[Senate Report 113-122]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


113th Congress                                                Report  
 1st Session       }             SENATE          {            113-122
                   }                             {            
_______________________________________________________________________
                                                       Calendar No. 249
 
      FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY ASSET MANAGEMENT REFORM ACT OF 2013

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 1398

TO REQUIRE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO EXPEDITE THE SALE OF UNDERUTILIZED 
                         FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY






               November 19, 2013.--Ordered to be printed





        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                  THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan                 TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas              JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana          RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri           ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
JON TESTER, Montana                  RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MARK BEGICH, Alaska                  MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin             KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire
HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota

                   Richard J. Kessler, Staff Director
               John P. Kilvington, Deputy Staff Director
                    Beth M. Grossman, Chief Counsel
         Troy H. Cribb, Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs
               Keith B. Ashdown, Minority Staff Director
         Christopher J. Barkley, Minority Deputy Staff Director
               Andrew C. Dockham, Minority Chief Counsel
                  Patrick J. Bailey, Minority Counsel
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                                                       Calendar No. 249
113th Congress
                                 SENATE
                                                                 Report
 1st Session                                                    113-122

======================================================================




       FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY ASSET MANAGEMENT REFORM ACT OF 2013

                                _______
                                

               November 19, 2013.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Carper, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1398]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 1398) to require 
the Federal Government to expedite the sale of underutilized 
Federal real property, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose..........................................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History.............................................10
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported............10
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact.................................13
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Estimate............................13
VII. Changes to Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported...........16

                         I. Purpose and Summary

    The purpose of S. 1398 is to improve the efficiency and 
effectiveness of the federal government's management of real 
property. It requires agencies to maintain an up-to-date 
inventory of real property, establishes an interagency Federal 
Real Property Council to develop guidance on real property 
management and ensure its implementation, and authorizes a 
pilot program to expedite the disposal of surplus real 
property.

              II. Background and Need for the Legislation


                           GENERAL BACKGROUND

    The federal government owns and leases billions of dollars' 
worth of ``real property,'' a term that encompasses both land 
and any structures on it. Effectively and efficiently managing 
the government's extensive real property holdings has posed 
serious and long-standing challenges for the federal 
government. Since 2003, the Government Accountability Office 
(GAO) has placed real property management on its ``high risk 
list,'' GAO's inventory of programs at high risk for waste, 
fraud, or abuse, or that pose management challenges sufficient 
to threaten crucial government services.\1\ Problems related to 
real property management include ineffective management of 
excess and underutilized property and an overreliance on costly 
leasing. Compounding these management problems is the fact that 
agencies that no longer need particular parcels of property 
face a lengthy and costly disposal process, often causing 
agencies to keep unneeded property. As a result, the federal 
government as a whole continues to retain more real property 
than it needs.
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    \1\U.S. Government Accountability Office, High Risk Series: Federal 
Real Property (Jan. 2003) (GAO-03-122).
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    Since the first designation of real property management to 
GAO's high risk list, the problem has received high level 
attention from both the current and previous administrations. A 
2004 Presidential Executive Order required agencies to 
designate a senior real property officer to inventory property 
managed by the agency (whether owned or leased) and develop a 
property management plan. The Executive Order also established 
the Federal Real Property Council (the Council), comprised of 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Controller and senior 
real property officers from twenty-four landholding agencies, 
and charged them with promoting reforms.\2\
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    \2\Exec. Order No. 13327, 69 Fed. Reg. 5897 (Feb. 4, 2004). The 
twenty-four agencies are those agencies covered by the Chief Financial 
Officers Act (P.L. 101-576), and encompasses the largest agencies and 
departments of the federal government.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Although agencies have made progress in some areas of real 
property management following the issuance of the 2004 
Executive Order GAO concluded in January 2008 that the core 
problems that led to the placement of real property management 
on the high risk list remained unaddressed. In fact, GAO 
reported that agencies' reliance on leasing property rather 
than owning property (which commonly is more cost effective) 
was increasing. For example, the General Services 
Administration (GSA), which acts as the government's leasing 
agent, increased its leased space from about 160 million square 
feet to about 172 million square feet from fiscal year 2003 
through fiscal year 2006. During that same time, GSA's owned 
space decreased from about 180 million square feet to about 174 
million square feet.\3\ In 2008, GSA predicted that in that 
year it would, for the first time, lease more property than it 
owned.\4\
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    \3\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Real Property: 
Strategies Needed to Address Agencies' Long-Standing Reliance on Costly 
Leasing, (Jan. 2008) (GAO-08-197) p. 13.
    \4\Ibid. at 9.
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    In June 2010, President Obama issued a memorandum directing 
agencies to identify and eliminate sufficient excess properties 
to produce a $3 billion cost savings by the end of Fiscal Year 
(FY) 2012. The memorandum directed agencies to find the cost 
savings in increased proceeds from the sale of assets and 
reduced operating, maintenance, and energy expenses from 
disposals or other space consolidation efforts.\5\ In May 2012, 
the Acting Director of OMB, Jeffrey Zients, issued a memorandum 
stating that ``agencies shall not increase the size of their 
civilian real estate inventory'' and ``any acquisition of new 
federal building space . . . that increases an agency's total 
square footage of civilian property must be offset through 
consolidation, co-location, or disposal of space from the 
inventory of that agency.''\6\ Most recently, in March 2013, 
the OMB Controller, Daniel Werfel, issued guidance requiring 
agencies to develop and submit a Revised Real Property Cost 
Savings and Innovation Plan as well as an Annual Agency 
Evaluation describing the agency's overall approach to managing 
its real property usage and spending.\7\
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    \5\White House, Presidential Memorandum--Disposing of Unneeded 
Federal Real Estate (June 10, 2010). Can be found at http://
www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-memorandum-disposing-
unneeded-Federal -real-estate).
    \6\The Office of Management and Budget, M-12-12: Memorandum to the 
Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, Promoting Efficient 
Spending to Support Agency Operations (May 12, 2012), p. 5. Can be 
found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/
2012/M-12-12.pdf
    \7\The Office of Management and Budget, Management Procedures 
Memorandum No. 2013-02, Implementation of OMB Memorandum M-12-12 
Section 3: Freeze the Footprint (March 14, 2013). Can be found at 
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/financial/memos/
implementation-of-freeze-the-footprint-guidance.pdf
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 THE FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY COUNCIL AND CHALLENGES OF DATA ACCURACY AND 
                              CONSISTENCY

    Despite efforts by both the Obama and Bush Administrations, 
real property management retained its spot on GAO's 2013 high 
risk list, a designation with which the Committee agrees. Most 
significantly and fundamentally, federal agencies still do not 
have consistent, accurate, and useful data about their real 
property holdings, which makes sound planning and decision 
making about property use, acquisition, and disposition 
virtually impossible. Under the 2004 Executive Order, GSA was 
tasked with developing and managing ``a single, comprehensive, 
and descriptive database of all real property under the custody 
and control of all executive branch agencies, except when 
otherwise required for reasons of national security.''\8\ The 
Council and GSA then developed the Federal Real Property 
Profile (FRPP) database to collect key inventory information on 
the government's real property holdings. The goals of the FRPP 
are to: (1) lead to an increased level of agency accountability 
for real property management; (2) allow for comparing and 
benchmarking across various types of real property assets; and 
(3) give decision-makers the accurate and reliable data needed 
to make asset management decisions, including disposing of 
unneeded properties.\9\
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    \8\Exec. Order No. 13327, 69 Fed. Reg. 5897 (Feb. 4, 2004).
    \9\General Services Administration, Real Property Management 
Policy, Asset Management, Federal Real Property Profile, Frequently 
Asked Questions, accessed September 30, 2013, 
http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104199.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Council has been collecting FRPP data on federal 
properties since 2005, but problems relating to the 
completeness and accuracy of the data submitted by agencies 
have rendered the FRPP relatively useless. A June 2012 GAO 
report noted that the Council has not followed sound data 
collection practices when collecting FRPP data. Specifically, 
GAO found the Council did not give agencies adequate guidance 
in surveying property, leading to problems with data 
consistency, performance measures, and data reporting.\10\ GAO 
reported that agencies, for their part, have expressed concerns 
about the data collection process, including the amount of data 
collection required, the time they are given to implement new 
requirements, and their ability to collect required data 
accurately.\11\ Unfortunately, while agency concerns have 
increased, the Council has stopped meeting regularly, limiting 
opportunities to address these concerns and provide guidance to 
agencies. GAO also raises questions about whether the Council 
should publish more of the data it collects from agencies in 
its FRPP summary reports\12\ in order to help decision makers 
such as Congress, which generally does not have access to the 
FRPP, make informed decisions regarding property 
management.\13\
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    \10\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Real Property: 
National Strategy and Better Data needed to Improve Management of 
Excess and Underutilized Property (June 2012) (GAO-12-645) p. 23.
    \11\Id. at 25.
    \12\General Services Administration, Real Property Management 
Policy, Asset Management, Federal Real Property Profile, Federal Real 
Property Summary Report Library, accessed September 30, 2013, 
www.gsa.gov/frppreports
    \13\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Real Property: 
National Strategy and Better Data needed to Improve Management of 
Excess and Underutilized Property (June 2012) (GAO-12-645) pp. 27-28.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    GAO found that flaws in data consistency and accuracy 
extend to agencies' reporting of the extent to which property 
in their inventory is being utilized fully, is underutilized, 
or should be declared excess (that is, no longer needed by the 
agency). For example, GAO visited a United States Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) site with two houses listed on the FRPP as 
utilized for 2009 and 2010 that, in reality, had been empty 
since 2009.\14\ Additionally, one building owned by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was reported to have a 
utilization rate of 39 percent in 2010 and a 45 percent 
utilization rate in 2011 even though local officials GAO spoke 
to said that the building has been fully occupied since 2008. 
At the same time, a different building on the same VA site was 
reported to be unutilized in 2010 and 59 percent utilized in 
2011, but when GAO toured the building all but one of the rooms 
in the building were vacant and local officials reported to GAO 
that only 10 percent of the building was utilized.\15\ These 
data anomalies occur both because guidance issued by the 
Council on how agencies should evaluate their real property is 
not always clear and because agencies sometimes do not follow 
the guidance. When key data elements are not reported uniformly 
across the government, the information provides little value 
when inserted into a single database. Without an accurate and 
consistent government-wide database of real property assets, it 
will remain difficult to address additional challenges in 
efficiently managing federal real property.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \14\Id. at 11.
    \15\Id. at 10-11.
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                                LEASING

    Compounding the federal government's property management 
challenges is an over-reliance on costly leasing, even where 
ownership would be more cost-effective in the long term. GAO 
cited the federal government's heavy reliance on leasing as one 
reason that federal real property management remains a high-
risk area.\16\ According to GAO, the federal government now 
leases more property than it owns.\17\ Additionally, the 
government often leases space from private landlords in the 
same real estate market where it also owns underutilized 
property. The effect of this is the federal government 
overpaying for property. In some cases, federal agencies in the 
same market could consolidate their offices into other 
government-owned properties. However, as GAO notes, agencies 
often do not have a clear understanding of real property held 
by other agencies and may lack the authority or expertise to 
identify underutilized federal property in the same market that 
is suitable for co-location with other federal agencies.\18\ 
While leasing from the private sector may be a viable option 
when an agency has a desire or need for flexibility or a short-
term need, studies have shown that building ownership options 
through construction or purchase are generally the least 
expensive ways to meet long-term occupancy needs.\19\
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    \16\U.S. Government Accountability Office, High Risk Series: An 
Update (Feb. 2013) (GAO-13-283).
    \17\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Real Property: 
Overreliance on Leasing Contributed to High-Risk Designation (Aug. 
2011) (GAO-11-879T), p. 1.
    \18\U.S. Government Accountability Office, High Risk Series: An 
Update (Feb. 2013) (GAO-13-283), p. 107.
    \19\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Real Property: 
Reliance on Costly Leasing to Meet New Space Needs is an Ongoing 
Problem (Oct. 2005) (GAO-06-136T), p. 2.
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    Under current law, GSA is authorized to lease property for 
itself and on behalf of many other agencies. Certain agencies, 
however, have limited independent leasing authority, which 
means they do not have to work with GSA to acquire leased 
space. Some agencies with independent leasing authority, such 
as the VA, have established in-house real estate expertise, 
while other agencies with independent leasing authority have 
not. For example, in 2010, the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (SEC) executed a $557 million, 10-year lease for 
900,000 square feet of office space, which the SEC's Inspector 
General described as ``another in a long history of missteps 
and misguided leasing decisions made by the SEC since it was 
granted independent leasing authority by Congress in 
1990.''\20\ The Committee believes that urgent action is needed 
to consolidate federal operations onto government-owned sites, 
where appropriate, thereby reducing the federal government's 
leasing portfolio in a way that is advantageous for federal 
agencies, stakeholders, and the clientele served by those 
agencies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \20\U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Inspector 
General, Improper Actions Relating to the Leasing of Office Space (May 
2011) (Case No. OIG-553), p. 2.
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                    PROPERTY MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL

    The federal government continues to hold more real property 
than it needs, leaving many buildings underutilized or vacant. 
Vacant and underutilized federal properties are costly to 
maintain. Every unneeded square foot of building space held by 
the federal government requires annual funding for operations 
and maintenance. This includes the costs of cleaning, heating, 
lighting, landscaping, and security, as well as any costs 
related to mortgage or lease payments. By holding onto unneeded 
properties, agencies incur hidden opportunity costs because 
unneeded buildings and land can be put to more cost-beneficial 
uses, exchanged for other needed property, or sold to generate 
revenue for the federal government. Additionally, when an 
agency holds on to a property it no longer needs, that property 
cannot be used by other entities such as private business or 
non-profits to create jobs, spur innovation, increase local and 
national prosperity, or meet other needs.
    GAO has cited several longstanding barriers that cause 
agencies to hold on to underutilized or unneeded vacant 
properties rather than disposing of them by demolition, sale, 
or other means.\21\ The government's ability to dispose of 
unneeded property in an effective manner is hampered by a 
lengthy disposal process. Legislative mandates, for instance, 
require federal agencies to determine whether a property can be 
used for homeless assistance or for another kind of public 
benefit.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \21\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Real Property: 
The Government Faces Challenges to Disposing of Unneeded Buildings, 
(Testimony before the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public 
Buildings and Emergency Management, Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure, House of Representatives) (February 2011) (GAO-11-
370T).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Committee is deeply concerned about the hurdles created 
by the current process for disposing of federal property. The 
disposal process\22\ requires agencies to report excess 
property to GSA, which in turn makes it available to other 
federal agencies at market rates. However, if no federal agency 
expresses interest, the property is deemed surplus and must 
then go through a lengthy screening process to determine 
whether it should be disposed of through the ``public benefit 
conveyance'' process. Properties disposed of in this way can be 
offered to state and local governments or qualified nonprofits 
for use in accomplishing public purposes specified in law, such 
as use as educational facilities or for providing services to 
the homeless. Conveyances under these procedures are either 
donated or made at values well below the fair market. The 
process for determining whether a property is suitable can be a 
lengthy one, and unneeded properties may remain in an agency's 
possession for years and continue to accumulate maintenance and 
operation costs.\23\
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    \22\The disposal process is governed by 40 U.S.C. Sec. 5 
subchapters III and IV, and under part 101 of Title 41 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations
    \23\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Real Property: 
Progress Made on Planning and Data, but Unneeded Owned and Leased 
Facilities Remain (Testimony before the Subcommittee on Economic 
Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management, Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives) (April 
2011) (GAO-11-520T) p. 5.
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    Additionally, stakeholders other than Congress, OMB, and 
the real property-holding agencies, have an interest in how the 
federal government carries out its real property acquisition, 
management, and disposal practices.\24\ GAO notes that 
competing stakeholder interest in how the federal government 
carries out its real property management and disposal practices 
exacerbates the government's inability to efficiently dispose 
of unneeded property.\25\ As a result, decisions about real 
property often do not reflect the most cost-effective or 
efficient alternative, which would be in the interest of the 
agency or the government as a whole, but instead reflect on 
other priorities. In particular, this situation often arises 
when the federal government attempts to consolidate facilities 
or otherwise dispose of unneeded assets.\26\ For example, VA 
officials reported to GAO that disposal is often not an option 
for most properties because of political stakeholders and 
constituencies, including historic building advocates or local 
communities that want to maintain their relationship with VA. 
Additionally, Interior officials reported to GAO that it faces 
significant challenges in balancing the needs and concerns of 
local and state governments, historical preservation offices, 
political interests, and others, particularly when coupled with 
budget constraints.\27\ The result is a process that is costly, 
cumbersome, and counter-productive in terms of the incentives 
it provides for agencies to keep unwanted property on their 
books.
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    \24\These stakeholders include foreign governments, state and local 
governments, business interests in the communities where the assets are 
located, private sector construction and leasing firms, historic 
preservation organizations, various advocacy groups, and the public in 
general.
    \25\Ibid. at 5.
    \26\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Real Property: 
Progress Made Toward Addressing Problems, but Underlying Obstacles 
Continue to Hamper Reform, (April 2007) (GAO-07-349) p. 38.
    \27\Id.
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    The cost of disposing of real property can also outweigh 
the financial benefits that result from building demolition or 
sale. Agencies often lack the financial resources necessary to 
dispose of excess facilities. Vacant and underutilized 
properties are often among the oldest, most deteriorated assets 
in agencies' portfolios. Agencies must complete expensive 
repairs and renovations before the properties are ready for 
disposal. Without the budgetary resources available to 
agencies, they do not have an incentive to invest money towards 
preparing property for demolition or sale. For example, USDA 
reported to GAO that the total annual cost of maintaining 1,864 
USDA assets with annual operating costs less than $5,000 was $3 
million. However, the cost of disposing of these assets equals 
or exceeds their annual operating cost and therefore disposal 
would not immediately result in cost savings. Therefore, USDA 
has chosen not to dispose of the assets.\28\ In the long run, 
the cost of maintaining and operating these assets will likely 
be higher than the cost of disposing of those USDA finds it no 
longer needs. However, because the upfront cost of disposal is 
higher than the annual cost of operations and maintenance of 
unneeded properties, USDA has chosen to keep those properties 
on the books.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \28\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Real Property: 
National Strategy and Better Data needed to Improve Management of 
Excess and Underutilized Property (June 2012) (GAO-12-645), pp. 37-38.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Meeting environmental requirements also adds costs that may 
outweigh the financial benefit of disposing of unneeded 
property. Federal agencies are required by law\29\ to assess 
and pay for any environmental cleanup that may be needed before 
disposing of a property--a process that may require years of 
study and result in significant costs. In some cases, the cost 
of the environmental cleanup may exceed the costs of continuing 
to maintain unneeded property.\30\ In this case, agencies will 
often choose not to dispose of unneeded property.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \29\42 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 4321-4347.
    \30\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Real Property: 
The Government Faces Challenges to Disposing of Unneeded Buildings, 
(Testimony before the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public 
Buildings and Emergency Management, Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure, House of Representatives) (February 2011) (GAO-11-370T) 
p. 5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Further exacerbating the problem, current law requires most 
agencies to return funds received from the sale of surplus 
property to the Treasury, even though it can require a 
significant upfront investment to get a building ready for 
disposal for the reasons stated above.\31\ Therefore, an agency 
that goes through the lengthy disposal process, using 
significant budgetary and personnel resources in the process, 
in most cases is not able to retain the proceeds from the sale. 
With little incentive to spend the money and other resources 
needed to dispose of the property, property managers often 
decide to pay for continued maintenance of vacant or 
underutilized property rather than to go through the trouble 
and cost of disposing of it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \31\Ibid. at 5.
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    To address this problem, certain agencies have been granted 
specific statutory authority to retain proceeds from the sale 
of their property.\32\ Retention of proceeds has proven to be 
an effective incentive for federal agencies to dispose of their 
unneeded properties.\33\ In testimony before the Committee, 
Robert Peck, the former Commissioner of the Public Buildings 
Service at GSA, reported that proceeds retention authority has 
spurred agencies to eliminate unneeded assets and provided an 
important source of reinvestment funds.\34\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \32\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Real Property: 
Authorities and Actions Regarding Enhanced Use Leases and Sale of 
Unneeded Real Property (Feb. 2009) (GAO-09-283R), p. 4.
    \33\Id.
    \34\Testimony given to the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial 
Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International 
Security. Peck, Robert, General Services Administration, June 9, 2011, 
p. 3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Agencies have consistently argued that these statutory 
requirements slow down the disposal process, compelling 
agencies to incur operating costs for extended periods of time 
while the properties are being screened. For example, real 
property officials at the VA have said the McKinney-Vento 
Homeless Assistance Act,\35\ which mandates that all surplus 
property be screened to assess its suitability for use by non-
profit organizations to assist the homeless population, can add 
as much as two years to the disposal process.\36\ Because 
public benefit conveyance requirements are set in law, agencies 
do not have the authority to bypass these steps in the process, 
even for surplus properties that cannot be realistically 
conveyed, such as those that are uninhabitable due to 
environmental concerns. Similarly, the Department of Energy 
(DOE) informed auditors that it has properties that could be 
disposed of only by demolition, due to their condition or 
location, but were still subject to the screening process, 
thereby forcing the agency to pay maintenance costs during the 
lengthy screening period that could have been avoided.\37\ 
While undoubtedly well intentioned, these requirements have 
created a patchwork of cumbersome and confusing rules. Their 
net effect has been to discourage agencies from initiating 
disposal actions, thereby depriving non-federal entities of the 
opportunity to make more productive use of these properties.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \35\Codified at 42 U.S.C. Sec. 11411
    \36\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Real Property: 
Progress Made in Reducing Unneeded Property, but VA Needs Better 
Information to Make Further Reductions (Sept. 2008) (GAO-08-939), p. 
39.
    \37\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Real Property: 
Progress Made Toward Addressing Problems, but Underlying Obstacles 
Continue to Hamper Reform, (April 2007) (GAO-07-349), p. 40.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Committee is particularly concerned about the dilatory 
effect of provisions requiring the screening of property for 
use by homeless groups. While thousands of properties are 
screened every year for homeless use, very few are deemed 
suitable for transfer to groups assisting the homeless 
population, and even fewer are actually donated to those 
groups. According to data provided to the Committee by GSA, 
since the inception of the McKinney-Vento program in 1987 
through the end of fiscal year 2010, only 108 properties have 
been conveyed to groups assisting the homeless although tens of 
thousands of properties are estimated to have been screened 
during this time. From 2001 through 2011, only 39 properties 
were conveyed to homeless assistance providers, an average of 
less than four properties each year. In 2011, only one property 
was given to a homeless assistance provider. Meanwhile both 
taxpayer dollars and energy resources go to maintain the excess 
assets in line to be screened.
    In summary, the challenge of federal real property 
management highlights the need for a new national strategy. As 
noted by GAO, a national strategy can provide a clear path 
forward to help federal agencies manage excess and 
underutilized property in the long term, guide federal agencies 
and other stakeholders to systematically identify risks and 
resources needed to address those risks, and help agencies 
determine investment priorities when managing federal 
portfolios.\38\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \38\Id. at 42.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    S. 1398 addresses this need by codifying the Federal Real 
Property Council and directing it to establish a national real 
property management plan to include goals for reducing surplus 
property and achieving better utilization of underutilized 
property. The Council is made up of key property management 
officials from around government. It is tasked with ensuring 
that the strategy is implemented so that Congress and the heads 
of agencies will be able to track progress in achieving real 
property management objectives on a government-wide basis.
    The Committee also believes that many of the obstacles that 
contribute to poor property management can be addressed by 
requiring agencies to maintain better data on their real 
property, prohibiting agencies from acquiring new real property 
without disposing of underutilized properties, and offering 
agencies incentives to dispose of unneeded property. S. 1398 
first does this by requiring each agency to regularly survey 
its real property assets and report them to the Council. The 
legislation also requires agencies to seek more efficient use 
of existing space, including through co-location with other 
federal agencies, where appropriate. Further, S. 1398 puts in 
place a strategy for reducing the amount of leased space used 
for long-term needs. Finally, the bill facilitates the disposal 
of unneeded properties by establishing a pilot program for 
expedited property disposal. The pilot disposal program also 
provides agencies with an incentive to dispose of unneeded 
property by allowing agencies to retain 18 percent of the 
proceeds of any sale to use towards real property asset 
management and disposal of unneeded real property.
    In a letter to the Committee, the National Law Center on 
Homelessness and Poverty expressed their concern that S. 1398 
would eliminate the ability of homeless service providers to 
receive federal property at no cost that was established under 
the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. However, the bill 
does not eliminate any provision under the McKinney-Vento 
Homeless Assistance Act. Rather, S. 1398 establishes a pilot 
disposal program for which properties in the program are not 
subject to the public benefit conveyance process. The pilot 
disposal program is limited to 200 surplus properties per year 
and would expire after five years. During this time, homeless 
assistance groups would still be able to apply for and receive 
the surplus properties deemed suitable for use in assisting the 
homeless population that are not a part of the pilot program. 
Given the twenty-five year record discussed above, the 
Committee has concluded that Congress should consider changing 
the McKinney-Vento mandate. The pilot program would allow 
Congress to study whether waiving certain provisions in the 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act would indeed expedite 
disposal of surplus federal property and whether there is a 
more efficient and cost-effective way for the federal 
government to support the homeless population other than 
holding up, often for years, the disposal of each piece of 
federal surplus property so that a minute subset of those 
properties can go to serve the homeless. To that end, the bill 
dictates that 2 percent of proceeds from the properties sold 
under the pilot program be directed to a grant program to be 
distributed to homeless providers for purchase or 
rehabilitation of other properties. The Committee believes that 
contributing a percentage of proceeds from the sale of surplus 
federal property to homeless assistance grants would be more 
beneficial to the homeless than donating only a handful of 
properties each year to homeless assistance providers 
nationwide.

                        III. Legislative History

    S. 1398 was introduced by Senators Carper and Coburn on 
July 30, 2013, with Senators Ayotte, Begich, Portman, Pryor, 
and Tester as co-sponsors. The Committee considered the bill at 
a business meeting on July 31, 2013, and ordered the bill 
reported favorably by a voice vote, with Senator Levin asking 
to be recorded as voting against the bill. Members present for 
the vote on the bill were Senators Carper, Levin, McCaskill, 
Tester, Begich, Baldwin, Coburn, Johnson, Ayotte, and Chiesa.

        IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported


Section 1. Short title

    This section gives the bill the short title of the 
``Federal Real Property Asset Management Reform Act of 2013.''

Section 2. Purpose

    This section states that the bill's purpose is to increase 
the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal government in 
managing its real property by (1) requiring agencies to 
maintain an up-to-date inventory of real property; (2) 
establishing a Federal Real Property Council to develop 
guidance and ensure the implementation of strategies for better 
managing federal real property; and (3) authorizing a pilot 
program to expedite the disposal of surplus real property.

Section 3. Property management and expedited disposal of real property

    The first part of this section defines important terms for 
the bill.
    It defines ``excess property'' as property under the 
control of a federal agency that the head of the agency 
determines is not required to meet the agency's needs or 
responsibilities.
    ``Surplus property'' is defined as excess property that is 
not required to meet the needs or responsibilities of any 
federal agency. The term surplus property does not include: (1) 
any military installation; (2) Indian and Native Eskimo 
property held in trust by the federal government; (3) real 
property operated and maintained by the Tennessee Valley 
Authority; (4) any real property the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget excludes for reasons of national 
security; (5) any public lands administered by the Secretary of 
Interior through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, 
the Director of the National Park Service, the Commissioner of 
Reclamation, or the Director of the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service; (6) any public lands administered by the 
Secretary of Agriculture acting through the Chief of the Forest 
Service; and, (7) any property operated and maintained by the 
United States Postal Service.
    ``Underutilized property'' is defined in the legislation as 
an entire property or portion thereof, with or without 
improvements which is used (1) irregularly or intermittently by 
the accountable federal agency for program purposes of that 
agency or (2) for program purposes that can be satisfied only 
with a portion of that property.
    The term ``disposal'' is defined as any action that 
constitutes the removal of any real property from the federal 
inventory, including sale, deed, demolition, or exchange.
    The term ``Administrator'' is defined as the Administrator 
of the General Services Administration (GSA).
    The term ``Director'' refers to the Director of the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB).
    The second part of this section details actions agencies 
must take in order to improve the management of their real 
property. Under this section each agency must conduct an 
inventory of real property under its control and provide 
detailed information about the inventoried property to the GSA 
Administrator and the Federal Real Property Council (the 
Council). Additionally, agencies are required to continuously 
survey their real property to identify excess and underutilized 
property, report any excess or underutilized property to the 
GSA Administrator, identify opportunities for colocation with 
other federal agencies where appropriate, and establish goals 
that will lead to a reduction of the agency's excess and 
underutilized real property. Agencies must also provide the 
Council and the GSA Administrator information on their real 
property assets to be used for the establishment and 
maintenance of a government-wide real property database.
    The third part of this section allows the Postmaster 
General of the U.S. Postal Service to identify a list of postal 
properties with space available for use by federal agencies and 
submit that list to the Council. Under this provision, agencies 
must review this list and recommend colocations if appropriate.
    The fourth part of this section establishes the Federal 
Real Property Council, to be comprised of senior real property 
officers from each of 24 designated federal agencies, the 
Controller at the Office of Management and Budget, and the GSA 
Administrator. The Deputy Director for Management at OMB will 
chair the Council and designate an Executive Director to assist 
the Council in carrying out its duties. This part of this 
section requires the Council to establish an annual real 
property asset management plan and to include in that plan 
performance measures that will enable Congress to track 
progress in achieving real property goals government-wide and 
compare the performance of landholding agencies against 
industry and other public sector agencies. Additionally, this 
section directs the Council to develop a strategy to reduce 
federal agencies' reliance on leasing when building ownership 
would be more cost-effective. Finally, the Council is expected 
to provide guidance to agencies so that property assessments 
can be uniform across the government.
    The fifth part of this section directs the GSA 
Administrator to establish and maintain a single, 
comprehensive, and descriptive database of all real property 
under the custody and control of federal agencies. The database 
must contain the results of agencies' inventory of their real 
property as described in the first part of this section as well 
as a list of real property disposals that have been completed 
within the past year. The Administrator is required to make the 
database accessible to the public at no cost within three years 
of the date of enactment of this bill.
    Although GSA is responsible for leasing property on behalf 
of most federal agencies, certain agencies have independent 
leasing authority, under which they may enter into leases on 
their own. The sixth part of this section imposes a reporting 
requirement on such agencies so that the executive branch and 
the Congress can better monitor whether those agencies' leases 
reflect the best use of federal resources. Agencies with 
independent leasing authority would be required to submit a 
yearly report to the Council providing detailed information 
regarding their leasing activity. This section would not apply 
to the United States Postal Service, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, or any other property the President excludes for 
reasons of national security.
    The sixth part of this section establishes a pilot program 
to expedite the disposal of surplus properties. Under this 
section, the Director of OMB may authorize the disposal of up 
to 200 surplus properties each year with priority going to 
those properties that have the highest fair market value and 
the greatest potential for disposal. Agencies must make 
property available for sale within 18 months after receiving a 
determination from the OMB Director that the property is 
surplus and has been selected for the pilot program. Failure to 
do so would prevent the agency from acquiring additional 
property unless the square footage of the increase is offset 
through consolidation, colocation, or disposal of another 
building space from the inventory of that agency. Under the 
pilot program, after GSA is reimbursed for the costs of 
identifying and preparing property for disposal, any proceeds 
will be distributed as follows: 80 percent would be returned to 
the Treasury for debt reduction; the lesser of 18 percent or 
the share of proceeds otherwise authorized to be retained under 
law would be retained by the agency that owned the property; 
and up to two percent would be used to fund homeless assistance 
grants. This section would permit the Secretary of the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development to use funds made 
available through sales proceeds for grants to eligible private 
non-profit organizations through the continuum care program 
established under title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 11381 et seq.). If a 
property that has been selected for disposal under the pilot 
program has not been disposed of after two years in the 
program, it may be conveyed to state and local governments or 
non-profit organizations for certain public purposes, unless 
the predominant use of the property is not for housing, the 
area of the property is not less than 25,000 square feet, or 
the appraised fair market value of the property is greater than 
$1 million.

Section 4. Report of the Comptroller General

    This section requires the Comptroller General of the United 
States, within five years of enactment, to submit a report to 
Congress on the expedited disposal program established in this 
legislation.

Section 5. Technical and conforming amendments

    This section contains a technical and conforming amendment 
to the table of contents for chapter 5 of subtitle I of Title 
40, United States Code.

                   V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill. The Committee 
agrees with the Congressional Budget Office that the bill 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no 
costs on state, local, or tribal governments, or private 
entities. The enactment of this legislation would not have 
significant regulatory impact.

                VI. Congressional Budget Office Estimate

                                                  November 1, 2013.
Hon. Tom Carper,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. 
        Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1398, the Federal 
Real Property Asset Management Reform Act of 2013.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact for this 
estimate is Matthew Pickford.
            Sincerely,
                                              Douglas W. Elmendorf.
    Enclosure.

S. 1398--Federal Real Property Asset Management Reform Act of 2013

    Summary: S. 1398 would amend the Federal Property and 
Administrative Services Act (property act) to facilitate the 
disposal of federal real property. The legislation would expand 
the duties and responsibilities of the Federal Real Property 
Council (FRPC), provide new authorities to the General Services 
Administration (GSA), and establish a five-year pilot program 
with the goal of expediting the disposal of surplus federal 
property.
    CBO estimates that enacting the bill would increase direct 
spending by $10 million over the 2014-2023 period because, for 
five years, it would authorize GSA to spend proceeds from the 
sale of federal property that are expected to be collected, but 
not spent, under current law. Because the legislation would 
affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. In 
addition, CBO estimates that, assuming the availability of 
appropriated funds, implementing S. 1398 would cost $3 million 
over the 2014-2018 period for additional administrative and 
reporting costs related to property disposal. Enacting S. 1398 
would not affect revenues.
    S. 1398 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated 
budgetary impact of S. 1398 is shown in the following table. 
The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 800 
(general government).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                         -------------------------------------------------------
                                                            2014     2015     2016     2017     2018   2014-2018
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           CHANGES IN DIRECT SPENDING

Estimated Budget Authority..............................        2        2        2        2        2        10
Estimated Outlays.......................................        2        2        2        2        2        10

                                  CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION

Estimated Authorization Level...........................        1        *        *        *        *         3
Estimated Outlays.......................................        1        *        *        *        *         3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: * = less than $500,000.

    Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that S. 
1398 will be enacted in early 2014, that the necessary funds 
will be provided for each year, and that spending will follow 
historical patterns for the affected programs.

Direct spending

    The legislation would establish a five-year program to 
expedite the disposal of surplus properties. Under that 
program, up to 200 properties annually could be sold without 
completing some of the administrative processes and 
determinations that must occur under current law. Up to 20 
percent of the proceeds from those sales would be available to 
be spent by agencies or provided as grants for the homeless, 
subject to future appropriation. The Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) would be responsible for 
identifying the federal properties available for disposal under 
this expedited program, which would terminate five years after 
enactment. Under the bill, agencies would be prohibited from 
acquiring or leasing new property until they have disposed of 
all of their underutilized property.
    Under the property act, GSA currently manages the disposal 
of surplus federal property for most agencies. The act allows 
GSA to spend 12 percent of any proceeds from the sale of 
federal buildings to cover its direct costs related to 
preparing the property for sale; such costs include auction 
fees and the cost of obtaining appraisals. The remaining 
proceeds from surplus property sales are deposited in the 
Treasury as offsetting receipts and, for the most part, cannot 
be spent without further appropriation. Under current law, CBO 
estimates that GSA's net receipts from the sale of surplus 
federal property will total about $20 million per year.
    Under the program that would be established in S. 1398, GSA 
would be allowed to spend additional proceeds from property 
sales to pay for the indirect costs related to preparing 
properties for sale. Such costs would include conducting market 
research and cost/benefit analyses and other activities to 
identify and prepare for disposal properties that have not yet 
been declared excess to the government's needs. The legislation 
would not cap the portion of sales proceeds that could be spent 
on indirect costs. CBO estimates that authorizing GSA to spend 
additional proceeds from property sales to pay for such 
indirect costs would increase direct spending by $2 million a 
year from the receipts from property sales anticipated to occur 
under current law. The increase in spending could be as much as 
$20 million a year, however, depending on how GSA would use 
this new authority.
    In addition, based on an analysis of information from the 
Government Accountability Office, OMB, GSA, and other federal 
landholding agencies, CBO expects that little additional 
property would be sold under this program. Many of the largest 
federal agencies that manage significant numbers of properties 
would probably opt to continue using their enhanced-use-leasing 
authorities rather than GSA's property disposition services to 
leverage value from underused real property. The financial 
incentive that would be provided to non-GSA agencies to 
participate in the program would not be large. Furthermore, 
since June 2010, the President has directed agencies to 
accelerate efforts to dispose of unneeded property, reduce 
facility operating costs, and adopt more efficient real estate 
management practices. Thus, it is not clear how the program 
authorized in the bill would significantly accelerate disposal 
efforts beyond what will occur under current law.
    For those reasons, CBO expects that gross proceeds from 
federal property sales would not increase significantly under 
the bill, and this cost estimate incorporates no increase in 
such proceeds. However, if the new program and new spending 
authority to cover indirect costs related to property sales 
were to result in a 10 percent increase in sales proceeds, that 
amount would be sufficient to offset CBO's estimate of new 
direct spending under the bill.

Spending subject to appropriation

    S. 1398 would codify and expand the duties of the FRPC, 
increase the reporting responsibilities of landholding 
agencies, and require GSA to improve its database of federal 
real property. Under the legislation, the FRPC would need to 
develop new measures to analyze the use of government 
facilities, a strategy to reduce the need to lease buildings, a 
list of excess, surplus, and underultized property, as well as 
a list of properties available for co-locating federal 
agencies. In addition, agencies would have to report new 
information, including property sales costs, capital 
expenditures per building, and the number of federal employees 
using each facility. Based on information from GSA and some 
landholding agencies, CBO estimates that implementing those 
provisions would cost about $3 million over the 2014-2018 
period.
    Better information about federal real property holdings, in 
conjunction with additional funds for GSA to dispose of surplus 
facilities, could result in additional property disposals, thus 
reducing the need for annual appropriations to operate and 
maintain those facilities. On one hand, GAO has reported that 
operation and maintenance costs typically account for between 
60 percent and 85 percent of the lifetime costs of owning a 
building. On the other hand, GAO has also reported that the 
Federal Real Property Profile (the single comprehensive 
inventory system that contains data on all federal real 
property assets) often overstates a property's condition and 
annual operating costs. Those uncertainties make any estimate 
of the potential savings from disposing of federal property 
unreliable.
    Pay-As-You-Go considerations: The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go 
Act establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for 
legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. The net 
changes in outlays that are subject to those pay-as-you-go 
procedures are shown in the following table. Enacting the 
legislation would have no effect on revenues.

   CBO ESTIMATE OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO EFFECTS FOR S. 1398, THE FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY ASSET MANAGEMENT REFORM ACT OF 2013, AS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE SENATE
                                        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS ON JULY 31, 2013
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                       By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                             -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               2014   2015   2016   2017   2018   2019   2020   2021   2022   2023  2014-2018  2014-2023
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       NET INCREASE OR DECREASE (-) IN THE DEFICIT

Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Impact..............................      2      2      2      2      2      0      0      0      0      0        10         10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 1398 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or 
tribal governments.
    Previous CBO estimates: On July 16, 2013, CBO transmitted a 
cost estimate for H.R. 328, the Excess Federal Building and 
Property Disposal Act of 2013, as ordered reported by the House 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on March 20, 2013. 
Both bills are similar in that they deal with the selling of 
federal property, but they have several different provisions, 
primarily regarding the length of time for which the new 
authorities would be granted to GSA. The cost estimates reflect 
those differences.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal Spending: Matthew Pickford; 
Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Paige Piper/
Bach; Impact on the Private Sector: Elizabeth Cove Delisle.
    Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

       VII. Changes to Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
S. 1398 as reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed 
to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in 
italic, and existing law in which no change is proposed is 
shown in roman):

                           UNITED STATES CODE

TITLE 40--PUBLIC BUILDINGS, PROPERTY, AND WORKS

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


CHAPTER 5--PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



          Subchapter VII--Expedited Disposal of Real Property

Sec. 621. Definitions

    In this subchapter:
          (1) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' means 
        the Administrator of General Services.
          (2) Council.--The term `Council' means the Federal 
        Real Property Council established by section 623(a).
          (3) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director 
        of the Office of Management and Budget.
          (4) Disposal.--The term `disposal' means any action 
        that constitutes the removal of any real property from 
        the Federal inventory, including sale, deed, 
        demolition, or exchange.
          (5) Excess property.--The term `excess property' 
        means any real property under the control of a Federal 
        agency that the head of the Federal agency determines 
        is not required to meet the needs or responsibilities 
        of the Federal agency.
          (6) Federal agency.--The term `Federal agency' 
        means--
                  (A) an executive department or independent 
                establishment in the executive branch of the 
                Government; or
                  (B) a wholly owned Government corporation.
          (7) Field office.--The term `field office' means any 
        office of a Federal agency that is not the headquarters 
        office location for the Federal agency.
          (8) Postal property.--The term `postal property' 
        means any building owned by the United States Postal 
        Service.
          (9) Surplus property.--
                  (A) In general.--The term `surplus property' 
                means excess real property that is not required 
                to meet the needs or responsibilities of any 
                Federal agency.
                  (B) Exclusions.--The term `surplus property' 
                does not include--
                          (i) any military installation (as 
                        defined in section 2910 of the Defense 
                        Base Closure and Realignment Act of 
                        1990 (10 U.S.C. 2687 note; Public Law 
                        101-510));
                          (ii) any property that is excepted 
                        from the definition of the term 
                        `property' under section 102;
                          (iii) Indian and native Eskimo 
                        property held in trust by the Federal 
                        Government as described in section 
                        3301(a)(5)(C)(iii);
                          (iv) real property operated and 
                        maintained by the Tennessee Valley 
                        Authority pursuant to the Tennessee 
                        Valley Authority Act of 1933 (16 U.S.C. 
                        831 et seq.);
                          (v) any real property the Director 
                        excludes for reasons of national 
                        security;
                          (vi) any public lands (as defined in 
                        section 203 of the Public Lands Corps 
                        Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1722)) 
                        administered by--
                                  (I) the Secretary of the 
                                Interior, acting through--
                                          (aa) the Director of 
                                        the Bureau of Land 
                                        Management;
                                          (bb) the Director of 
                                        the National Park 
                                        Service;
                                          (cc) the Commissioner 
                                        of Reclamation; or
                                          (dd) the Director of 
                                        the United States Fish 
                                        and Wildlife Service; 
                                        or
                                  (II) the Secretary of 
                                Agriculture, acting through the 
                                Chief of the Forest Service; or
                          (vii) any property operated and 
                        maintained by the United States Postal 
                        Service.
          (10) Underutilized property.--The term `underutilized 
        property' means a portion or the entirety of any real 
        property, including any improvements, that is used--
                  (A) irregularly or intermittently by the 
                accountable Federal agency for program purposes 
                of the Federal agency; or (B) for program 
                purposes that can be satisfied only with a 
                portion of the property.

Sec. 622. Duties of Federal agencies

    Each Federal agency shall--
          (1) maintain adequate inventory controls and 
        accountability systems for real property under the 
        control of the Federal agency;
          (2) develop current and future workforce projections 
        so as to have the capacity to assess the needs of the 
        Federal workforce regarding the use of real property;
          (3) continuously survey real property under the 
        control of the Federal agency to identify excess 
        property, underutilized property, and other real 
        property suitable to be used for--
                  (A) colocation with other Federal agencies; 
                or
                  (B) consolidation with other facilities;
          (4) promptly report excess property and underutilized 
        property to the Administrator;
          (5) establish goals that will lead the Federal agency 
        to reduce excess property and underutilized property in 
        the inventory of the Federal agency;
          (6) submit to the Council a report on all excess 
        property and underutilized property in the inventory of 
        the Federal agency, including--
                  (A) whether underutilized property can be 
                better utilized; and
                  (B) the extent to which the Federal agency 
                believes that the underutilized property serves 
                the needs of the Federal agency to retain 
                underutilized property;
          (7) adopt workplace practices, configurations, and 
        management techniques that can achieve increased levels 
        of productivity and decrease the need for real property 
        assets;
          (8) assess leased space to identify space that is not 
        fully used or occupied;
          (9) on an annual basis and subject to the guidance of 
        the Council--
                  (A) conduct an inventory of real property 
                under control of the Federal agency; and (B) 
                make an assessment of each real property, which 
                shall include--
                          (i) the age and condition of the 
                        property;
                          (ii) the size of the property in 
                        square footage and acreage;
                          (iii) the geographical location of 
                        the property, including an address and 
                        description;
                          (iv) the extent to which the property 
                        is being utilized;
                          (v) the actual annual operating costs 
                        associated with the property;
                          (vi) the total cost of capital 
                        expenditures associated with the 
                        property;
                          (vii) sustainability metrics 
                        associated with the property;
                          (viii) the number of Federal 
                        employees and functions housed at the 
                        property;
                          (ix) the extent to which the mission 
                        of the Federal agency is dependent on 
                        the property;
                          (x) the estimated amount of capital 
                        expenditures projected to maintain and 
                        operate the property over each of the 
                        next 5 years after the date of 
                        enactment of this subchapter; and
                          (xi) any additional information 
                        required by the Administrator to carry 
                        out section 624; and
          (10) provide to the Council and the Administrator the 
        information described in paragraph (9)(B) to be used 
        for the establishment and maintenance of the database 
        described in section 624.

Sec. 623. Colocation among United States Postal Service properties

    (a) Identification of Postal Property.--Each year, the 
Postmaster General may--
          (1) identify a list of postal properties with space 
        available for use by Federal agencies; and
          (2) submit the list to the Council.
    (b) Submission of List of Postal Properties to Federal 
Agencies.--
          (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the 
        completion of a list under subsection (a), the Council 
        shall provide the list to each Federal agency.
          (2) Review by federal agencies.--Not later than 90 
        days after the receipt of the list submitted under 
        paragraph (1), each Federal agency shall--
                  (A) review the list;
                  (B) identify real property assets under the 
                control of the Federal agency; and (C) 
                recommend colocations if appropriate.
    (c) Terms of Colocation.--On approval of the 
recommendations under subsection (b) by the Postmaster General 
and the applicable agency head, the Federal agency or 
appropriate landholding entity may work with the Postmaster 
General to establish appropriate terms of a lease for each 
postal property.

``Sec. 624. Establishment of a Federal Real Property Council

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a Federal Real 
Property Council.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of the Council shall be--
          (1) to develop guidance and ensure implementation of 
        an efficient and effective real property management 
        strategy;
          (2) to identify opportunities for the Federal 
        Government to better manage real property assets; and
          (3) to reduce the costs of managing real property, 
        including operations, maintenance, and security.
    (c) Composition.--
          (1) In general.--The Council shall be composed 
        exclusively of--
                  (A) the senior real property officers of each 
                Federal agency;
                  (B) the Deputy Director for Management of the 
                Office of Management and Budget;
                  (C) the Controller of the Office of 
                Management and Budget;
                  (D) the Administrator; and
                  (E) any other full-time or permanent part-
                time Federal officials or employees, as the 
                Chairperson determines to be necessary.
          (2) Chairperson.--The Deputy Director for Management 
        of the Office of Management and Budget shall serve as 
        Chairperson of the Council.
          (3) Executive director.--
                  (A) In general.--The Chairperson shall 
                designate an Executive Director to assist in 
                carrying out the duties of the Council.
                  (B) Qualifications; full-time.--The Executive 
                Director shall--
                          (i) be appointed from among 
                        individuals who have substantial 
                        experience in the areas of commercial 
                        real estate and development, real 
                        property management, and Federal 
                        operations and management; and
                          (ii) serve full time.
    (d) Meetings.--
          (1) In general.--The Council shall meet subject to 
        the call of the Chairperson.
          (2) Minimum.--The Council shall meet not fewer than 4 
        times each year.
    (e) Duties.--The Council, in consultation with the Director 
and the Administrator, shall--
          (1) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
        of this subchapter, establish a real property 
        management plan template, to be updated annually, which 
        shall include performance measures, specific 
        milestones, measurable savings, strategies, and 
        government-wide goals based on the goals established 
        under section 622(5) to reduce surplus property or to 
        achieve better utilization of underutilized property, 
        and evaluation criteria to determine the effectiveness 
        of real property management that are designed--
                  (A) to enable Congress and heads of Federal 
                agencies to track progress in the achievement 
                of real property management objectives on a 
                government-wide basis;
                  ``(B) to improve the management of real 
                property; and
                  ``(C) to allow for comparison of the 
                performance of Federal agencies against 
                industry and other public sector agencies in 
                terms of performance;
          (2) develop standard use rates consistent throughout 
        each category of space and with nongovernmental space 
        use rates;
          (3) develop a strategy to reduce the reliance of 
        Federal agencies on leased space for long-term needs if 
        ownership would be less costly;
          (4) provide guidance on eliminating inefficiencies in 
        the Federal leasing process;
          (5) compile a list of real property assets that are 
        field offices that are suitable for colocation with 
        other real property assets; and
          (6) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
        of this subchapter and annually during the 4 year 
        period beginning on the date that is 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of this subchapter and ending on the 
        date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of 
        this subchapter, the Council shall submit to the 
        Director a report that contains.--
                  (A) a list of the remaining excess property, 
                surplus property, and underutilized properties 
                of each Federal agency;
                  (B) the progress of the Council toward 
                developing guidance for Federal agencies to 
                ensure that the assessment required under 
                section 622(9)(B) is carried out in a uniform 
                manner; and
                  (C) the progress of Federal agencies toward 
                achieving the goals established under section 
                622(5).
    (f) Consultation.--In carrying out the duties described in 
subsection (e), the Council shall also consult with 
representatives of.--
          (1) State, local, tribal authorities, and affected 
        communities; and
          (2) appropriate private sector entities and 
        nongovernmental organizations that have expertise in 
        areas of.--
                  (A) commercial real estate and development;
                  (B) government management and operations;
                  (C) space planning;
                  (D) community development, including 
                transportation and planning; and
                  (E) historic preservation.
    (g) Council Resources.--The Director and the Administrator 
shall provide staffing, and administrative support for the 
Council, as appropriate.

Sec. 625. Federal real property inventory and database

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this subchapter, the Administrator shall establish 
and maintain a single, comprehensive, and descriptive database 
of all real property under the custody and control of all 
Federal agencies.
    (b) Contents.--The database shall include--
          (1) information provided to the Administrator under 
        section 622(9)(B); and
          (2) a list of real property disposals completed, 
        including--
                  (A) the date and disposal method used for 
                each real property;
                  (B) the proceeds obtained from the disposal 
                of each real property;
                  (C) the amount of time required to dispose of 
                the real property, including the date on which 
                the real property is designated as excess 
                property;
                  (D) the date on which the property is 
                designated as surplus property and the date on 
                which the property is disposed; and
                  (E) all costs associated with the disposal.
    (c) Accessibility.--
          (1) Committees.--The database established under 
        subsection (a) shall be made available on request to 
        the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
        Affairs and the Committee on Environment and Public 
        Works of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and 
        Government Reform and the Committee on Transportation 
        and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives.
          (2) General public.--Not later than 3 years after the 
        date of enactment of this subchapter and to the extent 
        consistent with national security, the Administrator 
        shall make the database established under subsection 
        (a) accessible to the public at no cost through the 
        website of the General Services Administration.

Sec. 626. Limitation on certain leasing authorities

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), not 
later than December 31 of each year following the date of 
enactment of this subchapter, a Federal agency with independent 
leasing authority shall submit to the Council a list of all 
leases, including operating leases, in effect on the date of 
enactment of this subchapter that includes--
          (1) the date on which each lease was executed;
          (2) the date on which ease lease will expire;
          (3) a description of the size of the space;
          (4) the location of the property;
          ``(5) the tenant agency;
          ``(6) the total annual rental rate; and
          ``(7) the amount of the net present value of the 
        total estimated legal obligations of the Federal 
        Government over the life of the contract.
    (b) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to--
          (1) the United States Postal Service;
          (2) the Department of Veterans Affairs; or
          (3) any other property the President excludes from 
        subsection (a) for reasons of national security.

Sec. 627. Expedited disposal pilot program

    (a) Establishment.--The Director shall establish a pilot 
program to dispose of, by sale, transfer, or other means of 
disposal, any surplus property.
          (1) Properties for expedited disposal.--
                  (A) In general.--On an annual basis, the 
                Director may authorize the expedited disposal 
                of not more than 200 surplus properties.
                  (B) Priority.--In determining which 
                properties to dispose of, the Director shall 
                give priority to surplus properties that have 
                the highest fair market value and the greatest 
                potential for disposal.
                  (C) Costs associated with disposal.--
                          (i) In general.--The Administrator 
                        may obligate an amount to pay any 
                        direct and indirect costs under section 
                        572 related to identifying and 
                        preparing properties to be reported as 
                        excess property by a Federal agency.
                          (ii) Reimbursement.--An amount 
                        obligated under clause (i) shall be 
                        paid from the proceeds of any sale of 
                        real property under this subsection.
                          (iii) Net Proceeds.--Net proceeds 
                        shall be distributed under subsection 
                        (b).
                  (D) Maximum net proceeds.--Any real property 
                authorized to be disposed of by sale of under 
                subparagraph (A) shall disposed of in a manner 
                that, as determined by the Administrator in 
                consultation with the head of the applicable 
                Federal agency, is structured and marketed to 
                maximize the value to the Federal Government.
                  (E) Monetary proceeds requirement.--Surplus 
                property may be disposed of under this section 
                only if disposal of the property will generate 
                monetary proceeds to the Federal Government 
                that--
                          (i) exceed the costs of disposal of 
                        the property; and
                          (ii) are not less than 90 percent of 
                        fair market value.
          (2) Applicability of certain law.--Any expedited 
        disposal of real property conducted under this section 
        shall not be subject to--
                  (A) any section of An Act Authorizing the 
                Transfer of Certain Real Property for Wildlife, 
                or other Purposes (16 U.S.C. 667b);
                  (B) sections 107 and 317 of title 23;
                  (C) sections 545(b)(8), 550, 553, 554, and 
                1304(b);
                  (D) section 501 of the McKinney-Vento 
                Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11411);
                  (E) section 47151 of title 49; or
                  (F) section 13(d) of the Surplus Property Act 
                of 1944 (50 U.S.C. App. 1622(d)).
          (3) Effect.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
        nothing in this subchapter terminates or in any way 
        limits the authority of any Federal agency under any 
        other provision of law to dispose of real property.
    (b) Use of Proceeds.--
          (1) In general.--Of the proceeds received from the 
        disposal of any real property under this subchapter.--
                  (A) not less than 80 percent shall be 
                returned to the general fund of the Treasury 
                for debt reduction;
                  (B) the lesser of 18 percent or the share of 
                proceeds otherwise authorized to be retained 
                under law shall be retained by the Federal 
                agency that has custody and is accountable for 
                the real property, subject to paragraph (2);
                  (C) not greater than 2 percent shall be made 
                available to carry out section 627, subject to 
                annual appropriations; and
                  (D) any remaining share of the proceeds shall 
                be returned to the general fund of the Treasury 
                for Federal budget deficit reduction.
          (2) Limitation on use of proceeds.--Any proceeds 
        retained by Federal agencies under this section shall 
        be--
                  (A) deposited into the appropriate real 
                property account of the Federal agency that had 
                custody and accountability for the real 
                property, with the funds expended only as 
                authorized in annual appropriations Acts;
                  (B) used--
                          (i) by not later than 2 years after 
                        the date of disposal of the real 
                        property; and
                          (ii) only for activities relating to 
                        Federal real property asset management 
                        and disposal; and
                  (C) if not used by the date described in 
                subparagraph (B)(i), shall be deposited in the 
                Treasury and used for Federal budget deficit 
                reduction.
    (c) Public Benefit.--
          (1) Conveyance.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
        if a real property authorized to be disposed of under 
        subsection (a) has not been disposed of by the date 
        that is 2 years after the date the property is listed 
        for sale, the Director, in consultation with the 
        Administrator and the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
        Development, may consider a request from the disposing 
        Federal agency that the real property be conveyed to 
        State and local governments or nonprofit organizations 
        for various public purposes or uses as permitted by 
        applicable law.
          (2) Predominant use and size standards.--
                  (A) In general.--Any real property authorized 
                to be disposed of under subsection (a) shall 
                not be conveyed under paragraph (1) if--
                          (i) the predominant use of the 
                        property is not for housing; and
                          (ii)(I) the area of the property is 
                        not less than 25,000 square feet; or
                          (II) the appraised fair market value 
                        of the property is greater than 
                        $1,000,000.
                  (B) Appraised fair market value.--The 
                appraised fair market value described in 
                subparagraph (A)(ii)(II) shall be determined by 
                the Federal agency with custody or control of 
                the property, in consultation with the 
                Administrator and standard appraisal practice.
    (d) Enforcement.--
          (1) Increase in size of inventory.--Except as 
        provided in paragraph (2), if a Federal agency fails to 
        make available for public sale the real property 
        authorized to be disposed of under subsection (a) by 
        the date that is 18 months after the date on which the 
        authorization is made under subsection (a), that 
        Federal agency, except for specific exceptions 
        promulgated by the Director, shall not increase the 
        size of the civilian real property inventory, unless 
        the square footage of the increase is offset, within an 
        appropriate time as determined by the Director, through 
        consolidation, colocation, or disposal of another 
        building space from the inventory of that Federal 
        agency.
          (2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a 
        Federal agency that acquires any real property not 
        under the administrative jurisdiction of the Federal 
        Government, by sale or lease, until the Director 
        submits a certification to Congress of the disposal of 
        all of those surplus properties.
    (e) Termination of Authority.--The authority provided by 
this section terminates on the date that is 5 years after the 
date of enactment of this subchapter.

Sec. 628. Homeless assistance grants

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
          (1) Eligible nonprofit organization.--The term 
        `eligible nonprofit organization' means a nonprofit 
        organization that is a representative of the homeless.
          (2) Homeless.--The term `homeless' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 103 of the McKinney-Vento 
        Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302), except that 
        subsection (c) of that section shall not apply.
          (3) Permanent housing.--The term `permanent housing' 
        has the meaning given the term section 401 of the 
        McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
        11360).
          (4) Private nonprofit organization.--The term 
        `private nonprofit organization' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 401 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
        Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360).
          (5) Representative of the homeless.--The term 
        `representative of the homeless' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 501(i) of the McKinney-Vento 
        Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11411(i)).
          (6) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the 
        Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
          (7) Transitional housing.--The term `transitional 
        housing' has the meaning given the term in section 401 
        of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 
        U.S.C. 11360).
    (b) Grant Authority.--
          (1) In general.--To the extent amounts are made 
        available under section 626(b)(1)(B) for use under this 
        section, the Secretary shall make grants to eligible 
        private nonprofit organizations through the continuum 
        of care program established under subtitle C of title 
        IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 
        U.S.C. 11381 et seq.), to purchase real property 
        suitable for use to assist the homeless in accordance 
        with subsection (c).
          (2) Terms and conditions.--Except as otherwise 
        provided in this section, a grant under this section 
        shall be subject to the same terms and conditions as a 
        grant under the continuum of care program established 
        under subtitle C of title IV of the McKinney-Vento 
        Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.).
    (c) Use of Properties for Housing or Shelter for the 
Homeless.--
          (1) Eligible uses.--An eligible private nonprofit 
        organization that receives a grant under subsection (b) 
        shall use the amounts received only to purchase or 
        rehabilitate real property for use to provide permanent 
        housing, transitional housing, or temporary shelter to 
        the homeless.
          (2) Term of use.--The Secretary may not make a grant 
        under subsection (b) to an eligible private nonprofit 
        organization unless the eligible private nonprofit 
        organization provides to the Secretary such assurances 
        as the Secretary determines necessary to ensure that 
        any real property purchased or rehabilitated using 
        amounts received under the grant is used only for the 
        uses described in paragraph (1) for a period of not 
        less than 15 years.
    (d) Preference.--In awarding grants under subsection (b), 
the Secretary shall give preference to eligible private 
nonprofit organizations that operate within areas in which 
Federal real property is being sold under the disposal program 
authorized under section 626.
    (e) Regulations.--The Secretary may promulgate such 
regulations as are necessary to carry out this section.

                                  
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