The federal government published a final rule last week that will give the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) greater opportunities to review the purchase of land purchases near military installations, according to a Treasury Department press release.

The final rule will allow CFIUS to review certain real estate transactions by foreigners at more than 60 installations in 30 states “and will allow us to deter and stop foreign adversaries from threatening our armed forces, including through intelligence gathering,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

A handful of installations and their neighboring communities have expressed concern in recent years about potential security threats from unknown investors purchasing farmland or other large parcels of land nearby.

As On Base previously reported, the draft rule text noted the expanded authority would cover several Army depots and ammunition plants, as well as such bases as Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia, Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina and Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.

Air Force photo by Senior Airman Violette Hosack