REPORT ON FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A REGIONAL DISASTER RESPONSE CENTER AT KELLY AIR FIELD, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.

SEC. 2881. REPORT ON FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A REGIONAL DISASTER RESPONSE CENTER AT KELLY AIR FIELD, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.(a) Findings.—Congress makes the following findings:(1) The Federal response to Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the need for greater coordination and planning capability at the Federal, State, and local levels of government.(2) Coordination of State and local assets can be more effectively accomplished if such assets are organized on a regional basis similar to the manner in which the Federal Emergency Management Agency organizes its efforts.(3) Despite the obvious need for experienced and routinely exercised operational headquarters skilled in disaster response, no such headquarters have been established.(4) Such a headquarters would be appropriately located on available Federal property in Region VI of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which includes Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and New Mexico, and is a region subject to forest fires, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes.(b) Report Required.—Not later than March 31, 2008, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall submit to Congress a report on the feasibility of establishing at Kelly Air Field in San Antonio, Texas, a permanent, regionally oriented disaster response center responsible for planning, coordinating, and directing the Federal, State, and local response to man-made and natural disasters that occur in Region VI of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.(c) Content.—The report required under subsection (b) shall include the following:(1) A determination of how the regional disaster response center, if established at Kelly Air Field, would organize and leverage capabilities of the following currently co-located organizations, facilities, and forces located in San Antonio, Texas:(A) Lackland Air Force Base.(B) Fort Sam Houston.(C) Brooke Army Medical Center.(D) Wilford Hall Medical Center.(E) City of San Antonio/Bexar County Emergency Operations Center.(F) Audie Murphy Veterans Administration Medical Center.(G) 433rd Airlift Wing C–5 Heavy Lift Aircraft.(H) 149 Fighter Wing and Texas Air National Guard F–16 fighter aircraft.(I) Army Northern Command.(J) The three level 1 trauma centers of the National Trauma Institute.(K) Texas Medical Rangers.(L) San Antonio Metro Health Department.(M) The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.(N) The Air Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency at Lackland Air Force Base.122 STAT. 567(O) The United States Air Force Security Police Training Department at Lackland Air Force Base.(P) The large manpower pools and blood donor pools from the more than 6,000 trainees at Lackland Air Force Base.(2) A determination of the number of military and civilian personnel who would have to be mobilized to run the logistics, planning, and maintenance of the regional disaster response center, if established at Kelly Air Field, during a time of disaster recovery.(3) A determination of the number of military and civilian personnel who would be required to run the logistics, planning, and maintenance of the regional disaster response center during a time when no disaster is occurring.(4) A determination of the cost of improving the current infrastructure at Kelly Air Field to meet the needs of displaced victims of a disaster equivalent to that of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita or a natural or man-made disaster of similar scope, including adequate beds, food stores, and decontamination stations to triage radiation or other chemical or biological agent contamination victims.(5) An evaluation of the current capability of the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to respond to these mission requirements and an assessment of any additional capabilities that are required.(6) An assessment of the costs and benefits of adding such capabilities at Kelly Air Field to the costs and benefits of other locations.