00:00Well, we're going to go to the second round of questions here, and I'll begin with you, Secretary Marks.
00:07One of the issues, you're probably seeing it, I'm sure all our witnesses have seen it.
00:12In terms of MilCon, one of the challenges we have is the oversaturation of burdensome regulations,
00:22many of which come from NEPA, where it takes years and years and even beyond a decade to get through NEPA reforms or NEPA reviews
00:33and the inevitable litigation that comes with them to do anything on basis.
00:40So, Mr. Secretary, I'm sure you saw the very important Supreme Court case ruling on the Eagle County case,
00:48where the court found that agencies will get significant deference on NEPA reviews
00:54and, importantly, clarifies that agencies don't have to do reviews and shouldn't do reviews for impacts outside the project's immediate jurisdiction.
01:08So, have you started to incorporate that into your DOD-NEPA analysis?
01:15And, importantly, like, for example, on Guam, I know that the Department of Interior was doing a huge NEPA review
01:22on some of the base housing related to Guam, incorporating that with the other agencies that might be doing NEPA analysis
01:28on military bases to more quickly streamline MilCon projects, which often can take a decade or more, because of NEPA red tape.
01:38Senator, absolutely.
01:39And, in fact, since I've been in the seat, that's been a high priority to try to get after that.
01:43Working with our partners in ways in which we can accelerate that while still acknowledging our legal and policy responsibilities, of course.
01:52One of those, of course, is the team has looked at opportunities there.
01:56Where can we use K-TEX?
01:57Where can we use other abilities to move that forward?
02:01Shrink those timelines, again, while still meeting those.
02:03I'll defer to my partners if they have recent examples, but we hope to bring that forward very soon.
02:10And I agree with you.
02:11I've experienced that personally, where the standard answer to any environmental answer is,
02:15well, it'll be two years from now before I come back to you with an answer.
02:17That, to me, is an unacceptable answer.
02:19Yeah, unacceptable.
02:20It's a dangerous world out there, and we can't.
02:21It is.
02:22Absolutely.
02:22We wouldn't be saying that, you know, during World War II or any other times.
02:26We need to up the tempo.
02:28Let me turn to the very important issue a number of you have mentioned, talked about the issue of energy.
02:33And one element, and, you know, you don't want to repeat rumors,
02:37but one of the things that I've heard rumors on, again, in the Indo-Pacific region is the lack of energy storage
02:47as a detriment to prosecuting warfighting plans in the Indo-Pacific,
02:55particularly even exacerbated more because of the closure at the Red Hill fuel facility in Hawaii.
03:05So, is that something that you're hearing about from the combatant commanders?
03:12In one of the areas that you and I talked about during your confirmation process, Secretary Marks,
03:17was the former base at ADAC, which, in addition to having two 8,000-foot runways, a sub-base,
03:26has one of the largest and still operational fuel depots in the world,
03:3222 million gallons of fuel can be stored there.
03:37But what are our challenges with regard to fuel, a warfighting capability that we need in Indo-Pacific,
03:45particularly given the Red Hill fuel facility shutdown?
03:50And I believe ADAC offers a really important element for Indo-Pacific fuel logistics.
03:58A lot of people don't know, if you look at a map, ADAC is over 1,000 miles west of Hawaii,
04:04and it's in the AOR, very far out in the AOR.
04:10Senator, I appreciate that.
04:11And I've been tracking both Admiral Paparo's and General Guillo's comments to you about those issues.
04:17We are looking at the global forest posture.
04:19I know my Navy partners made a visit to ADAC to begin to do an assessment on that.
04:24And certainly we're looking at that global forest posture.
04:26Anything that increases distance, slows us down, and our ability to support the warfighter is certainly a concern.
04:33And we'll continue to work with combatant commanders and my service partners to see what we need to do as the next steps.
04:38But are you hearing from the combatant commanders that they're worried about fuel supplies in any kind of contingency?
04:49And I'm not just saying it's Red Hill.
04:51I'm just saying, in general, it's a big Pacific Ocean out there, and, you know, our warfighters need fuel.
04:57I'm hearing that.
04:58Senator, I don't doubt it.
04:59And that's why, as I mentioned earlier in my comments, that I've reached out to the combatant commanders to sit down as quickly as possible,
05:04as well as very quickly sitting down with my partners at Defense Logistics Agency to try to get a better grasp on that situation for you.
05:11So I'll come back to you, but I will defer to my partners here, my colleagues, if they have greater details.
05:16Well, just with regard to ADAC, the Indo-PACOM commander, the NORTHCOM commander,
05:21testified in the full committee that we need to reopen that base.
05:25I got a commitment recently from the Navy, Ms. Johnson-Turner, to come brief me again on this.
05:34This was in a call with the SECNAV.
05:37Nobody's done it.
05:38That was about three or four weeks ago, so I'm still waiting.
05:42I've been waiting a long time, getting impatient on that.
05:45But I'd like to get your commitment, to get what was already a commitment,
05:50to come brief me on their latest visit, whether it's dealing with fuel, runways,
05:55sub-bases.
05:57It's a very strategic location.
05:59Two combatant commanders have already said we need to reopen it,
06:02and I just haven't gotten anything from the Navy yet.
06:05Can I get your commitment to get the Navy at a senior level in my office soon,
06:10as they've already committed to me, to brief me on this?
06:14Senator Sullivan, the Arctic is definitely a strategic and important location.
06:19I will follow up within internal to the Department of the Navy so we can circle back with you.
