[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 43 (Monday, March 11, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H1065-H1067]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        FASTA REFORM ACT OF 2023

  Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 6277) to amend the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 
2016 to improve such Act, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6277

       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 ``FASTA Reform Act of 2023''.

     SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL ASSETS SALE AND TRANSFER 
                   ACT OF 2016.

       (a) In General.--The Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act 
     of 2016 (40 U.S.C. 1303 note) is amended--
       (1) in section 2--
       (A) in paragraph (9) by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (B) in paragraph (10) by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting ``; and''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(11) implementing innovative methods for the sale, 
     redevelopment, consolidation, or lease of Federal buildings 
     and facilities, including the use of no cost, nonappropriated 
     contracts for expert real estate services to obtain the 
     highest and best value for the taxpayer.'';
       (2) in section 3(5)(B)(viii) by inserting ``, other than 
     office buildings and warehouses,'' after ``Properties'';
       (3) in section 5(b) by striking ``Five Board members'' and 
     inserting ``Four Board members'';
       (4) in section 7 by adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) Return to Civil Service.--An Executive Director 
     selected from the civil service (as such term is defined in 
     section 2101 of

[[Page H1066]]

     title 5, United States Code) shall be entitled to return to 
     the civil service after service to the Board ends if the 
     Executive Director's service to the Board ends for reasons 
     other than misconduct, neglect of duty, or malfeasance.'';
       (5) in section 8--
       (A) in subsection (b)--
       (i) by striking ``and the Director of OMB''; and
       (ii) by inserting ``for a period of not less than 1 year'' 
     before ``to assist the Board'';
       (B) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
       (C) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
       ``(c) Hiring of Term Employees.--The Executive Director, 
     with approval of the Board, may utilize the Office of 
     Personnel Management to hire employees for terms not to 
     exceed 2 years pursuant to the Office of Personnel Management 
     guidance for nonstatus appointments in the competitive 
     service.'';
       (6) in section 10 by striking ``6 years after the date on 
     which the Board members are appointed pursuant to section 4'' 
     and inserting ``on December 31, 2026'';
       (7) in section 11(a)--
       (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by striking ``the 
     Administrator and the Director of OMB'' and inserting ``the 
     Administrator, the Director of OMB, and the Board'';
       (B) in paragraph (1)--
       (i) by striking ``and'' before ``square footage''; and
       (ii) by inserting ``, amount of acreage associated with the 
     property, and whether the property is on a campus or larger 
     facility'' before the period at the end; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3) Consolidation plans.--Any agency plans to 
     consolidate, reconfigure, or otherwise reduce the use of 
     owned and leased property.'';
       (8) in section 12--
       (A) in subsection (b)(2) by striking the second sentence 
     and inserting ``In the case of a failure by an agency to 
     comply with a request of the Board, the Board shall notify 
     the committees listed in section 5(c), the relevant 
     congressional committees of jurisdiction for the agency, and 
     the inspector general of the agency of such failure.'';
       (B) by redesignating subsections (d) through (i) as 
     subsections (e) through (j), respectively;
       (C) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
       ``(d) Preparation of Properties for Disposal.--At the 
     request of, and in coordination with, the Board, a Federal 
     agency may undertake any analyses and due diligence as 
     necessary to prepare a property for disposition so that the 
     property may be included in the recommendations of the Board 
     under subsection (h), including completion of the 
     requirements of section 306108 of title 54, United States 
     Code, for historic preservation and identification of the 
     likely highest and best use of the property subsequent to 
     disposition.'';
       (D) in subsection (h) (as so redesignated)--
       (i) in paragraph (1)--

       (I) in subparagraph (A) by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (II) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C); 
     and
       (III) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following:

       ``(B) the process to be followed by Federal agencies to 
     carry out the actions described under subparagraph (A), 
     including the use of no cost, nonappropriated contracts for 
     expert real estate services and other innovative methods, to 
     obtain the highest and best value for the taxpayer; and''; 
     and
       (ii) in paragraph (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(C) Third round.--During the period beginning on the day 
     after the transmittal of the second report and ending on the 
     day before the termination of the Board under section 10, the 
     Board may transmit to the Director of OMB a third report 
     required under paragraph (1).''; and
       (E) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(k) Report to Congress.--The Board shall periodically 
     submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
     of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
     Environment and Public Works of the Senate a report 
     containing any recommendations on consolidations, exchanges, 
     sales, lease reductions, and redevelopments that are not 
     included in the transmissions submitted under subsection (h), 
     or approved by the Director of OMB under section 13, but 
     which the majority of the Board concludes meets the goals of 
     this Act.'';
       (9) in section 13--
       (A) in subsection (a) by striking ``subsections (b) and 
     (g)'' and inserting ``subsections (b) and (h)''; and
       (B) in subsection (c)(4)--
       (i) by inserting ``, in whole or in part,'' before 
     ``received under paragraph (3)''; and
       (ii) by striking ``revised'' the second place it appears;
       (10) in section 20 by striking subsection (b) and inserting 
     the following:
       ``(b) Effective Date.--The provisions of this section, 
     including the amendments made by this section, shall take 
     effect on the date on which the Board transmits the second 
     report under section 12(h)(2)(B) and shall apply to proceeds 
     from--
       ``(1) transactions contained in such report; and
       ``(2) any transactions conducted after the termination of 
     the Board pursuant to section 10.'';
       (11) in section 21(b) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(9) Whether the Federal real property is on a campus or 
     similar facility and, if so, identification of such campus or 
     facility and related details, including total acreage.''; and
       (12) by inserting after section 25 the following:

     ``SEC. 26. ACCESS TO FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY COUNCIL MEETINGS 
                   AND REPORTS.

       ``The Federal Real Property Council established under 
     section 623 of title 40, United States Code, shall ensure 
     that the Board has access to any meetings of the Council and 
     any reports required under such section.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 
     1(b) of such Act is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:

``Sec. 26. Access to Federal Real Property Council meetings and 
              reports.''.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) and the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Members have 5 
legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 6277.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  First, I would thank the Economic Development, Public Buildings and 
Emergency Management Subcommittee Ranking Member Titus from Nevada for 
working with me on this piece of legislation. The Federal Assets Sale 
and Transfer Act, also known as FASTA, was passed in 2016 to create a 
temporary board of experts to identify Federal properties for sale and 
redevelopment.
  Unfortunately, the process has not worked as Congress originally 
envisioned, and this bill seeks to remedy that.
  Federal agencies are reluctant to let go of property they don't need, 
and it has become clear the board requires more authority to gather 
data it needs to develop recommendations.
  This bill would make a number of reforms to improve the effectiveness 
of the process, including extending the board's timeline, speeding up 
the effective date of incentives for agencies to put properties 
forward, and giving the board access to the Federal Real Property 
Council.
  Madam Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. TITUS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  The Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act, as you heard, FASTA, was a 
bipartisan and bicameral effort led by the T & I Committee in the 114th 
Congress, with the goal of improving the disposal process for unneeded 
Federal real property.
  FASTA established the Public Buildings Reform Board, PBRB, an 
independent Federal agency, to review and recommend unused properties 
for the government to sell. Once the properties were identified, the 
PBRB was to work with the Office of Management and Budget and the 
General Services Administration to dispose of these properties via a 
new, temporary three-round process.
  Since its establishment, however, the PBRB has faced significant 
challenges. Although the legislation was passed in 2016, members were 
not appointed until May of 2019. Furthermore, the board was unable to 
conduct business for most of 2022 after two board members resigned, 
leaving the agency without a quorum until November 2022.
  As a result, they were unable to complete and submit to OMB their 
first round of recommendations.
  Overall, difficulties in doing research during the pandemic, lack of 
access to funding to help the agencies prepare for dispositions, delays 
in selling two particularly valuable properties in the high-value 
round, and disagreements with GSA and OMB on disposition strategies 
have all made the board's work challenging.
  Due to these challenges and delays, I join Chairman Perry in 
sponsoring the FASTA Reform Act, and I thank him for his leadership.
  It requires Federal agencies to share their real property data and 
consolidation plans with the board. It also enables the board to submit 
recommendations to OMB on a rolling basis. It

[[Page H1067]]

gives the board control over the sales proceeds in the Asset Proceeds 
and Space Management Fund. It reduces the quorum requirement for 
meetings and activities from five board members to four. It permits 
agencies to prepare properties for disposition, and it extends the 
operation of the PBRB to December 2026.
  As agencies' post-pandemic space needs evolve, efficient and 
effective disposal of unneeded properties will become even more 
important.
  Allowing this demonstration program to complete its work will yield 
important information that can mitigate several longstanding disposal 
challenges and improve the size and efficiency of the Federal real 
property portfolio.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan 
legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. TITUS. Madam Speaker, I think this is a good example of 
government efficiency, saving taxpayer dollars, and working across the 
aisle.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I thank the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) for his support.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to 
close.
  Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus), for 
her hard work on this effort. H.R. 6277 makes improvements to the 
authorities of the Public Buildings Reform Board, or the PBRB, 
established by the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016, or the 
FASTA, to increase the number of Federal properties the board 
recommends be sold or redeveloped.
  By allowing for more Federal properties to be sold or redeveloped, 
H.R. 6277 will ultimately reduce the cost of our Federal real estate 
portfolio, resulting in savings for the taxpayers.
  Madam Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 6277.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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