§ 2856a. Covered military unaccompanied housing: waivers of covered privacy and configuration standards and covered health and safety standards

• (a) Any waiver of covered privacy and configuration standards or covered health and safety standards shall be issued in accordance with the following:
  • (1) A commander of a military installation desiring a waiver of covered privacy and configuration standards or covered health and safety standards shall submit to the Secretary of the military department concerned a request for such waiver.
  • (2) A Secretary of a military department may approve a request under paragraph (1) only if such Secretary has exhausted all options available to such Secretary to provide housing that meets covered privacy and configuration standards or covered health and safety standards (as applicable), including the—
    • (A) use of available privately-owned military housing;
    • (B) modification of unit integrity goals to allow the use of each available unit of covered military unaccompanied housing that meets covered privacy and configuration standards or covered health and safety standards (as applicable); and
    • (C) issuance of a certificate of nonavailability of covered military unaccompanied housing to allow eligibility for basic allowance for housing under section 403 of title 37 .
  • (3) An official described in paragraph (1) or (2) may not delegate the respective authorities under such paragraphs.
  • (4) Any waiver of covered privacy and configuration standards or covered health and safety standards issued pursuant to this paragraph shall terminate on the date that is 15 months after the date on which such waiver was issued. A Secretary of a military department may not renew any such waiver.
• (b) Not later than March 1, 2025 , and annually thereafter not later than 15 days after the submission of the budget of the President to Congress pursuant to section 1105 of title 31 , the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Senate and the Comptroller General of the United States a report on waivers issued under this section that includes—
  • (1) the number of such waivers that were issued during the period covered by the report;
  • (2) a plan to remedy the deficiencies, if any, of covered military unaccompanied housing that required the issuance of such a waiver, and a timeline to implement such plan;
  • (3) a strategy to remedy issues, if any, caused by covered military unaccompanied housing that did not comply with applicable standards;
  • (4) a strategy to remedy the factors, if any, that require a commander of a military installation to submit to the applicable Secretary of a military department a request for consecutive waivers of applicable standards, including a timeline for the implementation of such strategy;
  • (5) an analysis of strategies to remedy the factors described in paragraph (4), including—
    • (A) projects to modernize existing covered military unaccompanied housing to comply with applicable standards;
    • (B) projects to construct new covered military unaccompanied housing; and
    • (C) modifications to relevant policies of the Department of Defense, excluding such policies relating to infrastructure;
  • (6) an assessment of whether a need for future waivers has been identified;
  • (7) a summary of the analysis performed under subsection (a)(2), including a certification by the Secretary of each military department that the Secretary has—
    • (A) complied with the requirements for issuing a waiver; and
    • (B) identified all covered military unaccompanied housing that does not meet covered privacy and configuration standards or covered health and safety standards;
  • (8) information about costs associated with remediation of covered military unaccompanied housing that requires such waivers, including—
    • (A) funding needs for military construction projects related to such remediation;
    • (B) funding needs for facilities sustainment, restoration, and modernization projects related to such remediation; and
    • (C) any increase required to the basic allowance for housing under section 403 of title 37 for members of the armed forces that would otherwise be living in covered military unaccompanied housing but for the need for such remediation; and
  • (9) a description of the status of the response of the Department to open recommendations contained in the 2023 report by the Comptroller General of the United States titled “Military Barracks: Poor Living Conditions Undermine Quality of Life and Readiness” (GAO–23–105797), including any privacy and configuration standard or health and safety standard of a military department that differs from the covered privacy and configuration standards or covered health and safety standards (as applicable).
• (c) In this section:
  • (1) The term “covered health and safety standard” means the minimum health and safety criteria applicable to covered military unaccompanied housing established by the Secretary of Defense and may include standards relating to mold, ventilation, fire safety, or other related habitability conditions necessary to ensure safe occupancy.
  • (2) The term “covered privacy and configuration standard” means the minimum standards for privacy and configuration applicable to covered military unaccompanied housing described in Department of Defense Manual 4165.63 titled “DoD Housing Management” and dated October 28, 2010 (or a successor document).