I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3809 

To establish a pilot program in certain agencies for the use of publicprivate agreements to enhance the efficiency of Federal real property. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 22, 2015 

Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a pilot program in certain agencies for the 

use of public-private agreements to enhance the efficiency 

of Federal real property. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Property Low 

5 Hanging Fruit Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PUBLIC-PRIVATE AGREEMENT PILOT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) PLAN FOR ENTERING INTO PUBLIC-PRIVATE

8 AGREEMENTS.— 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3809 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of a covered agen2 cy shall develop and carry out a plan to enter into 

3 one or more agreements with an eligible entity, for 

4 the purposes described in paragraph (2). 

5 (2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of any agree6 ment entered into under paragraph (1) shall be— 

7 (A) to lease Federal real properties that 

8 are underutilized or excess, under the terms of 

9 subsection (c); and 

10 (B) to develop, rehabilitate, or renovate fa11 cilities on such leased properties for the benefit 

12 of the covered agency, including monetary bene13 fits such as lease revenues and nonmonetary 

14 benefits such as avoided operations and mainte15 nance costs. 

16 (3) NUMBER OF PROPERTIES.—The head of 

17 each covered agency shall identify at least 5, and not 

18 more than 10, Federal real properties to be offered 

19 for lease under agreements entered into under para20 graph (1). 

21 (b) AGREEMENT TERMS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each agreement entered into 

23 pursuant to this section— 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3809 IH

1 (A) shall have as its primary purpose the 

2 enhancement of the functional and economic ef3 ficiency of Federal real property; 

4 (B) shall be negotiated pursuant to such 

5 procedures as the head of the covered agency 

6 concerned considers necessary to promote com7 petition and protect the interests of the Federal 

8 Government; 

9 (C) shall provide a fair market value lease 

10 option to the United States to occupy space in 

11 the facilities acquired, constructed, or rehabili12 tated under the agreement, but shall not guar13 antee occupancy by the United States; 

14 (D) shall describe the consideration, du15 ties, and responsibilities for which the United 

16 States and the eligible entity are responsible 

17 and may provide for the alteration, repair, or 

18 improvement of the real property as part or all 

19 of the consideration of the eligible entity, not20 withstanding any provision of law, including 

21 section 1302 of title 40, United States Code; 

22 (E) shall provide— 

23 (i) that the United States shall not be 

24 liable for any actions, debts, or liability of 

25 the eligible entity; and 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3809 IH

1 (ii) that no person is authorized by 

2 the agreement to execute any instrument 

3 or document creating or evidencing any in4 debtedness unless such instrument or doc5 ument specifically disclaims any liability of 

6 the United States under the instrument or 

7 document; and 

8 (F) shall include terms for authorizing the 

9 Government to terminate the agreement for de10 fault or to protect the interests of the Govern11 ment. 

12 (2) ABILITY TO PLEDGE AS COLLATERAL.— 

13 Subparagraph (E) shall not impair the ability of the 

14 eligible entity to pledge as collateral its leasehold in15 terest under a lease with the United States entered 

16 into pursuant to the terms of subsection (c). 

17 (c) LEASE OF REAL PROPERTY.— 

18 (1) AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding any other 

19 provision of law, including sections 582 and 583 of 

20 title 40, United States Code, the head of a covered 

21 agency may lease real property under an agreement 

22 under subsection (a) to the eligible entity that is 

23 party to the agreement. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3809 IH

1 (2) PERIOD OF LEASE.—A lease under this sub2 section may be for such period as the head of the 

3 covered agency determines appropriate. 

4 (3) RELATIONSHIP TO HOMELESS ASSISTANCE

5 ACT.—Real property leased under this subsection 

6 shall not be considered unutilized, underutilized, ex7 cess, or surplus for purposes of section 501 of the 

8 Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 11411) and may be leased under this sub10 section without regard to any other provision of law. 

11 (d) SERVICES.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

12 of law, the head of a covered agency, or his or her des13 ignee, may provide services under an agreement under 

14 subsection (a) to the eligible entity that is party to the 

15 agreement on such terms as the head considers appro16 priate. 

17 (e) USE OF REVENUES.—Notwithstanding any other 

18 provision of law, the head of a covered agency may retain 

19 and use any revenues derived from agreements entered 

20 into under this section for Federal property management 

21 activities of the covered agency, including acquisition, op22 erations and maintenance, repairs or alterations, other 

23 real property management needs, or construction needs. 

24 (f) PLAN.— 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3809 IH

1 (1) MATTERS COVERED.—The plan of a covered 

2 agency required under subsection (a) shall— 

3 (A) identify the Federal real properties 

4 that the head of the covered agency proposes to 

5 make available under the agreement or agree6 ments to be entered into with one or more eligi7 ble entities; and 

8 (B) include performance measures by 

9 which the proposed project or projects will be 

10 measured. 

11 (2) CONSULTATION WITH COUNCIL.—In devel12 oping the plan required under subsection (a), the 

13 head of a covered agency shall consult with the Fed14 eral Real Property Council. 

15 (g) SUBMISSIONS TO CONGRESS OF PLAN AND

16 AGREEMENTS.— 

17 (1) SUBMISSION OF PLAN WITHIN 12

18 MONTHS.—The head of a covered agency shall sub19 mit to Congress the plan required by subsection (a) 

20 not later than 12 months after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act. 

22 (2) SUBMISSION OF EACH PROPOSED AGREE23 MENT TO CONGRESS.—The head of a covered agency 

24 shall submit to Congress the final draft of each 

25 agreement proposed to be entered into by the agency 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3809 IH

1 and may not enter into the agreement until at least 

2 30 days has expired after the date of submission to 

3 Congress. The submission to Congress under this 

4 paragraph shall also include— 

5 (A) an explanation of the agreement; 

6 (B) the name, resources, and qualifications 

7 of the eligible entity or persons that are party 

8 to the agreement; 

9 (C) the name of any other eligible entity 

10 that submitted a proposal for the property that 

11 is the subject of the agreement; 

12 (D) the factors in support of the proposed 

13 project or projects covered by the agreement; 

14 and 

15 (E) the projected economic performance, 

16 including expenditures and receipts, arising 

17 from the agreement. 

18 (3) SUBMISSION OF ALL AGREEMENTS WITHIN

19 3 YEARS.—The head of a covered agency shall sub20 mit to Congress all agreements to be entered into 

21 under the plan not later than 3 years after the date 

22 of the enactment of this Act. 

23 (4) MODIFICATION OR TERMINATION OF

24 AGREEMENT.—In the case of a proposed modifica25 tion or termination of an agreement, the head of the 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3809 IH

1 covered agency concerned shall submit the proposed 

2 modification or termination to Congress and may 

3 not implement the modification or termination until 

4 at least 30 days has expired after the date of sub5 mission to Congress. 

6 (h) PROJECTED ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE.—The 

7 head of a covered agency shall describe, in the budget sub8 mitted by the President pursuant to section 1105 of title 

9 31, United States Code, for a fiscal year, the projected 

10 economic performance, including expenditures and re11 ceipts, arising from each agreement entered into pursuant 

12 this section and in effect during such fiscal year. 

13 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘covered 

15 agency’’ means each of the following: 

16 (A) The Department of Agriculture. 

17 (B) The Department of Energy. 

18 (C) The General Services Administration. 

19 (2) HEAD OF A COVERED AGENCY.—The term 

20 ‘‘head of a covered agency’’ means each of the fol21 lowing: 

22 (A) The Secretary of Agriculture. 

23 (B) The Secretary of Energy. 

24 (C) The Administrator of General Services. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 3809 IH

1 (3) FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY.—The term 

2 ‘‘Federal real property’’ means property, as that 

3 term is defined in section 102(9) of title 40, United 

4 States Code. 

5 (4) EXCESS.—The term ‘‘excess’’, with respect 

6 to Federal real property, means excess property as 

7 defined in section 102(3) of title 40, United States 

8 Code. 

9 (5) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti10 ty’’ means a limited liability company, limited part11 nership, corporation, business trust, nonprofit entity, 

12 or such other form of entity as the head of a covered 

13 agency may designate. 

14 (j) REPORTS BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OF15 FICE.—The Comptroller General of the United States 

16 shall submit to Congress two reports on the effectiveness 

17 of the public-private agreement pilot program under this 

18 section. The first report shall be submitted not later than 

19 5 years after the date of the enactment of this section, 

20 and the second report shall be submitted not later than 

21 10 years after such date of enactment. Each report shall 

22 include specific recommendations on how best to use pub23 lic-private agreements in all Federal agencies to improve 

24 Federal real property management. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS