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the construction of
major medical facilities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``VA Construction Assistance Act of
2014''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) According to testimony by the Director of Physical
Infrastructure of the General Accountability Office before the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives
in May 2013, schedule delays of major medical center
construction projects of the Department of Veterans Affairs
have averaged 35 months, with the delays ranging from 14 months
to 74 months.
(2) The average cost increase attributed to such delays has
been $336,000,000 per project.
(3) Management of the major medical facility projects
currently underway as of the date of the enactment of this Act
in Denver, Colorado, Orlando, Florida, and New Orleans,
Louisiana, should be subject to the oversight of a special
project manager of the Army Corps of Engineers that is
independent of the Department of Veterans Affairs because,
according to the Comptroller General of the United States, such
projects have experienced continuous delays and a total cost
increase of nearly $1,000,000,000.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the management of the major medical center construction
projects of the Department of Veterans Affairs has been an
abysmal failure; and
(2) in order to minimize repeated delays and cost increases
to such projects, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should
fully implement all recommendations made by the Comptroller
General of the United States in an April 2013 report to improve
construction procedures and practices of the Department.
SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY CONSTRUCTION REFORMS.
Section 8104 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsection:
``(i)(1) With respect to each project described in paragraph (2),
the Secretary shall--
``(A) use the services of a medical equipment planner as
part of the architectural and engineering firm for the project;
``(B) develop and use a project management plan to ensure
clear and consistent communication among all parties;
``(C) subject the project to construction peer excellence
review;
``(D) develop--
``(i) a metrics program to enable the monitoring of
change-order processing time; and
``(ii) goals for the change-order process
consistent with the best practices of other departments
and agencies of the Federal Government; and
``(E) to the extent practicable, use design-build processes
to minimize multiple change orders.
``(2) A project described in this paragraph is a construction or
alteration project that is a major medical facility project.''.
SEC. 4. SPECIAL PROJECT MANAGER FOR CERTAIN MEDICAL CENTER CONSTRUCTION
PROJECTS.
(a) Appointment of Special Project Manager.--Not later than 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs shall enter into an agreement with the Army Corps of
Engineers to procure, on a reimbursable basis, the services of the Army
Corps of Engineers with respect to appointing not less than one special
project manager who has experience in managing construction projects
that exceed $60,000,000 to oversee covered projects until the date on
which the project is completed.
(b) Duties.--A special project manager appointed under subsection
(a) to oversee a covered project shall--
(1) conduct oversight of all construction-related
operations at the project, including with respect to--
(A) the performance of the Department of Veterans
Affairs involving the prime contractors; and
(B) the compliance of the Department with the
Federal Acquisition Regulation, including the VA
Acquisition Regulation;
(2) advise and assist the Department in any construction-
related activity at the project, including the approval of
change-order requests for the purpose of achieving a timely
completion of the project; and
(3) conduct independent technical reviews and recommend to
the Department best construction practices to improve
operations for the project.
(c) Plans and Report.--
(1) Completion plans.--Not later than 90 days after being
appointed under subsection (a), a special project manager shall
submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representatives and the Senate detailed plans of the covered
project for which the special project manager is so appointed.
(2) Progress reports.--Not later than 180 days after being
appointed under subsection (a), and each 180-day period
thereafter until the date on which the covered project is
completed, a special project manager shall submit to the
Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives
and the Senate a report detailing the progress of the covered
project for which the special project manager is so appointed.
Each report shall include--
(A) an analysis of all advice and assistance
provided to the Department under subsection (b);
(B) an analysis of all changes ordered by the
Department with respect to the project, or claimed to
have been made by contract between the Department and
the prime contractor, including the extent to which
such changes comply with the Federal Acquisition
Regulation, including the VA Acquisition Regulation;
(C) an analysis of the communication and working
relationship between the Department and the prime
contractor, including any recommendations made by the
prime contractor to aid in the completion of the
project; and
(D) identification of opportunities and
recommendations with respect to improving the operation
of any construction-related activity to reduce costs or
complete the project in a more timely manner.
(d) Cooperation.--
(1) Information.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
provide a special project manager appointed under subsection
(a) with any necessary documents or information necessary for
the special project manager to carry out subsections (b) and
(c).
(2) Assistance.--Upon request by the special project
manager, the Secretary shall provide to the special project
manager administrative assistance necessary for the special
project manager to carry out subsections (b) and (c).
(e) Covered Projects Defined.--In this section, the term ``covered
projects'' means each construction project that is a major medical
facility project (as defined in section 8104(a)(3)(A) of title 38,
United States Code) that--
(1) was the subject of a report by the Comptroller General
of the United States titled ``Additional Actions Needed to
Decrease Delays and Lower Costs of Major Medical-Facility
Projects'', numbered GAO-13-302, and published in April 2013;
and
(2) has not been activated to accept patients as of the
date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON NEW APPROPRIATIONS.
No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this Act and the amendments made by this Act, and this Act and such
amendments shall be carried out using amounts otherwise made available
for such purposes.
Passed the House of Representatives September 16, 2014.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.