Communities Helping Invest through Property and Improvements Needed for Veterans Act of 2016

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on December 7, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Communities Helping Invest through Property and Improvements Needed for Veterans Act of 2016 or the CHIP IN for Vets Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a five-year pilot program under which it may accept up to five donations by non-federal entities of: (1) real property that includes a constructed facility or that is to be used as the site of a facility constructed by the entity, and (2) a facility to be constructed by the entity on real property of the VA.

A donation must be: (1) a property for which funds have been appropriated for a VA facility project or a property that is identified as meeting a need of the VA as part of its long-range capital planning process and that is the location for a VA facility project that is included on the Strategic Capital Investment Planning process priority list; and (2) donated pursuant to a formal agreement with the VA for a VA facility project in an amount acceptable to the VA at no additional cost to the federal government.

Such a formal agreement must provide for: (1) the donation of real property that includes a constructed facility; or (2) the construction of a facility on VA real property or on real property donated to the VA by the entity. An agreement that provides for the construction of a facility shall require the entity to:

• conduct all necessary environmental and historic preservation due diligence,
• comply with all local zoning requirements,
• obtain all required construction permits,
• use construction standards required of the VA when designing, repairing, altering, or building the facility, and
• provide the real property, improvements, goods, or services in a manner sufficient to complete the construction at no additional cost to the federal government.

The VA may not: (1) pay rent, usage fees, or any other amounts to an entity for the use or occupancy of real property donated under this bill; and (2) provide funds to help the entity finance, design, or construct such a facility that are in addition to those appropriated for the facility as of the date of the donation agreement.

An entity that: (1) is donating a facility constructed by the entity shall be required to provide other funds in addition to the amounts provided by the VA that are needed to complete construction of the facility; and (2) seeks to donate real property shall submit an application to address needs relating to VA facilities, including health care needs, identified in its Construction and Long-Range Capital Plan in such manner as the VA may require.

The VA shall include in the annual budget submitted to Congress by the President information regarding real property donated under the pilot program and the status of facility projects relating to that property.

The Government Accountability Office shall report to Congress every two years until the program ends on the donation agreements under the program.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov