HouseH.R. 10069119th Congress
Military Readiness Through Resilient Lands Act
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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10069 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10069
To amend the Sikes Act to make certain improvements to integrated
natural resources management plans of the Department of Defense for
military installations, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 6, 2026
Mr. Whitesides (for himself, Mr. Haridopolos, and Ms. Houlahan)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services,
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Sikes Act to make certain improvements to integrated
natural resources management plans of the Department of Defense for
military installations, 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 ``Military Readiness Through Resilient
Lands Act''.
SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS AND MODIFICATIONS TO INTEGRATED NATURAL RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT PLANS FOR MILITARY INSTALLATIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 101 of the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670a) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following
new paragraphs:
``(5) Standardized metrics.--The Secretary of Defense, in
consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, the
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, and appropriate State agencies, shall develop
and maintain installation-specific goals and metrics for using
technologies and artificial intelligence for the assessment of
natural resources and ecosystem services as relevant to mission
readiness, climate resilience, or community safety on military
installations. Such metrics shall, at a minimum, be consistent
with the purposes and elements of the integrated natural
resources management plans to allow for comparison of
conditions and trends on specific military installations and
shall address--
``(A) biodiversity, including populations and
habitat condition for threatened and endangered species
and other species of concern;
``(B) habitat extent, quality, and connectivity;
``(C) water quality and quantity;
``(D) wildfire risk and fuels conditions;
``(E) ecosystem condition, including soil health
and vegetation condition;
``(F) flood risk and watershed condition, including
on adjacent lands measurably affected by watersheds
originating or passing through military lands; and
``(G) other ecosystem services identified by the
Secretary of Defense--
``(i) as relevant to mission readiness,
climate resilience, or community safety; and
``(ii) consistent with the military
installation resilience elements in sections
2801, 2802, 2815, 2815a, 2866, and 2866a of
title 10, United States Code.
``(6) Technology and methodologies.--The Secretary of
Defense, acting through the Secretaries of the military
departments, shall, to the maximum extent practicable and
consistent with national security, evaluate, test and, where
the Secretary determines doing so would improve existing
approaches, use technologies and methodologies to improve the
management and implementation of natural resources programs on
military installations, including--
``(A) remote sensing;
``(B) automated environmental monitoring networks;
``(C) geographic information systems;
``(D) artificial intelligence; and
``(E) other advanced data analytics tools, to
collect, process, and analyze data on natural resources
and ecosystem services on military installations.
``(7) Updates to collected data.--The Secretary of Defense
shall ensure that--
``(A) to the extent practicable, data collected
pursuant to paragraphs (5) and (6) are updated on a
consistent and regular basis appropriate for use in
integrated natural resource management plans; and
``(B) such data is used for the appropriate
installation-level and enterprise-level decisionmaking
for natural resources management, infrastructure
resilience, and mission sustainment.
``(8) Use of metrics and data.--To the extent practicable
and consistent with military mission requirements, the
Secretary concerned shall, during the review required under
subsection (b)(2), prepare, review, and implement each
integrated natural resources management plan under this
subsection in accordance with the following:
``(A) Assess and project conditions.--The Secretary
concerned shall use the metrics established under
paragraph (5) and the data generated by the monitoring
technologies described in paragraph (6) to assess
baseline conditions, trends, and projected future
conditions of key natural resources and ecosystem
services on the installation.
``(B) Identify net condition objectives.--The
Secretary concerned shall establish quantitative or
otherwise measurable net condition objectives, as
appropriate, for maintaining or improving the condition
of such resources and services, including such
resources and services specified in paragraph (5).'';
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``; and'';
(B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph
(4); and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following
new paragraph:
``(3) shall, at the same frequency as the review of the
operation and effect of the plan under paragraph (2) and to the
extent practicable, use the metrics, technology, and
methodologies under paragraphs (5) and (6) of subsection (a)
to--
``(A) assess trends in key natural resources and
ecosystem services, including biodiversity, habitat
condition, wildfire risk, watershed condition, and
other relevant ecosystem services, on each military
installation covered by the plan;
``(B) evaluate whether the plan is contributing to
the maintenance or improvement of the net condition of
such resources and services at the military
installation; and
``(C) inform any revisions to the plan, including
adjustments to management actions designed to improve
conditions in some areas to offset or compensate for
degradation related to mission-essential activities in
other areas; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
(b) Implementation Guidance.--Not later than two years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and five years thereafter, the
Secretary of Defense shall, as part of the report required under
section 2711 of title 10, United States Code, submit to the
congressional defense committees supplemental materials with respect to
the administration of section 101 of the Sikes Act (as amended by
subsection (a)) that includes a summary of--
(1) progress made toward--
(A) the use of the metrics, technology,
methodologies, and collected data under paragraphs (5),
(6), and (7) of subsection (a) of such section (as
added by subsection (a)); and
(B) deploying such metrics to compare natural
resource trends across military installations;
(2) the benefits of such paragraphs (5), (6), and (7) in
accelerating, simplifying and otherwise streamlining
environmental permitting, environmental review and other
similar interagency processes; and
(3) recommendations of the Secretary with respect to
opportunities to improve the efficiency, coordination, and
timeliness of interagency environmental review and permitting
processes applicable to individual military installations.
``(h) Ecosystem Services Defined.--In this section, the term
`ecosystem services' means the direct and indirect benefits that
natural systems provide to people and communities.''.
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